“Stop worrying,” he ordered through the phone.
She sighed. “It won’t do any good to tell me that, you know?”
“I do know—and now you know how I feel every time you get hurt.”
“You don’t get to turn this around on me,” she argued.
“I already did.” He laughed. “So you’ll try paddleboarding again?”
“I can try. It’ll just be even more embarrassing with you and your brother there, both seeing me fall so many times.”
“He’s also planning on going back to Vancouver on Monday, so this will be his last chance to do something with me.”
“Right,” she noted. “Okay, fine. I’ll come. At least then I can be the voice of reason.”
Mack burst out laughing. “Like that’ll be the day,” he teased. “You need to look after yourself better, before you get a chance to sit there and tell me what to do.”
She grinned. “Yeah, but you do understand how this may never happen again, so I have to milk this as far and as much as I can.”
“Ha. … How about tomorrow morning?”
“Tomorrow morning what?” she asked.
“Paddleboarding.”
She winced. “That fast? Don’t you just want to go paddleboarding with Nick?”
“Yeah, that fast,” he declared. “So you don’t get a chance to change your mind. So I can go paddleboarding with you and Nick.”
“Fine, but, if I get all this information from the captain later today, that might change things.”
“You still need to go out and have time to enjoy yourself,” he told her.
“Okay, okay. And then lunch?” she asked hopefully.
He snorted. “You and food. Either we can take lunch down with us or we can go for lunch afterward.”
“Yeah, that’s easy for you to say,” she replied in mock horror. “You will be dry. I will be soaked.”
At that, there was no holding back, as his laughter filled the line. “No, that’s a good point. A picnic it is. I’ll arrange it.”
And, with that, he hung up.
Chapter 3
Sunday Morning
Doreen woke up the next morning and, from her bed, checked her emails, but she still had nothing from the captain. Disappointed, she got up and dressed for a morning on the lake. Which really meant a bathing suit because, of course, she would end up soaking wet. She tossed a couple changes of clothes in a bag—in case they went back out into the water again later. With her bag packed, she headed down to the kitchen, ready to feed her furry and feathered crew.
She looked at the animals and noted, “Mack didn’t say anything about whether you guys were coming or not.” She quickly texted him and asked if she could bring them. She got an immediate yes back. She grinned. “Look at that, guys. You’re part of that inner circle,” she murmured. “Mack gave the okay for you guys to come.”
At that, Mugs woofed, and Thaddeus just cocked his head, as if there were any doubt. Doreen wasn’t so sure about Goliath; he hadn’t been impressed last time. She looked at him. “Should I leave you at home?”
He sauntered toward her, as if he understood, wove between her legs, and didn’t say anything. She hemmed and hawed over it all, as she made her breakfast. By the time she finished her second cup of coffee, she heard a honk out front. She walked to the front window to see Mack and Nick sitting in the front seat of Mack’s vehicle. She waved, grabbed the leashes and harnesses, and, with the animals and her bag, she locked up the house and walked down to Mack’s truck.
She loaded up the animals in the backseat, then clambered in behind them. “You’re sure about this, huh?”
It was Nick who laughed. “Mack told me that you’re not a big fan of paddleboarding.”
“Did he also tell you why I’m not a big fan though?” she asked, giving a pointed look at Mack. “Because that’s the real reason.”
“There’s always a reason,” Mack agreed, “and nobody likes doing what they’re not good at. But they’ll never get any better, if they don’t do more of it.”
“Sure, but the process to getting better,” she noted, “is very uncomfortable.”
“No, just a little wetter.” Mack chuckled.
She sighed and looked over at Nick. “See what I mean? He just thinks it’s a big joke.”
“Not a big joke at all,” Nick replied. “It’s good to see you out doing things.”
“You mean, outside of solving crimes?” She nodded. “I don’t get a ton of exercise, which is one of the reasons why I’m coming.”
“What? So now you think you need to add exercise to your day?” Nick asked her.
“Well, there’s that theory about staying healthy means you need to physically go out and do things.” She reached down and grabbed a light bulb to stop it from rolling into the front seat floorboard. “I’ve never been much of a gym buff, not sure that that would work for me,” she admitted. “I’d probably find somebody had murdered somebody in the middle of it all. However, this is a beautiful area, and I enjoy that part, and it’s well-known for its paddleboarding.”
“That’s because the lake itself is stunning.”
She looked over Nick. “And how come you don’t live here?”
“I’m still considering moving back again,” he muttered. “It’s been really nice to have family around again.”
“No girlfriend?”
He shook his head. “Nope, no girlfriend.” He grinned at her. “You got any girlfriends? My age, not Mack’s?”
“No, that I don’t.” And then she raised both hands. “Mack thinks it’s funny, but I never seem to manage to make a friend I get to keep.”
“Why is that?” Nick asked.
She shrugged. “I keep getting them thrown in jail.”
Nick stared at her for a shocked moment, and then he burst out laughing. “Oh my, and even those who aren’t being thrown in jail, I guess it keeps the rest of them away, doesn’t it?”
“Sure does,” she muttered in a heartfelt tone. “The only people I get to see at all are Mack and Nan and sometimes some of Mack’s friends.”
At that, Nick nodded. “And Mack’s got a good set of friends.”
“Sure, but they’re all law enforcement,” she pointed out, “so that keeps other people away from me too.”
“I suppose. Never thought about it that way,” Nick admitted.
“As a lawyer, then you probably get the criminal kind,” she stated immediately. He turned and glared at her. She shrugged and smiled. “It’s a well-known fact. Lots of lawyers are crooked.”
“It’s a well-known fact that lots of lawyers aren’t crooked,” he replied, narrowing his gaze at her.
She just beamed at him. “So you just keep believing that.”
At that, Mack sighed. “No pissing off my brother,” he stated in a severe tone.
“I wouldn’t do that,” she replied. “He’s working for me for free.”