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"You must be Gracie Layne," Jim said when he stopped by our table at Hairy's. "I'm sorry I never got the chance to meet you in all the chaos at the lab. Are you going to stay for a while?"
"Gracie Layne's staying in my apartment until her school break is over," I explained because Gracie Layne had a mouthful of waffle. "What are you doing here?"
"I stopped by for breakfast and to beg your forgiveness. I really hated lying to you, Em."
"Are you heading back to wherever your office is soon?"
"You know where my office is. It's right down the street. You've been there plenty of times."
"Don't you have to get back to your real job and stop playing small-town lawyer?"
Jim sat down and reached for my hand. "Everly, you need to forgive me. I was doing my job."
"Not very damn well," I said.
"I'm sorry that you and Chance and Tom got hurt. The problems at the lab were bigger than we expected. I can't change what happened. All I can do is tell you how sorry I am about everything that happened. I'm staying in Wilkins' Gap. I need you to respect my cover. I'll be continuing my law practice and working with the BITES lab. I plan to continue seeing Laurie."
"That's great, Jim. Now you want me to lie to my best friend."
Jim grabbed my arms and pulled me against his chest. "Em, we have to find a way to make this work. I still care about you. I want us to be friends."
He held me until my muscles relaxed. "I'll try, Jim, but it's probably going to take me a while to get over how angry I feel right now. I won't say anything to Laurie. You have my word."
He kissed my cheek and went to the counter to pick up his order. "What the heck was that all about?" Gracie Layne asked. I tried to explain about my guyumvirate and how I ended up with Chance and Laurie was now dating Jim, but Jim was really a spy. Honestly, even though I tried to make the explanation as simple as possible it still seemed like a movie plot not something that happened to me.
I left Gracie at the apartment and drove out to Chance's A-frame. He walked out when I pulled in. "What took so long?" he asked, kissing me and nearly crushing me into his chest.
"I had to get Gracie settled, and Jim stopped by to apologize again while we were eating breakfast."
"Did you two make up?"
"He's staying in Wilkins' Gap and continuing to play lawyer while he works for the lab. He says he's going to continue dating Laurie too. I told him I'd keep his secret and try to forgive his betrayal, but I didn't make any promises."
"It'll work itself out, but right now we've got things to figure out, and I need lots of you before I leave."
We spent the next couple of hours enjoying each other and trying not to think about Chance leaving again in a couple of days.
When we were making lunch, I asked, "Have you heard how your hunt went with John."
"He called before you got here. He said everything went great. He enjoyed it and says he's thinking about leaving BITES and starting his own guide business. We need to think about how we might be able to use him so I can spend more time with you." He nuzzled my neck. "How's your arm?"
"OK. It only really hurts if I bump it on something."
"Do you mind updating Tom on everything that's happened after I'm gone. I want him to hear the whole story, but I don't want to give up any of our time together. I want you all to myself as much as possible."
"Let's spend the next hour making calls and sending emails. Then we can disconnect until you have to leave for the airport."
"That is an inspired idea," he said. "Do we need any food or anything?"
"I'll make a run to the store. I can make calls on the way."