“Erica,” Freddie warned in a low scary voice. “What are you doing? You didn’t send that, did you?”
“I did now,” I said, pressing send.
“He has an exam tomorrow! It’s two o’clock in the morning!”
Just then Freddie’s phone buzzed.
I smiled. “Don’t worry, he’s awake. He says hey.”
“Give it!” Freddie said, taking a few quick steps toward me.
I jumped away and scurried into the living room. “Nope. Nope. My mother said we needed to stop protecting each other from the things that scare us, and I will not be the answer to the question of why Freddie Ng is still single.”
“What?! Have you been drinking?”
“Of course not.” I knew I was supposed to be respecting Freddie’s space and all that, but doubling down seemed like a much better idea. I probably did get that from my mother. “Now where was I, ‘I’m sorry I woke you,’ I said, dictating to myself again. “‘But I need to tell you something.’”
Freddie’s eyes widened to the size of coasters. “Erica…”
“What? I’m helping you face your fears. Become a better person. You know, like you did getting me on that bull,” I said.
“The bull…? You mean the bachelorette party? Sean and I had just broken up. I was upset!”
“Yeah, at me. For absolutely no good reason.” I looked back at the phone. “‘I am so sorry for everything. You were right. Erica can take care of herself. And I should have made you the priority.’”
“Erica!”
He rushed toward me, but I jumped up onto the couch then over to the other side.
“Shush.” I held up a finger. “He’s writing something back.”
“Since when can you not read and listen to me yell at you at the same time?”
A second later, the phone buzzed again.
“What does it say?”
My eyes darted over the message. “‘I really appreciate you saying that,’” I said with a nod. “‘And I’m sorry too. I was too harsh.’”
Freddie started to say something, but I waved him off. “He’s writing something else.” Just then it popped up on the screen. “‘I didn’t mean what I said about…’ Erica?” I looked up. “What did he say about me?”
“Given how you’re behaving right now, nothing that wasn’t totally justified.”
I looked back down at the phone. “Wait, he’s writing something else. ‘I really do like her. And I would never want to do anything to affect your relationship.’”
“Aww.” I put my hand to my chest. “I knew I liked Sean.” I dropped my hand back to the phone to reply.
“What are you writing now?” Freddie asked.
“‘I know you’re really busy with school,’” I said with my dictation voice, “‘but I would love it if you could come for the wedding.’ Send.”
“What?” Freddie clutched his hair. Like honest to goodness clutched his hair. “I can’t believe you just did that!”
“Freddie, the town knows you’re gay.”
He stared at me with some crazy, crazy eyes. Lots of white. “Of course the town knows I’m gay. That’s not the problem.”
“Then what is the problem?”
Freddie dropped his hands from his hair then fell heavily onto the couch. It was like that last text had just sucked all the air right out of him. “Sean coming to town … as my date?” He shook his head. “That’s a really big deal. Coming to the wedding … it’s like he’s meeting my family.”
“So?” I asked, walking back around and dropping down beside him. “That’s a good thing. You’re taking it to the next level.”
“I don’t know. I don’t know if I’m ready for that.”
“Of course you are. You guys are great together.”
Freddie looked up to meet my eye. “But what if we’re not? What if it doesn’t work out? What if he finds out who I really am … and he breaks up with me?”
I searched Freddie’s eyes. He really was scared. I needed to handle this sensitively. Say just the right thing. I patted his hand. “If he does, then … I know just where we can hide his body.”
The tiniest hint of smile came to his mouth just as his phone buzzed again.
“What did he say?”
I read the message then met Freddie’s eye again. “It says he’d love to come.”
“He’d love to?”
“Says it right there.” I pointed at the screen.
Freddie’s face twitched to a smile. “Not just like to come?”
“No, he’d love to come.”
“Now quick, end it,” Freddie said. “Before you screw it up.”
I quickly typed a good night to Sean then leaned back against the couch.
We were quiet for a few moments.
“I really was worried about you too, though,” Freddie eventually said.
“I know.”
He slouched to the side a bit so he could look at me. “But I think maybe I just didn’t realize how easy it is to default to our relationship when other ones get tricky.”
“Same,” I said with a nod. “Maybe … maybe we do have to rethink things.”
“What do you mean?”
I looked at him. “Like maybe we do need more boundaries between us.”
Freddie dropped his chin to his chest. “You do realize you’re saying this after you just texted my boyfriend pretending to be me.”
“Exactly,” I said, throwing my hands in the air. “I’m way out of control. That campfire?”
“That was awesome,” Freddie said with a snicker. “You’re going to be hearing about that for years.”
I backhanded him lightly on the arm. “Stop it. I’m being serious. I mean, we can’t just go back to the way things were bef—” Just then I jerked up. Something caught my eye. “Is that the packaging for a new cappuccino machine?”
“Oh my God, yes,” Freddie said, jumping up. “It cost as much as a small car, but wait until you taste the hot chocolate.”
“Well, why are we just sitting here talking about our relationship like weirdos?”
“I know, right? Let’s go!”
* * *
Freddie and I were too excited and hopped up on hot chocolate to go back to sleep after that. Besides, we needed to get an early start to our day. Now that we were back together and had all of our neurons firing, it was time to get to work. We still had a week. We could do this.
Just like I had been checking in on the wedding preparations while Freddie and I were on the outs, he too had been doing a bit of investigating on his own. On our third cup of hot chocolate gold, he informed me that he had found out just the day before through the Otter Lake gossip mill who had first found Lyssa and called it in. Thankfully we were being supernice to one another, so Freddie didn’t point out that I really should have been on that sooner.
Freddie drove us into town right at the first glow of sunrise. It was actually a good thing we were up with the birds given who it was we needed to talk to.
Ned and Bob, the town’s most dedicated anglers, were right where we expected to find them. A little ways down from the gazebo, hooks already in the water.
“I think maybe you should take the lead on this,” Freddie said as we walked down the bike trail toward the men. He had parked his old, beat-up Jimmy at the top. It was so good to be rolling on four wheels again. “I mean, you have been on this case since the beginning.”
“But questioning is your speciality,” I said. “I really could have used you over at Tommy’s.”
“Well, aren’t you sweet.” Freddie smiled, adjusting the sling around his shoulder, and checking on Stanley who was asleep in the pouch at his hip. The sling was designed especially for dogs, but it did look a lot like the ones mothers of newborns used. The pouch had insect shield technology because according to Freddie you can’t be too careful when it comes to West Nile. “Would you look at us? We are like best-friend newlyweds again.”
I smiled back.
“Okay, so I’ll take the lead,” he said, pulling ahead.
Yup, things were pretty much back to normal.
“Ned. Bob,” Freddie called out, raising a hand.
“Told ya they’d be by,” I heard Bob say.
“Surprised it took you so long,” Ned called back. “What kind of investigation are you two running?”
Freddie chuckled. “We’ve been experiencing a few hiccups organizationally speaking, but we’re on the case now.”
The men nodded. Bob said, “We heard Erica chased you round a fire. Glad you’re both okay.”
Freddie smiled as I ran a hand over my face.
“Well, you know Erica,” Freddie replied. “So down to business.”
“You want to know about that poor girl, God rest her soul.”
We both nodded.
“’Fraid there’s not a whole lot we can tell you,” Bob said. “We just spotted her and called over to the sheriff’s department. First time I’ve actually used this damn phone my wife got me.” He patted one of the chest pockets of his fishing vest.
I sighed. “Are you sure that’s—”
“Except”—Ned exchanged looks with his fishing buddy—“there was that one other thing, Bob.”
Bob nodded. “Yup. There was that one other thing.”