Page 97 of The Woman By the Lake

“Yes,” Nadia answered shortly.

“Just sayin’, if Bubs knew you were Doc’s neighbor, he would have made a different decision about the wine,” Lucille replied.

“So now it’s my faul—” Nadia started heatedly.

“Honey,” Riggs whispered.

Nadia clamped her mouth shut.

Lucille’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head.

Fuck him.

“Lucille, not that I don’t wanna see you, but we were in the middle of something,” Riggs told her.

The woman looked beyond him toward the pier. “What were you in the middle of?”

“Ledger was teaching me to skip rocks,” Nadia answered.

Lucille’s head tilted to the side sharply before she smiled genuinely and said, “Well, that’s real important, so I won’t keep you long, just gotta have a word with Doc.”

“Then have your word,” Nadia invited.

“I was hoping it might be private.”

“Your boyfriend was already mean to him today, and we were having a nice night, so I hope you don’t mind if I stick around to see that nothing ruins it,” Nadia returned.

After listening to this, Lucille’s eyes swiveled to Riggs, and she declared, “You totally should have told Bubbles about this chick.”

Riggs looked to the sky and sighed.

Lucille’s tone was different, and it brought his attention back to her when she said, “He went too far today, Doc. He knows it. He feels like a total asshole. He’s been kicking himself all day.”

He waited for Nadia to field that, partly out of curiosity at what she’d say, mostly because what he had to say, he didn’t want to say to Lucille. She was a nice woman.

She did field it, just not the way he expected.

She wrapped both her hands around his biceps and leaned her tits into him.

Lucille didn’t miss it, and honest to fuck, he could swear he saw tears in her eyes.

“Lucille, how about you leave what happened between Bubs and me between Bubs and me?” he suggested.

“He’s not feeling good. He’s hopped up on pain meds—” she began with the excuses.

“That’s not leaving it between Bubs and me,” Riggs warned her. “And I gotta say, I’m confused. He told me you two were over.”

“I kinda forgave him after he got the shit knocked out of him,” Lucille shared.

That would do it.

At least it would with those two.

Her expression turned pleading. “He’s in a bad way, Doc. You’re his only real friend. He knows it. He’s going through some stuff. He piled on you. He shouldn’t have. He?—”

Lucille cut herself off as they all looked to the drive to see another car pulling in.

God fucking damn it.

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