Page 53 of The Summer Request
“Let’s go!” Val said, standing up.
Lisa shook her head. “It’s already closed for the day. But we can go tomorrow.”
Michelle frowned. “What about our bike ride?”
“We can go on a bike ride some other time,” Val said. “What time does this place open?”
Lisa squinted at her phone. “Looks like eleven.”
Michelle sat back and let out a sigh. “We could have our whole bike ride done before eleven.”
Val stared at her. They wouldn’t have any peace until Michelle got to ride that stupid motorized bicycle. “Fine. But we need to be at that restaurant the moment it opens.”
“Fine.”
“Fine,” Lisa added, her tone light. “If you’re forcing me to have lobster for lunch again tomorrow, then that is my cross to bear.”
Twenty
The bike rental place didn’t open until eight in the morning. Michelle would’ve picked the bikes up the night before if she’d known.
“This isn’t a good start to our day,” she announced after the bicycle shop employee disappeared into a back room.
“There’s still plenty of day left,” Lisa said.
It took almost half an hour to complete the rental forms and get sized for their bikes. Michelle managed to convince Lisa to rent an e-bike with forty-five miles of range, but Val refused to budge.
“We’re only doing eight miles. How bad can it be?”
While Michelle and Lisa practiced turning their motors on and off, Val made a short trip to the car to dump her helmet. “I don’t need this messing up my hair.”
Michelle was tired of arguing with her. If she wanted to exhaust herself and sustain a head injury, that was her right.
Once Lisa said she felt comfortable enough to start, Michelle started out on the trail. For the first time in hours, she couldn’t hear Val’s voice. It was marvelously peaceful, and riding through the twists and turns of the forest was nothing short of magnificent.
The trail was wide and the edges were lined with enormous slabs of granite. Michelle had read that this was engineered by John Rockefeller, and he’d taken the landscape of the island into consideration when planning the carriage roads. How lovely that everyone could now enjoy this masterpiece, and not just the rich?
Only Val seemed to be untouched by this. Probably because she was rich and used to luxury. She’d said as much, even.
They started up the first hill and climbed steadily for nearly a mile. Both Michelle and Lisa started getting winded after a few minutes and kicked their motors on. It was a nice break, and they reached the top of the hill with ease.
As they waited for Val to catch up, Michelle couldn’t help herself. “I guess Val’s not in as in as good of shape as she thought she was…”
“Be nice,” Lisa warned, voice low. “I think she’s tired. I don’t think she’s been sleeping well.”
“Why not?”
“It’s too quiet for her, I guess. Plus she’s afraid that Lou will come back and finish the job with the three of us.”
Michelle rolled her eyes. Val was such a drama queen. “I highly doubt that.”
Yes, Michelle agreed there was something off about Lou, but Justine hadn’t sent them on this trip to waste all of their time thinking about him. Maybe there was something off about Justine’s death, too, but Michelle still didn’t believe their friend had been murdered.
It would’ve been nice to get the coroner’s report. It was the only thing that could put Val’s fears to rest.
Michelle was trying to be understanding of Val. It seemed like Val couldn’t get over howshefelt about Justine’s death. Yes, Justine’sdeath felt wrong because itwaswrong. Justine had been a beautiful soul, full of life and love.
Val was in denial, but there was no need to push her over the edge now.
