Page 4 of Saltwater Promises
Chapter 2
The weekend was off to an exciting start. Margie found out that Mike was coming back from his New York City trip early, so she asked if he would pick up her friend Claire from Seattle and bring her along.
“No problem,” he said. “My buddy owes me a favor. He’s flying me into Friday Harbor. Do you think she’d mind the flight?”
“No, that’d be great!”
Secretly, Margie had hoped that Mike was going to drive back and take the ferry to the island. That way he and Claire would have more time to get to know each other. Who knows? Maybe they would take a liking to one another.
A flight would be much faster, but it could still do the trick. She should have known that Mike wouldn’t waste time dealing with the ferry. Ever since he’d retired from the FBI, he’d never been busier.
He was trying to figure out why Lenny and John Benzini had such an interest in San Juan Island, and she was confident that he would eventually work it out.
What she wasn’t as sure about was Mike figuring out how to adjust to a normal, non-FBI life. Once this case was over, what was he going to do with his time? He barely thought about or talked of anything else! Margie was determined to help her brother… adjust.
And what better way than with a new, exciting romance? Sure, Mike had never expressed much interest in finding a partner, but that was probably just because he didn’t have the time. Claire would be an excellent match.
Probably.
Margie wasn’t sure what they’d have in common, but she knew that Claire was a lovely person. They’d been friends for years; her eldest daughter Lucy had gone to school with Jade. Margie had missed her friendship with Claire ever since she’d moved to San Juan Island, and though they visited each other whenever they could, it wasn’t the same.
When Margie found out that Claire had been made redundant at her job as a paralegal, she insisted that she come and stay with her for a few weeks.
“Consider it a sabbatical until you find your next job!” she’d said.
To her surprise, Claire had accepted. She said that she was excited to have some time to herself, and apparently also wanted to help Margie with planning Jade and Tiffany’s double wedding. The event wasn’t until November, so they had six months, but Margie would take all the help she could get.
Mike arrived with Claire just before noon on Saturday. Margie picked them up from the county airport and greeted Claire with a squeal and a hug. It had been months since their last get-together, and Claire looked as good as ever.
Margie thought Claire might be stressed out about finding a new job, but she seemed more relaxed than ever. Not wanting to bring up an unpleasant subject, Margie focused on telling their entire history to Mike as she drove them back to her house.
Unfortunately, Mike wasn’t terribly engaged in her story, and he didn’t seem too interested in Claire either. Once they got back to the house and Claire was busy unpacking her bags, Margie confronted her brother.
“I don’t understand why you have to be so serious all the time,” she said.
He cocked his head to the side. “What do you mean?”
“Well, for starters, you could have tried to be a little nicer to Claire.”
“Oh? I thought it was pretty nice that I got her a free flight into San Juan.”
“That was nice, but it’salsonice to listen to people, you know?”
“Ah.” A smile spread across his face. “Nice try, Marge. But it’s not going to fly.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, her voice a little too high.
“Your friend is nice, but she’s too young for me.”
Margie’s jaw dropped. “Too young! She’s only a few years younger than you.”
“I did the math. She’s ten years younger than me.”
Hm. So he had been listening. “She’s a lovely person. She raised her sister’s three kids after her sister and parents died in that terrible accident! Remember when I told you about her, years ago? She was only twenty-three at the time, and they – ”
He held up a hand. “Yes, I remember. Her idiot brother-in-law crashed into a mountain and killed everyone on board.”
“Sh!” Margie said, pushing him into the next room. Mike was a pilot, first in the Air Force, then just for fun after he joined the FBI. But just because he knew planes, it didn’t mean that Claire needed to hear his rude opinions!
