Page 22 of Love’s a Script (Hearts Collide #1)

Chapter Twenty-Two

The instructions for the PI meeting had been plain.

Mary was to drive to Basin Reservoir—a location reserved for ice fishing this time of year—leave her car in the parking lot of the provincial recreation area, and walk across the frozen lake to the third ice fishing shack where she’d meet the investigator who called himself E.

It was a weekday morning, and the sun had barely risen when Mary arrived at her desolate destination.

She sat in her vehicle for several minutes, building up the courage to exit into the cold.

Finally, she took a galvanizing breath, grabbed her purse, where a manilla envelope filled with her father’s details safely sat, and left her car.

She trudged through the snow, against the biting wind, past the naked trees, until she reached the edge of the lake.

She could just see the ice fishing shacks—old, small, four-seater airplanes that had been hollowed out—fifty meters in the distance.

As she gingerly crossed the lake, her thoughts turned to morbid things like falling through the ice and a bobcat attack from behind.

Mary debated calling her sister to keep her company and allay her worry, but the entire reason for Hattie’s absence was she couldn’t leave her kids while her husband was away on a work trip. What kept Mary moving instead was the possibility of her father’s future despondence.

When she arrived at the small aircraft, she entered from the opening at the side of the plane, grateful to have at least escaped the brute wind.

It had been gutted of anything that made it suitable for aviation.

There were three sealed ice fishing holes down the middle and a bench along each side of the plane for people to sit.

She didn’t spend too much time marveling at the novelty of the space and took a frosty seat and tried to attune her senses to someone’s approach.

When she at last heard the soft crunch of footsteps, Mary tensed, tightening the grip on her car keys between her knuckles.

The stranger she expected to appear in the opening of the plane was actually Ruben in a winter jacket and jeans roughly stuffed into snow boots. The relief made her momentarily dizzy.

“What’re you doing here?” she asked.

“Sorry, I thought that was clear in my texts,” he said. “E doesn’t know you and couldn’t do his usual background check, so I’m here to vouch for you.”

“Right. Yes, you probably did mention that. I’ve just been spaced out recently. Come in.”

She scooted over on the bench, and he lowered himself beside her, blocking the draft from the opening even more.

“It gets cold in here after a while,” he said, shaking out the blanket he’d brought with him and offering her a section.

She thanked him and draped the material over her legs.

“How are you?” he asked.

“I’m fine. Nervous about all this.”

He nodded and didn’t attempt to make her feel differently. “You’re going to work directly after this?” he asked.

“Yes, I’ll probably stop at a coffee shop before and get a drink. I didn’t eat a big breakfast, so I might also pick up a pastry. I’ll see…”

She was talking nonsense, but Ruben listened like she wasn’t.

Eventually, she fell quiet, and the gentle cracks and pops of nature took her place.

She had an urge to ask him about his matchmaking progress, but before she could succumb, a tall, broad, hooded figure appeared in the opening of the plane.

From the way Ruben casually stood up and greeted the person, Mary knew the PI had arrived.

As if it were routine, Ruben lifted his arms from his side, and E traced a block device around his body.

Mary followed, but during her inspection, the block beeped when it reached her left coat pocket.

“You have a phone on you?” E asked.

“I do.”

“That’s on me,” Ruben said. “I forgot to tell her not to bring it.”

“I can run it back to my car,” Mary said quickly.

“Just leave it out beside you,” E said, settling onto the bench across from them. He pushed the hood from his head to reveal a handsome angular face, a stern expression, and locs pulled into a low ponytail. “So you’re trying to find out if someone is who they say they are.”

“Yes, my father’s girlfriend.” Mary produced the envelope from her purse. “They met on a music subreddit.”

E shook the envelope before pulling out the papers it held. There wasn’t much, only basic information she and her sister had gathered from conversations with their father and one grainy picture of who they thought might be “Aurora.”

“I’d like whatever investigation you do to be as noninvasive as possible,” Mary said.

E didn’t respond but continued to go through the documents. She looked to Ruben, who assured her with a nod that her parameters would be respected.

Some time had lapsed when E stood up without warning.

“Is it enough?” Mary asked, rising as well.

“Yes,” E said. “I’ll be in touch.”

“Wait,” she said. “How would you like to be paid? I’m assuming cash, but I can also do e-transfer.”

“Payment’s been taken care of,” E replied as he and Ruben exchanged a look. The bulky man left the plane before Mary could ask him further questions.

She looked at Ruben. “You paid him?’

“No, not technically,” Ruben said, standing to fold his blanket. “He owed me a favor.”

“What did you do for him to owe you a favor?”

“It’s a long story.”

Her eyes narrowed, but she didn’t push the point. “I could’ve paid.”

He shrugged. “You needed it, and it was going to waste.”

“Okay, but?—”

“Just say thank you, Mary.”

“All right, thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he replied before gesturing for her to exit the plane first. The air had lost its bite as the sun continued to crest, and the once eerie barren surroundings now sparkled like the inside of a snow globe.

They didn’t speak as they shuffled over the ice toward land, but as they crossed the snow-filled shore into the parking lot occupied by only their cars, Mary surrendered to curiosity and asked, “How’s matchmaking going? ”

Ruben gave her a sidelong glance and smiled. “You mean after my matchmaker abandoned me? Great.”

“I didn’t abandon?—”

“Hey, I don’t blame you. I get it, I would’ve been too big of a distraction.”

With his flippancy and charm, Ruben did what Mary had failed to do in the past weeks. All at once, the kiss was one silly joke. Nothing to hand-wring over and definitely nothing to feel embarrassed about.

“Oh, please,” she said, adopting his casual tone. “In that case, I did you a favor as well.”

“Yeah?” he asked.

“Yes, you were right there with me. You enjoyed that kiss.”

“So by sacking me as a client, you were sparing me…”

She hesitated with a brazen reply on the tip of her tongue, and it might’ve stayed there if it weren’t for the growing smile on Ruben’s face. “I spared you hours upon hours lost to lustful thought,” she said.

The sound of Ruben’s laughter diffused in the open air. “Shall I build an altar and thank you for every productive day since?” he asked.

“Yes. I take offerings of gold and flowers.”

They’d drawn closer at some point, and in the sunlight, she could see the various browns that made up his beautiful eyes. She thought they’d kiss. She hoped they’d kiss. All the reasons not to were irrelevant. And just as she thought she’d get her wish, Ruben took a step away from her.

“I’ll talk to you later, Mary.”

He was already walking toward his car when she processed his words and called out, “There’s no reason for us to see each other later.”

“Then I guess this is goodbye forever,” he said, turning back briefly to smile at her.

Despite the cold, Mary’s face felt hot.