Page 35

Eve

Monty!!!!

Harper and I followed Monty back to our campsite, just outside of Forks, in a state of total bewilderment.

Every minute or so, Harper would mutter, “Your aunt shot at a tarantula and intentionally missed ?”

And I would reply, “That’s not even the first time she’s done that.”

Or I’d mumble, “How in the hell did she find us?”

To which Harper would say, “Monty Montana is really here ?”

My thoughts and feelings were a jumbled mess. There was no way Monty was out in the random town of Forks “fishing and camping” or whatever the lie was that she’d told me. She had to be searching for the diamonds. Had to be.

That meant she’d lied to me multiple times, including on the phone just a few days ago when she’d begged me not to make a move.

She hadn’t even addressed being completely MIA this entire time. Instead, Monty had happily tossed our gear into the back of her truck, yelled out, “Just follow me, gals!” then tore off down the road.

She hadn’t changed much since I’d last seen her. Her silver hair was in its usual braid, and the same beat-up cowboy hat sat atop her head. Her plaid work shirt was tucked neatly into worn Wranglers, dusty at the knees.

Her craggy face was still all smile, except now I couldn’t stop thinking about the journal entries I’d read this week. Especially the one Harper had shown me, about her fears.

I lie awake at night and worry about what clues I missed. Worry if Ruby’s mad at me for trying so hard at something I’m probably not very good at… It’s not like my family ever thought I’d amount to anything special.

It made me want to grab her hand and say, “But how are you really ?”

The sight of Monty’s simple campsite as we pulled up tugged hard on my heart.

The metallic chrome of her old Airstream trailer and the cluster of sun-faded bumper stickers crowding around the license plate.

The crackling campfire, the shabby lawn chairs, the deck of cards on the picnic table.

Some of my first truly happy memories were spent doing things like this with Monty and Ruby—it had my shoulders sagging with the weight of missing her.

But then the door of the trailer opened wide and out stepped a person I hadn’t seen in years.

Ruby.

Monty’s estranged wife.

My heart stopped. She opened her arms wide and said, “Evie Bardot, just look at you. You’re as gorgeous as ever.”

I stepped into her embrace, completely fucking mystified.

The smell of her sandalwood lotion brought so many memories roaring back—like the time in high school when I was going through a goth phase.

And she showed up that Christmas with lipsticks for me to try in shades of black and purple, and my parents almost had a joint heart attack.

“What are you doing here?” I said softly. “Are you… Is Monty… I have so many questions.”

She rubbed my back. “We’ve got answers, we promise.” She pulled back to examine me, notching up an eyebrow at my tattoos. “Still decorating ourselves, I see?”

“Always.”

Like Monty, she hadn’t changed much. Maybe a few more lines around her eyes, some extra gray in her curly black hair. Ruby was a decade younger than Monty, in her early fifties. Her red wrap dress was bright against her dark tan skin, the color matching her lipstick perfectly.

“I never thought I’d see you again,” I admitted.

Monty came out of the trailer, carrying four bottles of beer, a half-lit cigar in her mouth. “Not givin’ me a whole lot of credit here, kid.”

Ruby sent her an exasperated look. “Can you blame her? You never tell anyone anything .”

I propped my hands on my hips. “For example: what the hell is going on here and how long have you been lying to me?”

Monty sprawled out in a chair and kicked her foot up on the edge of the fire ring. “Plenty to say. But first, you gonna tell me why you’re hanging around with that reporter you told me about?”

Harper and I exchanged a worried glance.

“I can google things, Evie. I’m not that old,” Monty muttered. “I looked her up after you told me about her. Which is kinda awkward for me, since I haven’t spoken to any member of the press in twenty-odd years.”

“ Eve ,” Ruby said. “Tell me you didn’t bring a reporter with you.”

“I know what it looks like.”

Monty huffed out a breath. “It looks like what it is . You know I’m not sayin’ shit if she’s here.”

Harper stepped into the circle of light cast by the fire.

Her throat worked nervously as she waved, wearing a small—but sincere—smile.

She looked nothing at all like the impeccably made-up woman who’d walked into The Wreckage all of eight days ago.

Her bun was loose and hanging off to one side.

There was dirt smeared on her face, across her peach sundress.

Even her glasses were slightly smudged.

I hadn’t been able to take my eyes off her then. Couldn’t take my eyes off her now. Something Monty must have noticed, because she cleared her throat loudly to get my attention.

“My name is Harper Hendrix, and it is true that I was originally sent here to try and find you, Monty, and convince you to give your first real interview since La Venganza ,” Harper said. “No one gave you up, by the way. The whole town protected you like you were a national secret.”

Monty’s response was to blow a series of smoke rings—but I could tell she was pleased by this.

“And I should say, before anything else, that just being here in your presence, with Ruby, well…it’s an honor.

” Harper seemed to notice her disheveled appearance at that exact moment and quickly went into repair mode—bun fixed, dress straightened, a quick swipe of the dirt on her cheeks.

“I wasn’t expecting to meet you looking like this.

Or meet you at all, really. Eve had convinced me it would never happen. ”

Monty cocked an eyebrow at me, and I shrugged.

“Before I came out here, I saw a picture of you two together. The famous one, on the beach, the day you found the ship.”

Ruby came to stand behind Monty, placing a hand on her shoulder. Monty squeezed it, and— Holy shit, were Monty and Ruby back together ?

“I know the one,” Monty said.

Harper’s gaze met mine. “I’m sure you’ve gotten this before, but…

I saw that picture, and it changed something for me.

I don’t know in exactly what way yet. I’m still figuring that part out.

But I genuinely admire you both, and I understand if you want nothing to do with me.

And I fully understand your anger because of what happened. ”

Harper hadn’t shared this with me yet, but I could see it. Could see it in the small ways she was expanding since she’d arrived here. Loosening up, taking up space.

I shoved my hands in my pockets. “Harper figured out the real story of Priscilla and Adeline before I even told her.”

That got Monty’s attention. “How?”

“My colleague at the paper I work for, she found a picture of Priscilla and Adeline at an auxiliary club together and told me that they’d disappeared on the same day,” Harper said. “Once I knew that, I knew that the real story, the story I wanted to tell, was their love story.”

“Harper wants to change the public’s perception of Priscilla,” I said. “That’s why I asked her to join me when I decided to go search for the diamonds.”

Harper grinned. “From scandalous villain to queer hero.”

Now Ruby and Monty shared a glance.

“That is interesting,” Ruby said. “And you trust her intentions, Eve?”

“I really do,” I said firmly. I caught Harper smiling out of the corner of my eye, but wariness unfurled in my stomach. Just yesterday, when Harper asked me point blank about trust, I wasn’t so sure. And only a week ago, she was barreling through my life with no thought to the consequences.

I’m not here seeking permission. I’m here seeking information. This is my job, and nothing’s going to stop me from doing it.

Harper’s brow furrowed as if she sensed my hesitation.

But then Monty gave a short nod and stubbed out her cigar.

“If Evie says you’re fine, I believe her.

But I’d like it clear that Ruby and I were never here.

And you and I never met. No recorder. No notepad.

This is off the record until I say it’s back on. ”

Harper nodded eagerly. “Yes, ma’am, I can do that.”

Monty kicked out the two chairs next to her. “All right, then. Sit down, and I’ll tell ya what I’ve been up to.”

I sank down into the chair next to her and took the beer she offered. “And no more fucking lies. I’m serious, Monty.”

“Scout’s honor,” she said with a wink.

Harper took the other beer and sank down gracefully in the final chair, legs crossed and upper body leaned forward. The sun had finally set, bathing us in darkness lit only by constellations, the fluttering of a bat’s wings like a symphony overhead.

Ruby held her hands over the fire and cast a sideways glance at Monty.

“When your aunt and I mounted the campaign for the diamonds five years ago, things were tense from the start. We didn’t expect it to remind us so much of what happened with the press after La Venganza .

Or for so many others in our community to be so jealous and spiteful.

It brought up a lot of ugly insecurities that we hadn’t worked through. ”

“Hell, we thought getting back out there was the right thing to do,” Monty added.

“Saying fuck ’em to the people who believed we’d cheated our way into finding that ship.

But Blackburn’s different. It’s personal .

And I”—she coughed into her fist—“I let my ego do the talking, and there’s no excusing it. Was so public about it—”

“Then we publicly didn’t find anything,” Ruby said. “We were so embarrassed. That’s when we separated.”

Monty raised the brim of her hat to send Ruby a look of total, all-consuming affection. The kind I always remembered flourishing between them.

“Those were the worst years of my life,” Monty admitted.