“I don’t know,” Raine admitted. “I didn’t see it. I kind of gave up after seeing Bond go from woman to woman the way he did. He wasn’t my ideal man.” She shrugged. “That should tell you about secret agents. They aren’t the best bet when it comes to relationships. You end up dead, or they’re over you when they’re on their next mission.”
Stella rolled her eyes. “Put your laptop away, voice of doom. If we’re heading to the coffee shop, we have to go now. I’m marrying Sam no matter what. If you bet against me, you’re losing your money.”
“I bet a lot of money against you,” Raine confirmed. “Couldn’t you at least make a run for it and make Sam chase you so I recoup some of my money? I’ll share.” She closed her laptop and slipped it into a case with a special lock.
“Vienna, did you bet against me?” Stella asked.
Vienna burst out laughing. “I play the odds, my friend. The odds were strong that you would freak out, but Sam would see it coming and talk you off the ledge every time. He knows you so well, or he has a gift with you. He always seemed to know when you had a bad day. Even before the two of you were together.”
Stella nodded. “He did. I’d get to the house and he’d be on my deck grilling a meal for me. He’d nod toward a cooler and there would be ice-cold beer in it. I didn’t have to talk. He never expected me to. He’d just have dinner ready and then he’d leave. Sometimes he’d stay with me and we’d sit outside and he’d tell me all the names of the stars. He knows them all.”
“It must have shocked you that he knew how to talk,” Zahra said.
Zahra had been Stella’s best friend for years. They’d been soul mates almost from the moment they’d met. No one could make Stella laugh the way Zahra could with her droll sense of humor.
“As a matter of fact, it did shock me,” Stella admitted. “But his voice was sexy, and the next thing I knew, I was having all these erotic fantasies . . .”
Zahra put her hands over her ears. “Stop. I don’t want to hear another word.”
Vienna and her friends burst out laughing. “If we don’t get a move on, it’s going to be too hot to do any bouldering. Getting up before it’s even light won’t do us any good if we sit around talking and forget we’re climbing. Especially if we’re really going to make a stop at a coffee shop. You know we’ll spend time there we don’t have.”
Zahra groaned. “I am not getting up this early again, so we’re leaving immediately.”
“You have to get up for the kayaking trip,” Shabina pointed out with just a little too much glee.
Zahra threw one of the smaller decorative pillows from the couch at her.
“Vienna’s right,” Stella said. “We can come back to our little mystery of Daniel, Liam and Miriam when we get back tonight.”
“We’ll get it done,” Vienna agreed as they hurried out to Stella’s 4Runner.