Fated Souls by Becky Flade Read Free Book Online Page A

his milkshake.
    “But that’s not the only version I’ve heard.” Maggie looked at him, brow arched, silently waiting as he’d done to her moments before. Aidan chuckled and continued. “The other story I heard was that when they were a young married couple Old Man took to stepping out with a city girl named Stella who was somehow related to Red. The day after this city girl mysteriously disappeared never to be seen or heard from again, Ma showed up for her shift wearing the name tag. And has worn it ever since.”
    Maggie laughed and enjoyed the flummoxed mix of lust and fear that swept across his face almost as much as she had the story. “I can totally see Ma taking some hussy out into the backwoods and doing away with her, protecting what’s hers, and then wearing a reminder to Old Man every day after; but I’d bet the first version is the accurate one.”
    “Why is that?” He sipped the milkshake and watched her over the rim of his glass.
    “I’ve played poker with the man and he doesn’t strike me as brave enough to risk crossing Ma even if he was the cheating sort, which he isn’t.”
    “You get that from playing poker?” Aidan asked. Maggie smiled before answering. People always underestimated what could be learned at a quiet game of Texas Hold’em.
    “Sure. Johnnie Carson is reckless, can’t bluff to save his life, shoots for the moon on every hand, and cheats to compensate. Red plays the odds, his risks aren’t as risky as they seem; he keeps it close to the vest and bluffs like a pro. Barry’s ego is his downfall. He’s too busy playing at being better than everyone else to bother playing better than anyone else. Old Man is cautious; he bets small even when he’s got the best hand. He gains the least but loses the least and seems all the happier for it. And Sly,” Maggie’s smile grew from ear to ear, “is aptly named. That man is one sly card player. Honest to a fault too, except when he’s bluffing of course. But that’s not dishonest, that’s just strategy.”
    “You got them all pegged to a T.” He laughed. “Maybe I should play sometime?”
    “I already know what kind of card player you’d be.” At his blank stare, she smiled. “You’d want to play it balls to the wall, but you’d put instinct in check and take the safest, quietest hand, make the most reserved bets, and fold rather than risk chance.” She saw his walls come down like she knew they would, and was irritated at herself for doing it. But she hadn’t lied. He reached into his pocket and pulled out enough to cover both their orders and a decent tip.
    “I should get going. Thanks for accepting my apology and for the dessert. I’d have never thought to wash down key lime pie with a chocolate milkshake; it’s a great combination.”
    “You never know what will go great together ’til you try.” She knew he got the innuendo; he was too damn smart not to have. “See you tonight.”
    She watched him battle with what he wanted to say, and she wished for a moment he had the courage to say it, whatever it was. But she had known he wouldn’t.

Chapter Five
    Maggie snuggled further into her sleeping bag as the temperature dropped a few more degrees. Over the weeks, she’d fallen into a comfortable rhythm: she spent her nights in the forest, her days asleep, and her evenings writing. But she was no closer to the answers she craved, and the cost of living as a guest in Trappers’ Cove as well as keeping up with her bills at home were cutting dramatically into her nest egg faster than she had anticipated. She was going to have to consider either going home without the truth or finding freelance opportunities to supplement her income. She shivered when she consider the reality of going home essentially empty handed.
    The wolf felt her shudder and cuddled closer to her side. Maggie assumed he thought it was the cold. She had spent many hours with him. They’d taken to walking together through the woods — she had