Troubles in Paradise (Paradise #3)(75)

“I want to start my own fishing charter,” she says. “Here’s what I’ve found out…”



Swan agrees the three-hundred-and-sixty-day requirement is a bummer and means it’ll be another year before Irene’s charter is up and running.

“I would hire you as a mate on my boat,” Swan says. “But it looks like I have to sell it to pay off my ex.”

“Divorces are tricky,” Irene says. She’s had a glass and a half of wine, so she nearly adds, But better than staying married and finding out your husband has a secret family!

“I’m confused about why you’re not working for Huck anymore,” Swan says. “He’s such a great guy. Such a wonderful grandfather. Completely devoted to Maia.”

“That he is,” Irene says.

“You know, I saw him on Friday night out at Skinny Legs.” Swan sips her wine. “He was with a woman, a very pretty redhead. I saw them leave together, so I think maybe Huck got lucky!” She leans in conspiratorially and bumps Irene’s shoulder.

Irene nearly falls over in her chair. “A redhead?” she says. “Was she his age?”

“Younger,” Swan says. “Closer to my age, I’d guess. Go, Huck!”

The wine and cookies churn in Irene’s stomach. Her neck flushes. She has to get out of there.

“Hey, ladies.” Baker saunters into the kitchen. “I don’t mean to interrupt—”

“Baker!” Swan says. She jumps up from the table to give him a hug. Here is Irene’s way out.

“Thank you for all your help, Swan. I’ll let you two kids chat. I need to hit the hay.”

“Hit the hay,” Baker says. “Can you tell we’re from the Midwest?”

“Are you sure, Irene?” Swan says. “We didn’t get to talk about my marketing ideas. I have a bunch.”

“We’ve got plenty of time,” Irene says. “I hope you’ll come back once I buy a boat and get closer to my hours…”

“You don’t have to run off, Mom,” Baker says. His expression seems to be asking Irene not to run off.

Sorry, Baker, she thinks. You’re an adult. You deal with your romantic entanglements and I’ll deal with mine. “Enjoy the cookies,” Irene says.



Very pretty redhead. I think maybe Huck got lucky! Go, Huck!

The living room, where Irene is sleeping, is too close to the kitchen to be private. Irene slips through Floyd’s room to the bathroom and sits on the edge of the tub in the dark.

Huck was out with Agent Vasco. She’s a redhead, about Swan’s age, very pretty. Well, Irene thinks, very pretty might be overstating things, but yes, she’s attractive. She’s also the person who took away Irene’s house. She took my house, Huck, and you two are out canoodling at Skinny Legs!

Just as Irene was starting to soften a little and wonder if she should let him know she read his letter.

Vasco!

I think maybe Huck got lucky!

Did he take her home? Did he sleep with her? Irene can’t let herself imagine this. The night she and Huck went to Shambles, he kissed her. It could have gone further but Irene stopped him. She was right to stop him, because when she read the diaries, she realized how wrong it was that she had become friends with Rosie’s father!

Irene’s face is wet. She’s crying. She quit the boat and moved out of Huck’s house because she was hurt by Russ, angry at Russ. And now Huck is with someone else. He’s had the hots for Vasco this whole time; he’d admitted as much, this could hardly come as a shock. The letter said he missed their friendship. Apparently, he’s getting his “friendship” somewhere else now!

She’ll never speak to him again, she decides.

Should she call him right now? It’s nine thirty. He’s asleep.

Irene cracks the door of Floyd’s room; she hears Baker and Swan talking. She lies down on the other half of Floyd’s king bed and falls asleep.



When she wakes up in the middle of the night, she has no idea where she is. Then she hears the steady purr of Floyd’s breathing and remembers.

Her mouth is cottony; she’s still in her clothes. She brushes her teeth in the bathroom and applies her nighttime moisturizer. Her reflection in the mirror is unforgiving. You messed up.

The house is now dark and quiet. Irene grabs her pillow and blanket from the closet and heads to the sofa.

She needs to see Huck tomorrow, she thinks. She isn’t going to lose him to Vasco. Nope, sorry. She has lost too much already.



She wants to be waiting for Huck by the Mississippi in the morning but there are the logistics of cars. Baker needs his Jeep to drop Floyd off at school and then get to work. Cash has to be at Treasure Island by seven. If Irene had let Cash know the night before, he would have dropped her at the National Park Service dock first, but she can’t spring it on him now.

She says to Baker, “Is it okay if I borrow your Jeep after you pick up Floyd from school? I have errands.”

“No problem!” Baker says. He’s unusually chipper. He has made Floyd banana pancakes for breakfast. “Would you mind watching Floyd tonight? I have plans with Ayers.”

“Ayers?” Irene says. “What about Swan?”

“Swan?” Baker says as though he isn’t sure who Irene is talking about. “Oh, we’re just friends.”