Chapter 51
The day had been harder than Ben imagined. No amount of talking himself up worked. He still had to face Mylie. He’d tried
to apologize, and she’d refused to accept it. That was her right, he knew. There was no excuse for what he’d said, and he
guessed it was selfish to try to get her to forgive him just so he could leave with a clear conscious.
And he was going to leave.
He was glad that he was leaving in a couple of days. Part of him thought that if he stayed here in Clay Creek until he closed
on the house that he might not be able to go through with it. But if he left and got some space from Mylie, from everything,
it would make it that much easier.
Once he was established in his new life, maybe the one he’d been thinking about more and more with Mylie wouldn’t seem so
appealing.
As they exited the boat, the other fishermen were doing the same, hauling in their catches and heading toward the weighing
station that was set up near the stage. There would be three winners, and the grand prize winner would be announced shortly
after every team’s fish was weighed.
Ben looked around. It seemed like all the teams were accounted for, but he didn’t see Robbie. He hoped that meant he’d quit.
“How’d it go today?” Granny asked, appearing beside him. Her gaze lingered on Ben. Oh, shit. Granny knew. She knew he’d fucked up.
“I think we stand a chance,” Ben replied.
“I’m talking about with Mylie,” Granny said.
Of course, that’s what she was talking about. She likely knew everything already, and so he said carefully, “I tried to apologize.”
“Good,” Granny said.
“She didn’t accept it.”
“Good,” Granny repeated.
Ben looked at her. Granny’s face was set in a grim line. He’d seen her angry plenty of times, but never at him.
“I wanted this to work,” Ben said. “I swear I did.”
“She’s loved you since you were kids,” Granny continued, as if she hadn’t heard him. “As smart as you are, Ben, you’re just
too stupid to see it.”
“Granny,” Mylie said, hurrying up to where they stood. “Did Cassie call you? She tried to call me a couple of times, and now
she isn’t answering.”
Granny shook her head. “No, I haven’t heard from her. She was mad this morning—something about having to break her plans with
Allie. But she was moping in her bedroom when I left.”
Mylie’s eyebrows knitted together. “I hope everything is okay.”
“They’re weighing now!” Louise called out to them.
“I’ll give her a call after they weigh,” Granny said. “I’m sure she’s fine.”
Melissa was announcing each team as they weighed in. The first two teams had mediocre catches that Ben thought they could
probably beat. Admittedly, he knew very little about the weight of fish.
“It makes you more competitive than you think, huh?” Louise whispered to him. “I can see your brain working. I agree. Ours
weigh more.”
Ben couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re right. That’s what I was thinking about.”
“Where’s Robbie?” Mylie asked from beside Louise. “His team is up there, but he’s not.”
Louise shrugged. “Those fish look pretty small to me,” she said. “Maybe he was embarrassed about it.”
“Holy shit,” Granny said, pointing to the scale. “Those fish weigh a lot .”
They all squinted to where Robbie’s team stood. It was true—their small fish did weigh quite a bit. Every fish seemed to weigh
more than the last.
“That’s impossible,” Mylie said.
“Maybe they’re bigger than they look from here,” Louise offered.
Robbie’s team continued to dominate as they weighed the rest of the fish caught by the other teams, including theirs. There
was some murmuring through the crowd, and the judges looked uncomfortable with the obvious winner. Still, after every team’s
catch had been weighed, Robbie’s team was the clear champion.
Everyone looked more confused than disappointed, including Mylie, who was frowning over at the winning team, sans Robbie.
“Where is he?” she asked more to herself than to Ben.
Mylie pulled her phone out of her pocket when it started to ring, a look of relief washing over her face. “It’s Cassie,” she
said. She turned her back to talk to her sister while everyone else’s attention stayed focused on the stage.
Beside him, Ben could hear Mylie’s relief turn into something else entirely.
“What?” Mylie asked into the phone. “What are you talking about? I can barely hear you. Where are you? What ? Hello? HELLO?”
Mylie pulled her phone away from her ear and stared down at it.
“What’s going on?” Ben asked.
Mylie looked at him. Rather, she looked past him to the stage where Robbie’s team was about to collect the trophy and their
check with their winnings.
“They cheated,” she whispered.
“They did what?” Granny asked, stepping closer to Mylie.
“We have to find Cassie,” Mylie said. “We have to find her now.”
She made to break off into a run, but Ben grabbed her arm. “Slow down,” he said. “Tell us what’s happening.”
Mylie’s eyes were wild. “I think she and Allie caught Robbie cheating,” she said, her breath hitching. “And he saw them. That’s
all I could gather.”
“Where are they?” Granny asked, panic written all over her face. “Did you get a location? She’s supposed to be at home!”
Mylie shook her head. “I think she said near the bridge—Cassie’s family has a hunting cabin out that way. I couldn’t hear
her very well, but I think that’s what she said.”
“We need to find the sheriff,” Granny said. “I can’t believe that child left after I told her not to.”
“That’s going to take too long,” Mylie said. “Who knows where Sheriff Oakes is.”
Granny moved over to where Louise and Jessica were standing and whispered something to them. They nodded and hurried off.
“They’re going to find the sheriff,” Granny said hurrying back to Mylie. “I told them to tell him to head out to Allie’s parents’
cabin.”
“Where are Allie’s parents?” Mylie asked.
“They’re out of town,” Granny replied. “I’m sure that’s why those two hatched this plan. They thought nobody would figure
it out.”
“I’m going to go find them,” Mylie said.
Granny nodded. “It’ll be faster if we take the boat.”
Granny and Mylie started off toward the boat with Ben trailing after them, his head spinning. Surely, he hadn’t heard right.
“I’m coming with you,” Ben called after them.
Mylie didn’t say anything, but she grabbed his hand and squeezed it. As they made for the boat, Ben heard Jessica call for
the judges and then for someone to find Sheriff Oakes. Pandemonium broke loose as people realized something was happening,
but Ben didn’t have time to watch.
They had to find Cassie.