Page 68 of The Wilder Widows

“Fine by me.” Alice held up her hands and crossed the small clearing in the woods, then headed toward the fire crackling through the trees.

“Pansy!” Marge called after her. Alice just lifted her middle finger and kept on walking.

“I love razzing her up.” Marge smiled and set her fish down on a log.

“Don’t I know it.” I smiled. “You need anything?”

“Nah. Just gotta filet this up and give it to Madeline to add to our dinner menu tonight.”

“I look forward to trying it. I’ll see you at the fire.”

Leaves and sticks crunched beneath my feet while I walked away, taking my time to appreciate the fresh air and smell of pine surrounding us. It mingled with the smoke from the campfire, creating a bouquet of earthy scents I wished I could bottle up to take home with me. A perfume I could spray around my home so I could be transported back here any time I needed to clear my mind.

“Hi, Sylvie! Pull up a log.” Doris waved at me, and right beside her, where he’d been all day, sat Axel. “He showed me how to make a fire. Look! I made this!” With a triumphant smile, she waved a hand over the crackling flames and clapped.

“Nice work, MacGyver,” I teased, pulling up a seat on the fallen tree by the fire.

The embers flickered and burned, drifting up into the darkening sky. I watched them rise high, burning out and fluttering back down as ash that landed around us.

“Want some?” Alice pushed a silver flask toward me.

“What is it?”

“Whiskey.” She grinned.

“Isn’t that what got us into this situation in the first place?” Arching an eyebrow, I took it anyway. Pulling one long swig, I choked it down, sputtering and coughing while I handed it back.

“Doris?” Alice asked.

Her gaze shot to Axel as if awaiting his judgment, but then her face stiffened, and she gave a sharp nod. “Just one sip.”

Good for her. It was time for Doris to make her own decisions and wander off the clear, worn path she’d followed her whole life. This was her chance to taste freedom and find out what else life had to offer besides going to church, raising kids, and taking care of her husband. As she pulled the flask to her lips, I chuckled to myself that it seemed drinking whiskey was now on the menu.

“Ooh!” She scrunched her face while she smacked her lips. “Eventually, I’ll be able to drink that without puckering up like a prune.”

Alice took a swig, her face stoic and smooth as she downed another gulp. “You’ll get there,” she said with a smile after she pulled it away.

“So, Doris says you ladies are on some kind of an adventure?” Axel poked the fire with a long branch, sending more sparks flying into the air.

I nodded. “We are. We’re traveling the globe while fulfilling all of our wishes.”

“And who’s wish was this?”

“Mine.”

His eyes drifted over to Doris. “Well, I’m sure glad you’re here.”

It inspired the same giggle from her I’d heard all day.

“And what was your wish?” he asked Alice.

Straightening her shoulders and lifting her chin, pride radiated from within. “To be a Vegas showgirl again.”

“Is that right?” he laughed. “And were you?”

“Of course. I was the star.”

“We may be wanted fugitives back in Las Vegas, but we made it happen.” I laughed.