“I see your sense of direction hasn’t improved. Please take a right.”
Once they reached Alpine Grove, Sara told Zack to turn onto one of the side streets. “My house is down there in the next block. It’s on the right-hand side.”
Zack stopped at a stop sign and slowly pulled forward. “I hope that’s not your house up ahead.”
“Why is there yellow tape criss-crossing my front yard?”
Zack slowed down in front of the small cottage, which had a decidedly blackened look, particularly around the door. “It looks like there was a fire.”
Sara moved to get out, but Zack grabbed her arm. She glared at him. “Let me go. All my stuff is in there. Everything I own!”
“I think we should go.”
“You don’t think Ozzy did this, do you?”
“Maybe.”
“That’s impossible.” She shook her head. “He doesn’t even know who I am. You’re the one with the treasure!”
“I think we should go to my motel room, clean up, and make a few calls.”
“But my stuff! I need to see what happened.”
“The tape says caution. I think we should believe it and be cautious.”
Sara shook her arm free. “What are you not telling me?”
“I told you I dreamed about fire. I might be totally paranoid here, but this doesn’t feel right. You should know that walking around in a house that might have structural damage is dangerous.”
“I suppose you’re right. At the hospital, I treated people who had suffered injuries from accidents in derelict buildings.”
“It’s not like you can take a shower here right now anyway, so let’s just go. For the time being, we know Ozzy isn’t here. He’s probably still wandering around that beach cussing and getting sunburned.”
“Don’t forget that we still need to call someone about Ozzy. And I have to call Kat about Holly as soon as possible. We also have to go get my car. But I don’t even have any clothes.” Sara bent her head, put her hands over her face, covering the tears that were beginning to flow down her cheeks. “This is awful. What am I going to do?”
Zack put his hand on her back and rubbed gently. “Hey, I know from personal experience that you’re one tough cookie. Everything will be okay. There’s gotta be a store here somewhere. I’ll buy you some clothes. Stuff can be replaced, and it looks like your house might only have smoke damage. In a town like this, it was probably big news. You can call the police station, find out what happened, and whether it’s okay to go inside. At least you weren’t there when it caught fire.”
She sat up and dropped her hands in her lap. “None of this would have happened if I hadn’t met you.” At her angry words, the hurt look in Zack’s eyes gave her a glimpse into the lonely little boy who had been shuttled from one foster home to another.
“Maybe so.” He moved his hand back to the steering wheel and pulled the car away from the curb.
“I’m sorry, Zack. I didn’t mean that. But everything I own was in that house. Photographs, clothes, everything! It’s probably all gone now. I have nothing.”
“Yeah, okay. I get it. But I doubt you want to stop by the police station for a chat looking like this. It’s better to call them from my motel room.”
Sara looked down at her clothes. “I suppose you have a point.”
So where’s the H12 motel from here? I’m gonna have to tell them I lost my key. They probably aren’t going to be too excited about that.”
“Go back to the main street. That way.” Sara snuffled and tried to pull herself together. She turned to look at Olivia, who was crouching on the back window ledge. “I’ll tell you where to turn, but the H12 doesn’t take pets. What am I supposed to do about Olivia and Holly, if I have no house?”
“We’ll figure something out.”
Sara wanted to scream in frustration. “I hate it when you say that.”
“All I know is that if I don’t get something to eat soon, I’m going to pass out. Your Cheeto explosion off the back of the boat killed my appetite for a while, but now I’m dying.”
Sara’s stomach growled in response. “I suppose I’m hungry too. In fact, my tummy feels strange. Everything I’ve eaten today ended up in the lake.”
As they slowly drove down the main street past the cute touristy shops, Sara reached into the back seat to encourage Olivia to get down out of the window and out of sight. With a grumpy meow, the cat settled into a new spot on the back seat.
Zack pulled into the parking lot of the H12 motel, which had the moniker because it sported twelve somewhat shabby rooms. Although it wasn’t exactly luxury, high-end lodging, the motel was right off the main street, within walking distance of all the shopping and restaurants in town, so it was almost always full.
Zack parked the car in front of one of the rooms, got out, and went inside the lobby. Sara turned in her seat to watch Zack as he negotiated with someone at the front desk. Through the glass, she observed the facial expressions of the man Zack was talking to, which went from surprise to annoyance to resignation. Zack got out his wallet, handed over a credit card, and the man gave him a key. After signing the credit-card slip, Zack reached into a basket, grabbed something, and stuffed it into his pocket before turning to leave the lobby.
He walked back to the car, tapped on the window, and grinned at Sara. “It’s all good.”
Sara got out of the car and opened the back door. She quickly grabbed Olivia and the dry bag, trying to conceal the illicit furry creature as she hustled to the motel room door. Zack unlocked the unit and they walked in and shut the door quickly behind them.
Sara placed Olivia on the bed. The cat wandered around the ugly plaid bedspread looking confused. Sara sat down on the end of the bed and stroked the cat’s back. “Sorry about the manhandling sweetie, but you’re a fugitive.”
Zack bent to open a mini-fridge in the corner. “What the heck? I know I had some soda in here.”
Sara glanced around the room. “I guess I had no way of knowing before, but you’re a slob, aren’t you?”
Zack stood up and surveyed the space. “I’m not this big of a slob. You don’t see a laptop anywhere, do you?”
“No.”
“Uh-oh.”
“Do you think someone stole it?”
“Yes.” He sat down on the bed and ran his fingers through his hair. “This is bad. Really bad. I was supposed to do some work while I was here. Some of my clients are going to be seriously pissed.”
“At least I’m not the only one in trouble with my job. It appears unemployment is running rampant. Perhaps we’ll have to cast aside our workaholic ways.”
Ignoring her comment, Zack stood up and began pacing, swearing under his breath as he stomped back and forth. “Well, there’s nothing I can do about this now. I need a shower. So do you. Then we’ll figure something out.” He stripped off his t-shirt. “A shower will help me think.”
Sara looked at him. Was there something on that laptop he wasn’t telling her? At least he had clean clothes, which was more than she could say for herself. While Zack took a shower, she called the police station. Apparently, her house had smoke damage, and the landlord had been notified. She assured them that she had a place to stay and she’d talk to her landlord.
After hanging up the phone, Sara went around the room picking up items of clothing and doing a more thorough investigation of the room. Maybe she’d learn something useful. The idea that Ozzy had been in here was completely unnerving.
She held up a button-down dress shirt in front of her chest. Perhaps if she tied it at the waist, it would look better with her shorts than her grungy stained t-shirt. Although she might look like Daisy Duke on The Dukes of Hazzard, at least Zack’s shirt was clean, which was a major improvement over what she was wearing now. They desperately needed to make a run to the Kmart out on the highway because her lack of clean underwear was distressing.
Zack emerged from the bathroom with a towel around his waist. He gestured
toward the bathroom. “All yours.”
Sara held up the shirt. “I’d like to borrow this, if that’s okay.”
“Yeah, that’s fine. There’s a cafe a couple blocks down. I’m gonna go get us a sandwich or something. What do you want?”
After a brief food negotiation, Sara went into the bathroom and spent an inordinately long time washing her hair and soaping every inch of herself. The hot water was glorious. It had to be one of the best showers she’d ever taken and she spent some time standing motionless in the flow, enjoying the warmth. She got out of the shower, dried off, and put on Zack’s shirt.
When she went back into the room, Zack was sitting at the head of the bed with Olivia, who was closely monitoring the consumption of his sandwich. He looked up and smiled at her. “That was a long shower, but you sure look happier.”
“I wish I had clean clothes, but I do feel almost human again. At least this shirt is clean. I can’t face putting on those dirty shorts yet, though.” She crawled onto the end of the bed and picked up a sandwich wrapped in white paper. “I need to make so many calls.”
“Yeah, I know. Me too. Food first.”
Sara ate ravenously. “This sandwich is amazing.”
Zack crumpled his sandwich wrapper up into a ball and threw it toward the wastebasket, but it missed and landed on the floor. He slumped down on the bed, put his arm behind his head, and closed his eyes. “No kidding. I think I’m gonna make it now. I hate being that hungry.”
“You mentioned that before.”
“It’s still true.” He opened his eyes. “That shirt looks a lot better on you than it does on me.”
Olivia walked over and curled up on the shirttails in Sara’s lap. As she stroked the cat’s head, Sara listed everything she had to do. “I need to talk to my landlord, call Kat, get my car, get my dog, go to Kmart for underwear, clothes, and cat supplies, and then find a place to stay that actually takes pets.”
“I gotta find my laptop. I can’t even call my clients, unless you happened to find a notebook while you were snooping around when I was in the shower.”
“I was not snooping. And how do you know?”
“Yes, you were, and it’s okay. I don’t care. I’m out of secrets. Somehow, I’ve managed to tell you about every crappy thing about me and my screwed-up life. I’m not even sure how that happened either. I never talk to anyone about that stuff. I’ve always figured my past is my business.”
“I know what you mean.” Sara moved Olivia, got up, and put her sandwich wrapper and Zack’s in the trash can. She walked back to the bed and sat down next to where Zack was lying. “Was something else on that laptop other than client files?”
“Maybe.”
She reached out and gently placed her palm on his scruffy cheek. He hadn’t shaved, probably because of the sunburn, which undoubtedly still hurt. “Why don’t you just tell me, for a change?”
He took her hand and pulled her down next to him. “Let’s figure out your mess first. I’m still not sure what to do about mine.”
Sara kissed him. “Okay. I like that plan.”
Chapter 7
Fire Breathin’ Dragon
Sara picked up the phone and dialed Kat’s number. After a nice chat with the woman’s answering machine, she hung up. That was hugely unsatisfying. At least she’d been able to tell Kat that she was still alive. However, Kat probably wasn’t going to be pleased to know that Sara needed more time to figure out Holly’s living arrangements. Normally she’d ask her parents, but they were on vacation in Yellowstone at the moment, so staying with grandma wasn’t an option for Holly.
Next, she tried calling Bob at the camp and got another answering machine. It wasn’t a surprise, since he was almost certainly out dealing with camper activities. Because she didn’t want to go into detail about the lost canoe, she left a brief message along with her number at the motel.
While she was on the phone, Zack was curled up on his side with Olivia in front of him, stroking the cat’s fur. Sara looked down at his face. “Well, that was a failure. For days, I’ve been worrying about making all these calls, and I have to say that talking to answering machines is anticlimactic. I guess we can go out there and get my car at the camp. It’s probably sitting right where I left it. If Bob is around, I can talk to him, get fired, and then we can go buy kitty supplies. I guess I’ll try calling Kat again later.”
Zack nudged Olivia and pushed himself into a sitting position. “Okay. I also need to find a locksmith to get a new key made for the car. People tend to look at you funny if you spend too much time huddled under a dashboard, messing with wires.”
“They might think you’re up to no good.”
He grinned. “Me? No way. I’m reformed, remember?”
Sara leaned over and kissed him, relieved that his sense of humor had returned. “Let’s go show your sunburn to some little kids who will appreciate it.”
Zack drove south to the camp while Sara provided directions. The visit to the camp was almost as uninteresting as talking to the answering machine, because all the campers were off on a hike somewhere. Sara stopped by the office to leave her number for Bob again, but the place was empty, so she got in her car and left. Zack followed her to Kmart, which was located off the highway north of Alpine Grove.
While she drove, Sara tried not to dwell on all the disasters that had befallen her recently. A week ago, she had a job and a home. Now both were in question. She also missed Holly and was worried about whatever was up with Zack. He didn’t seem upset with her anymore, but he was oddly quiet. Something else was bothering him. Maybe he was thinking about work. At some point, he’d have to return to his regular life, after all, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about the idea of him leaving, probably forever.
They parked next to one another in the Kmart lot and Sara smiled as Zack got out of his car. “I hope your credit card is ready for a workout.”
He laughed. “I live for blue-light specials.”
“That’s a good thing, because you have no idea how much I want to throw away this underwear.”
“Aww, I kinda like that bra. Very lacy.”
“It was prettier before we landed in the bog.”
He took her hand and swung it between them as they strolled toward the store. “Ah, the sweet muddy memories. Hey, get something nice too. I still owe you a dinner out somewhere.”
After spending lots of Zack’s money at Kmart, Sara felt much better. He was right that stuff could easily be replaced. She finally had a toothbrush again, along with many other new and vitally necessary toiletries. They also acquired cat food, a litter box and litter for Olivia, and many articles of clothing for Sara. Even if her new wardrobe was low-end cheapie garb from Kmart, she didn’t care. She couldn’t wait to get back to the H12, get out of the grungy shorts and panties, and put on different shoes.
When they returned to the room at the H12, Olivia greeted them at the door. Sara fed the cat, who had to be incredibly hungry by now, after being cooped up in the boat, car, and motel room. She set up the litter box in the bathroom and then changed her clothes while Zack lounged on the bed.
The cotton sundress she’d selected was surprisingly cute and she spun around so that the skirt and her long hair whirled out around her. “I know it’s probably some fashion faux pas to love this, since it’s from Kmart, but I do. It’s so comfortable.”
Zack stood up, took two long strides across the room toward her, and wrapped her in an embrace. He angled his head and nuzzled her neck, which never failed to electrify every last one of Sara’s nerve endings. With a small gasp, she moved to kiss his lips, which were warm and inviting. He pulled her back toward the bed and they flopped down in a tangled mass of limbs onto the ugly bedspread. After a few moments of frantic exploration and fumbling disrobing, she pulled away from him. “Wait. Did you buy…?”
He muffled her question with a kiss and moved his lips to her ear, murmuring, “This motel is as serious about safe sex as you are. There’s a b
asket on the counter that says, ‘Take one or more than one.’ So I did.”
Sara smiled as she kissed his lips again. “Hey, it’s important.”
Later, after having released quite a lot of pent-up desire, Sara was feeling utterly relaxed and satisfied. Zack was lying on his back with his eyes closed and his arm wrapped around her. Sara snuggled closer, readjusting her head on his shoulder.
He moved his hand to stroke her hair. “That was even better than I’d expected. And my expectations were pretty high.”
Sara pushed herself up onto an elbow and looked down at Zack, her hair cascading down around his face. “I know. And I think I found out about a few more of your skills.”
He chuckled and opened his eyes. “If we keep lying here, you might never get that dinner I promised you. No one has called you back, you know what’s up with your house, and it would be nice to eat before I’m totally starving, for a change. Are you hungry? I heard the Italian place down the street is pretty good.”
They got dressed and walked out into the twilight, down the street toward the Italian restaurant. It was a lovely summer evening and many Alpine Grove residents were out enjoying it.
The restaurant was dimly lit and extremely romantic with candles flickering on the tables. The scent of Italian spices like basil and oregano wafted through the air. It was strange, after all the time she’d spent with Zack, to be on something resembling a traditional date with him. She reached across the table and took his hand. “So tell me more about your real life, Mr. Business Consultant.”
“Yeah, Mr. Business Consultant who is gonna have no clients, since he fell off the radar in a really bizarre way and lost his laptop.”
“Well, you did say you were working too hard.”
He looked thoughtful for a moment. “I suppose. When we were out there talking in front of the campfire, I told you about all that stuff from my past, and I realized something.”
“What’s that?”
“I spent my whole childhood wanting a real home—a place where I belonged. And then after I finally got away from all that, what did I do? Somehow, I managed to create a life where I’m never home. I have an apartment that I hardly ever see and no real friendships. All this time, it’s like I’ve been running away from what I said I wanted. I mean, no wonder I haven’t been particularly happy for so long. Duh. There must be something seriously wrong with me.”
The Treasure of the Hairy Cadre (An Alpine Grove Romantic Comedy Book 8) Page 14