Chapter 7
The next morning, she sat in her room and waited.
And waited.
There was no knock on the door.
She paced and then decided after twenty minutes of waiting that she’d go knock on their door.
They’d probably slept in.
Relief filled her as she realized that had to be what had happened.
Grabbing the rope they’d used as a lead last night, she tied it loosely around Horse’s collar. Unfortunately, there was no identification on his collar. Either he’d never had a tag or it had fallen off.
Hopefully, he was microchipped.
Then she knocked on the door next to her. Nothing. She knocked again.
Hmm. Well, she supposed they could be deep sleepers. Grabbing her phone out, she rang them. First Eli. Then Kellan.
Both went to their voicemail immediately.
“Unless we were meant to meet them downstairs, Horse,” she said.
Urgh. Maybe that was it.
“Sorry, you’re going to have to stay in the room, buddy.” She’d already taken him out for a toilet break. She took him back to her room and undid the rope before heading to the door. As soon as she stepped out of the room, he started to cry.
Oh shoot.
That was so loud.
She rushed back into the room to find him sitting right on the other side of the door, looking up at her sadly.
“Horse, you can’t make that much noise. You’re going to get us into trouble.”
Darn it.
Those puppy dog eyes were so potent.
“All right. I don’t think they’ll want you in the dining room but I guess we can just go down and see if Eli and Kellan are there. If they’re not, then, well, I don’t know . . .”
Then they would have stood her up.
Despite Kellan telling her to be there or else.
She shook off the feeling of abandonment. She didn’t even know these guys.
Besides, perhaps this had all been a big miscommunication.
But after checking the dining room from the entrance, discovering that their car was gone, and then finally asking at the desk if they’d left a message for her . . . she realized they really had left.
They’d stood her up.
Those. Bastards.
Arabella headed back up to her room, trying to pretend that she wasn’t hurt.
That she hadn’t been looking forward to having breakfast with them.
This was a good thing.
She couldn’t rely on anyone else to help her. She should know that by now. People just tended to let her down.
Well, except for Pop-Pop. Who she needed to contact to let them know she was all right. She’d briefly messaged Pop-Pop last night to let him know she’d made it okay.
Of course, she’d left out the part where she was stranded in her car.
No need for him to worry.
She was doing enough of that for the both of them.
After sending him another message and Wilma one too, she sat for a moment and thought about everything she had to do.
First things first, was see if she could stay in this room a bit longer. And then she’d have to find somewhere to live that allowed a dog.
Not that Horse will be staying with you permanently. He probably has his own home.
Right. She had to remember that.
And not feel abandoned just because he might one day leave her.
She headed downstairs to talk to reception. But just as she reached the front desk, someone walked up to her. Turning, she shied back, her heart rate increasing wildly.
Then she realized the man next to her was wearing a sheriff’s uniform.
Was this the sheriff of Haven? Had she done something wrong? Was she not allowed to be here?
Okay. Calm down.
He hasn’t said anything so you don’t actually know what is going on. And from your research you know that he takes care of everyone in Haven, but especially women on their own.
That part made her nervous, too.
She’d moved here for his protection. So she shouldn’t be scared of him.
Right?
Sure, that made sense logically.
Emotionally? She was freaking close to peeing herself.
Which was not the look she was going for.
“Ms. Bridges?” he asked.
She looked him over. He was a good-looking guy. Seemed calm and rational, but who knew what he was like on the inside. She was well aware that people could mask their true thoughts and feelings.
Since she was one of those people.
“Yes. That’s me. Have I done something wrong?”
He gave her a gentle smile. “No, of course not. I’m Sheriff Jake Reynolds. I just wanted to talk to you for a moment if I may?”
Sure, it was worded as a question. But she could tell that it was really a command.
So she nodded and he gestured to the large common area of the hotel which had a number of comfortable looking sofas, magazines on the table, and a coffee table.
“Would you like a coffee?” he asked. “My treat.”
“Umm.” Wasn’t the coffee free?
“That was a joke, Ms. Bridges. Sorry, my wife said that I should try using humor when trying to put someone at ease so they’re not frightened of me.”
“Oh. Um, sorry?”
“Don’t apologize. I should just stick with what I know.”
“Which is intimidating people?” she asked dryly.
He shot her a look.
“Um, sorry?” she squeaked.
Horse seemed to sense her unease and leaned into her legs with a glare up at the man.
Shoot. The last thing she wanted was for Horse to get into trouble with the sheriff. So she patted him reassuringly and tried to hide her unease.
To her surprise, the sheriff huffed out a laugh. “I guess it might be. Although I’m not trying to intimidate you.”
“I hate to tell you, but you’re not doing the best job.”
“Hmm. Let me get you a coffee. You look like you could use one.”
She did? Great. And she thought she’d done a pretty good job with her makeup today.
He returned with two coffees and some creamer. She poured a lot of creamer into her coffee. He raised an eyebrow but said nothing as she took a sip and sighed.
Okay, this might help kickstart her brain.
“How can I help you, Sheriff?” she asked, watching him carefully.
“Call me Jake. We’re going to get to know each other well.”
“We are?” Alarm filled her.
“Well, if you’re still planning to move to Haven. Wouldn’t blame you if you changed your mind after everything that’s happened.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“I mean after your interaction with Ravina last night.”
“Oh. Well, I mean, that wasn’t her fault.
It was mine. The rental doesn’t include animals.
She can’t bend that rule for me. Even though I didn’t know I was going to turn up with a dog.
And he’s only temporary. I think. If I can find his family.
I’m rambling. Sorry.” She took a deep breath in and let it out slowly.
“You don’t have to keep apologizing to me,” he told her in a gentle voice. “Why don’t you have another sip of coffee? Seems you had an eventful night.”
How did he know about any of this? She couldn’t imagine that Ravina would have called and told him.
So there was only one way he could really know, right?
“Which one told you?” she asked with a sigh.
“Which one?”
“Which Jones brother? It was Eli, wasn’t it?”
“Ahh, yes. He sent me a message around one in the morning.”
“Oh, he didn’t call you this morning?” she asked casually.
Although his eyes seemed to narrow. So maybe she hadn’t sounded as casual as she’d intended to.
“No, he didn’t call me this morning,” Jake replied. “I was actually surprised not to find him here with you. He said he was staying here as well.”
“I guess he and Kellan got called away by something.”
“Did they?” He gazed over her shoulder for a moment. “Well, here’s the thing, Ms. Bridges—”
“Arabella,” she interrupted him. Then she winced.
Her father had hated being interrupted.
“Arabella,” he said with a nod. “Do you still want to move here?”
“Yes, if I can. I do. Really. I do.” Great. Now she sounded desperate.
He smiled. “Good. When you were emailed the rental agreement, you also had to read up on some information about Haven and agree to it, right?”
“Yes, right,” she replied, wondering where this was going.
“That information included that all women in Haven have guardians. A husband or father usually. But for everyone who doesn’t have an assigned guardian, well, I watch over them.
That doesn’t mean I go around telling you what to do all the time.
It just means that I’m here to keep you safe.
With a few added extras. If you feel unsafe, you call the police.
But I will also do my best to ensure that you don’t put yourself in danger.
And if you do, well, we’ll have a few words. Understand?”
His voice was soft and he wasn’t being condescending or rude. But she still got the feeling she was being scolded.
“Right.”
“You just got here so you’re given some grace, but, Arabella, I would consider sleeping in your car in a public park putting yourself in danger.”
“I don’t understand. What did you want me to do? I looked for somewhere else to stay. I didn’t want to sleep in my car.”
“I get that. And you probably didn’t realize that you could call me at any time, but you can. I’m not upset and I’m not scolding you. But if that happens again, call me. I’ll give you my number.” He drew out a card and handed it to her.
“Thanks. But I don’t know if I’ll be able to find another rental at such short notice. It was difficult to find that one.”
He nodded. “Places don’t come up that often in Haven. And the council has preferences about who houses get rented to.”
They did?
Was that normal? She hadn’t rented a house before but she was certain that it wasn’t. Maybe it was a small town thing.
“But the good news is that everything is arranged for you to move into your original rental. I called Mrs. Taylor before I came to see you. She said she has no problem with a dog as long as you promise to have the house professionally cleaned before you leave at the end of the rental term.”
“I, yes of course I will. Is that . . . is that really true?”
He raised his eyebrows. “Of course. And don’t worry, you won’t have to deal with Ravina anymore. She might not live in Haven, so she’s not in my jurisdiction, however her aunt isn’t that happy with her. She said she’d have a chat with her.”
“Oh. Now I feel bad.”
“Don’t. Ravina likes to talk a lot of trash about Haven.
She’s not a fan. So, Ravina is supposed to deliver the keys to me by the end of today.
Knowing her that could be late, but luckily Mrs. Taylor has a spare set with a friend.
So, if you head over there in about an hour, Cliff Stockton will meet you there. Sound good?”
“That sounds amazing. Thanks, Sheriff.”
“Jake,” he said firmly.
“Jake.”
“Anything else you need to tell me?” he asked.
She thought about Lee. And her reason for coming here.
Should she tell Jake? He seemed like a good person. However, that didn’t mean that he was.
Appearances could be deceptive.
“I just want a new life. Away from the past,” she said.
He eyed her for a long moment and it seemed like he was going to disagree with her. However, all he did was nod.
“I understand that.”
Did he know who her father was? Or had been?
“But if there is anything worrying you or anyone scaring you, I expect to know first, am I understood?”
He spoke so sternly that all she could do was nod.
You really should tell him.
But it wasn’t like Lee had threatened her. And he hadn’t done anything to her.
So was she really going to tell Jake that she had a bad feeling about someone?
No. However, if it became more than a feeling, then she’d say something. But it was likely that she’d never see him again.
“All right. I’ll drop the keys off later if Ravina brings them in before I head home. Or tomorrow. All right?”
“Thanks, Jake. I appreciate it.”
He nodded and stood, eyeing Horse. “Big dog.”
“Um, yeah. I found him on the road by the Welcome to Haven sign. Have you ever seen him around?”
“Nope. Can’t say that I have. You’re going to try and find his owners?”
“You don’t think I should? They might be missing him.”
He grunted. “If they cared about him, I’m guessing I would have seen a flyer or heard about him. Seems like he likes you. And a woman alone needs protection. He’d scare most people, I’d say.”
That was a good point. Although she wouldn’t want Horse to get hurt in any altercation, so she was pretty certain that she’d be the one protecting him.
After Jake left, she went back to her room to grab her things before heading to reception to pay her bill.
“Um, what do you mean the room is fully paid for until the end of the week? It can’t be because I didn’t pay it.”
The woman gave her a worried look. “I’m just telling you what the system says. It’s fully paid for.”
“Does it say who paid it?” She didn’t know why she asked. There could only be one person who had paid for it.
Well, two people.
“I can’t tell you that. Sorry. Is there an issue?”
“No issue. I just need to talk to someone about this. I won’t be using the room, are you able to refund his card?”
“I’m sorry we can’t do that.”
With a sigh, she left. Well, she guessed if he wanted to waste his money it shouldn’t affect her.
But she would be paying him back.
If she ever saw him again.