CHAPTER NINE
Sunday morning, Alex waved goodbye as Rudy Ryder—the town’s only cab driver—pulled away, taking her latest disaster to the airport.
Frankly, she wasn’t sure how she’d survived the weekend with Drake. Or how she’d missed so many red flags while with him in NYC.
He was like a menopausal chameleon on a roller coaster—hot and cold, sweet then sarcastic, playful then petulant. Way too moody. And don’t get her started on the drinking.
Their time in New York had been magical, their time in Green Valley Falls a disaster.
Small-town quaint had not scored any points, and they parted with an unspoken acknowledgment that the long-distance experiment had failed spectacularly.
Alex called the time of death on their relationship as the cab passed under the Whispering Pines sign.
As soon as the taxi pulled out of sight, she sighed and returned to her cabin. Her cell phone buzzed on the table.
“Hey, Pops,” she said, throwing out a leg and dipping into a stretch. She’d already dressed for a run and had just been waiting for Drake to leave.
“Hi, baby girl. Just checking in. How was the big weekend? Is Prince Charming gone?”
“For good,” Alex said. “I thought he might be different, but you know how it goes? Easy come, easy go.”
“I’m sorry. Is that why I didn’t get to meet him?”
“Yeah, not worth your time. Or any further conversation. Did you buy a lock last night? I’m gonna squeeze in a run before the rain hits, but I can swing by after to install it. Give me an hour?”
“Don’t worry about it. All taken care of.”
Alex frowned. “By who? Why didn’t you call me?”
“I knew you were busy with your fella. A guy I met at The Tool Shed helped me out. He’s actually staying in number twelve. Brody?”
Alex had taken a sip of water and spewed it at the revelation. “What? How’d that happen? What was he doing at the hardware store?”
“Oh, uh, I don’t know,” Pops stammered. “Checking things out?”
She sensed caginess, but didn’t have time to pursue it. Popping in her earbuds, she clicked over to the weather app and checked the radar. It showed a full hour until the rain would hit them.
“All right. Well, that’s good, I guess. As long as you’re safe. I haven’t seen the news today. Anything new on The Grocer?”
“Lots of speculation. Nothing for certain. I don’t like the idea of you being out there all alone. Maybe you should come stay with me.”
“We’ll see.” She slipped the phone into the thigh pocket of her leggings, locked the door, and started down the trail to the parking lot. “It’s true there’s not much going on here. Except for cabin twelve, everything’s empty. I need this guy caught. He’s killing business.”
“Better business than people,” Pops quipped. “He’s supposed to be very dangerous. Promise me you’ll be extra careful. Especially running around in the woods.”
“Will do. I’m actually headed out now. If it makes you feel better, I’ll call when I get back.”
“Yes, please do.”
“Fine. Give me forty-five minutes or so.”
She clicked off and as she switched over to her music app, Daisy waddled into the parking lot.
“Oh, crap,” Alex muttered. “I forgot about you. I’ll feed you after my run, okay? Go wait by my cabin.” She pointed up the trail.
“You must have that thing trained pretty well. Will it really do what you say?” a male voice said from behind.
Alex spun around. Brody. Of course. “Doubt it. But I don’t want to be down here in the rain, and I haven’t fed her since Friday.” She noticed the camera slung around his neck. “You know rain’s inbound, right?”
He looked skyward. “Actually, no. I didn’t.”
“You have about an hour till we get a pretty good drenching.”
“Okay. Thanks for the warning.”
Awkward silence. Just as she was about to thank him for helping Pops, he put up a hand to say goodbye and moved on.
She upped the volume on the music, stuffed the phone into her pocket, and set off. The steady beat of her feet hitting the ground set the pace for her breathing. Soon, her heartbeat synced with the rhythm, completing the symphony that soothed her mind.
What had she been thinking with Drake? Of course he wasn’t the kind of man who would ever adapt to small-town living. And as he’d proved the last two days, he wasn’t even the type who would try. Luckily, she hadn’t been too invested.
It was better this way. Now she could focus on the business.
A business that would be on the verge of trouble if she didn’t get some renters.
The bills for the remodel work and the rec cabin supplies would come due soon.
There was some buffer from the loan, but this wasn’t a great way to start her foray into the business world.
She kept watch for roots and rocks under her feet. Part of what she loved about trail running was that she had to pay attention to everything. Focus was key and made it impossible to get too distracted. Unfortunately, distracted was exactly what she was.
Pops’ warning about the fugitive had gotten to her.
Every twig snap or loud bird caw had her on edge.
She pulled out her phone and pumped up the tunes, but after a second, realized that was just dumb.
Putting her head in the sand wouldn’t keep her safe.
Instead, she turned off the music completely and focused on the surrounding noises.
Circling the final bend, with only a quarter mile to go, she startled at a sound in the bushes and missed her footing. Her toe caught on a protruding root, and she felt herself falling before she could register what had happened.
She threw out her other foot to catch herself, twisting her ankle in a painful, unnatural way.
“Ahh,” she yelled as the ground rose up for a kiss.
Hands outstretched, she kept herself from a total face-plant, but still ended up on all fours, knees burning, and an intense pain shooting up her left leg. She turned and sat on her butt. Just as the pitter-patter of rain started.
Yes. Of course. The cherry on top of her week. Business tanking. Relationship imploded. And now, stuck, injured in the woods in a rainstorm. Had her luck finally run out?
There were trees everywhere. Maybe she could find a thick branch to use as a walking stick. It was really her only hope of getting out of here. She crab-walked to the nearest tree and leaned against the trunk, wheezing through the pain.
The drizzle quickly turned into a downpour, and the canopy of fiery leaves did nothing to keep her dry. Twenty minutes later, her ankle had doubled in size, and she was drenched.
Her phone had no signal, and the thought of crawling out of here, which was rapidly becoming her only option, had her eyes burning.
Alex wasn’t a crier. Couldn’t remember the last time she had. But she had to admit, this was pushing her limits.
No, she thought. This will not beat me. She took a deep breath and forced herself to think. The parking lot may be a quarter mile away—no way she was making it that far—but the outer cabins were much closer. In fact, cabin twelve was probably only a football field away.
If she could make it there, she could sit on the covered porch and call her friends for help. Maybe she could even do it without Brody finding out. He’d seen her in enough embarrassing situations.
Could she hop on one foot that far though? She gingerly set her foot on the ground, winced in pain, and then groaned in defeat. A hundred yards might as well be a hundred miles. She wasn’t even sure crawling was an option. It would have to be more scooching backward, crab-walk style.
Cold, wet, and desperate, she saw only one other alternative. She closed her eyes, crossed her fingers, and yelled.