14. Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fourteen
He would be all right.
Simon kept that thought firmly in mind as he tramped around in the rain. He was soaked. Even the inside of his shoes were wet. There was a squishy feeling with each step. But he didn’t have time to worry about that. He had to find Gus.
He couldn’t imagine how scared Gus must be. Not only was he outside and alone, but there was still thunder rumbling through the night air. Thankfully, it was starting to fade off into the distance. Hopefully, they’d seen the worst of it.
As he looked around for Gus, he noticed there was a lot of damage from the storm. Most of it was from downed tree limbs. They wouldn’t know the true extent of the damage until the sun came up. At that moment, it felt as though daybreak was a long way off.
He could hear Jenna calling for Gus. Even though he’d told her to stay inside where it was safe and dry, she wouldn’t listen to him. She was insistent that she was going to help him find the dog.
He continued to work his way down the street while she worked her way up the street. He flashed the light here and there. He could only hope when Gus heard his voice that he would come out from wherever he was hiding. Simon shouted out Gus’s name. There was no response.
Rain ran down his face and dripped off his chin as he made his way back to the house without his faithful sidekick. He was really worried now. What if Gus had hurt himself?
And then he had a worse thought. What if Gus headed for the beach? The dog loved the beach.
But tonight there was flooding on the beach with a strong current. If Gus was to get caught in that fast-moving water—
Simon halted his thoughts. That wouldn’t have happened. Gus would have stayed away from the water.
But then Simon thought about how much Gus loved to run into the water up to his chest. He thought it was great fun. Gus was like a great big child, and children didn’t always recognize danger.
Simon picked up his pace as he retraced his steps. He prayed that Jenna had found Gus, but if she hadn’t, he knew where he had to check next.
Then he noticed the glow of Jenna’s flashlight as she headed in his direction. It was too dark to see if she had Gus or not.
Please let her have him. Please let him be safe.
But when Jenna came to a stop in front of him, she was alone. “I’m sorry.” She raised her voice to be heard over the storm. “I didn’t see any sign of him. What about you?”
“No luck. I’m going to check the beach.”
When he turned to walk away, Jenna reached out and grabbed his arm. “Don’t go down there. It’s dangerous.”
He realized it. And he wouldn’t put himself in harm’s way unless it was absolutely necessary. “I’ll be okay. I have to go.”
“Then I’m going with you.” There was a firmness to her voice.
“Jenna, no. You can’t. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“And I don’t want anything to happen to you either.”
He sighed. “I can’t just leave him down there.”
There was a strained pause. “We’ll go together as far as the dunes. But we’re not going in that water. It’s way too dangerous.”
He nodded. “Let’s go.”
He wasn’t making her any promises because if he saw Gus in the water, he would do anything he could to save Gus. They were bonded. Gus was like the little kid he never had and might never have.
Jenna reached out to him, slipping her wet hand into his. She gave him a squeeze as they made their way around the beach house.
Simon squinted into the darkness. “Gus!”
He aimed his flashlight toward the dunes. He didn’t see any sign of his beloved dog. When he reached the dunes, Jenna held firmly onto his hand. It was like she could read his mind, and she wasn’t going to let him take any chances.
When he tried to pull his hand free of her grasp, she tightened her hold. They both used their flashlights to search the area. There was a lot of debris but no sign of Gus.
Simon refused to give up hope. They would find him. Gus had been his buddy through the worst chapter in his life—when his real identity had been made public.
Gus had been by his side when their home had been vandalized in the middle of the night. Gus was there and protected him when angry readers verbally assaulted him on the street for killing off their beloved character.
And now when Gus needed him most, he had let down his best friend. His shoulders drooped under the weight of guilt and grief. This was not how their story was going to end. He refused to accept it.
The next thing he knew Jenna wrapped her arms around him. Her touch was comforting, but as they embraced in the rain, his gaze continued to search through the darkness for any sign of Gus. Where was he?
Jenna stepped back and once more took his hand in her own.
He noticed how cold her skin was. She needed to get out of this weather.
Even though the thunderstorm had moved on, and the wind was lessening, it was still raining.
And so when she gave a gentle tug on his arm, he reluctantly walked with her back along the path, around their beach house.
All the while he willed Gus to be waiting for them on the front porch.
When they reached the front of the duplex, he flashed his light from one end of the porch to the other. There was no sign of Gus.
Simon came to a stop at the bottom of the steps. Jenna was already on the second step when she paused and looked at him.
“Go ahead,” he said. “I’m going to stay here.”
“You’re soaked and cold. You need to come inside and warm up.”
He shook his head. “I can’t. Gus is out here.”
She retreated down the steps. She pressed her hands to her sides, and she craned her chin upward.
“I’m so sorry we can’t find Gus, but you aren’t going to do him any favors by staying out here in wet clothes.
And if you’re like me, your feet are wet too.
Now come inside. Get a hot, well, maybe lukewarm shower, and put on some dry clothes.
There’s nothing more we can do until the sun comes up.
Then I’ll pull together a search party. We will find him. ”
Unless he got caught up in the flood waters down on the beach. Simon immediately halted his troublesome thoughts. He had to think positively. They were going to find him.
Whether Simon wanted to admit it or not, Jenna was right. There was nothing more he could do until the sun came up. He climbed the steps.
Jenna stood on the porch and watched until he’d gone into his unit.
He felt absolutely awful. Gus, where are you?
Guilt dogged her.
Jenna kept replaying the events of the prior evening. Maybe if she hadn’t called out to Simon, he wouldn’t have been distracted—maybe then Gus wouldn’t have darted past him.
By the time she’d stepped into her place, her teeth were chattering.
She’d gotten a shower and used what was left of the hot water.
It had warmed her, but it hadn’t lessened the heap of guilt she was carrying around.
Maybe if she had held onto Gus when Simon had gotten off the couch to go get his phone, Gus would still be at home all safe and sound.
What did they say about hindsight being twenty-twenty?
After her shower, she’d put on shorts and a hoodie. When she’d opened her front door to look for Gus, she found Simon had put one of his chairs back on the porch.
He hadn’t noticed her open the door. It gave her a moment to quietly observe him. He just sat there, staring into the darkness, searching for his best friend. The scene tugged on her heartstrings.
When she’d checked on him a while later, Simon had been asleep in that uncomfortable chair.
She grabbed the blanket from the back of her couch and tucked it around him.
He moved repeatedly as though he were having a nightmare.
She thought of waking him, but didn’t dare. She knew how exhausted he was.
And then she’d gone back inside. Leaving the door ajar, she curled up on the couch. She wanted to be close by in case Simon needed anything.
But her eyelids grew heavy. She struggled to stay awake but quickly lost the fight. Although she didn’t sleep well. She kept waking up and listening for any sounds from Simon. When she didn’t hear anything, she put her head down and went back to sleep.
She finally gave up on sleep a little after six in the morning. There was no sound of wind or the pitter-patter of rain on the windows. In fact, there was the slightest hint of sunshine coming through the windows.
She got up and stretched. With her phone dead, she needed to borrow Simon’s phone in order to call in a search party. She would start with just her family, but she knew as soon as friends heard, they would step in to help—it was the Bluestar way.
She ran upstairs. She redid her ponytail and did her best to tame her curls. She brushed her teeth and then put on some more deodorant, just to be safe.
She ran back downstairs. She quietly opened the front door, not wanting to startle Simon. She really hated to wake him, but she knew the sooner they started the hunt for Gus, the better.
She stepped out onto the porch and looked in Simon’s direction.
She froze. She blinked just to make sure what she was seeing was actually there and not just a wishful dream.
But when she opened her eyes again, she found Gus sitting next to Simon with his head resting on Simon’s knee.
Simon’s hand was placed on the dog’s head, but Simon appeared to be sound asleep.
She wondered if he even knew that Gus was back.
Had he placed his hand on the dog’s head out of some sort of instinct?
Not that it mattered. The only important thing in that moment was that Gus was home. A smile pulled at her lips.
Gus lifted his head and looked at her. She stood still like a statue, not sure what to do. The last thing she wanted to do was startle Gus and have him run off again.
As it was, Gus looked wet and dirty. Wherever he’d spent the night, it hadn’t been comfortable.
She worried her bottom lip. Should she call out to Simon? Probably not. It would startle him awake, which could startle the dog.
She tiptoed toward Gus, hoping to slip her fingers around his collar. But Gus was keeping a wary eye on her. When she took a second step in his direction, he shifted his position, as though to run if necessary.
She held up her palms, as though to show him that he had nothing to worry about with her. And then she retreated. She had another idea.
She inched her way along the wall toward Simon’s place. With slow, steady steps she grew closer to Simon’s door. Keeping an eye on man and dog, she kept going.
At last her hand grasped the door handle. She let herself into the place. She told herself that Simon wouldn’t mind, since she was doing something to help Gus.
She made her way into the kitchen and was impressed that he kept everything neat and orderly. The food bowl was on the counter. The kibble was a little harder to find, but she finally located it in a cabinet. Lucky for her, there was a scoop inside, so she didn’t have to guess how much to feed Gus.
She grabbed Gus’s water bowl from the floor. She rinsed it out and refilled it. Armed with food and water, she retraced her steps.
She paused in the living room. There on the coffee table was Simon’s laptop. There were also some papers as well as a flash drive. But it was the dog leash that interested her. She struggled to scoop it up while still holding the water and food but she managed.
Setting aside the water bowl, she opened the front door.
She breathed a sigh of relief when she found Gus was still with Simon.
When the dog looked in her direction, she gave the bowl of kibble a gentle shake so he could hear the food.
The interest was evident in his big brown eyes, and then his tail started to pound on the porch.
She placed the kibble just outside of the door and the water next to it. Gus got up. His gaze moved from her to the food and back to her again. She retreated a couple of steps into Simon’s place.
That’s all it took for Gus to make a beeline for the food. She was guessing he was ravenous after his adventure. When he started to wolf down the food, she wanted to rush over and hook the leash on his collar, but she didn’t want to stop him from eating. So, she waited.
When he was just about finished, she gingerly tiptoed over to him.
Instead of him running from her, he stood his ground as he licked the bowl clean.
She linked the leash to the D-ring in his collar.
After his last bite, Gus turned his attention to the water bowl.
He lapped up the water like he hadn’t had a drink in days.
“Where did you find him?”
Simon’s voice caused her to jump. Her heart pounded in her chest. She had no idea he was awake.
With the leash firmly in her grasp, she turned to him.
“I didn’t find him. He found you. When I looked out this morning, he had his head in your lap.
I don’t know how long he was there. I wanted to wake you, but he seemed a little skittish, so I thought I would get him some breakfast. I hope you don’t mind. ”
Simon smiled and shook his head. “I don’t mind at all. I’m just so thankful that he’s home.”
Gus dribbled water across the porch as he rushed over to Simon. Gus jumped up on Simon’s chest, leaving a muddy trail on his clothing. The two totally loved on each other. Simon heaped praises on the dog while Gus gave him a bunch of dog kisses. And Jenna had never seen a more wonderful sight.