Chapter 9 #2
“Not for us.” Tyler smiled again. He was almost always smiling, even when she’d gotten turned around shortly after they left Clementine.
“If you have everything ready for Monday now, then all you’ll have to do is roll the papers, load them, and deliver them.
Except if you have to put a flyer in, and that won’t take long. ”
They went back inside, and she did everything Tyler told her to do to get ready for Monday’s delivery.
When he said she was free to go, she was relieved.
And also surprised. This wasn’t going to be too bad.
Granted, driving up the mountain had been a little perilous, and she thought she was the only one who had noticed she was having trouble with some of the terrain.
“Well,” Tyler said, shuffling his feet a little. “Guess I’ll see you Monday.”
“Uh-huh.” She was already halfway across the room.
“Kalista?”
She turned around. Now he had his hands behind his back. “Do you know about the hoedown on Saturday?”
Not this again. She rolled her eyes. “Yeah. I’m staying at Bo’s with my stepmother.”
“Vivian is your stepmother? Cool. She’s a great lady.”
Kalista had to smile. “She definitely is.”
“Are you going then?”
She sighed. “It’s not like I have anywhere else to be.”
He smiled again. “Then I’ll probably see you there.”
“Sure.” She opened the back door and walked out, not wanting to think about the hoedown. Between Viv, Bo, the farmhands, and all the people working to get things ready and not having electricity for several hours yesterday, it was all so annoying.
She did ask Viv last night if there was a coffee shop anywhere close, and she said only the bakery in Clementine. But it didn’t open until nine. She was stuck drinking Viv’s coffee, and although it was pretty good, Kalista was really missing her daily cappuccinos.
“Bye, Kalista!” Tyler said, standing in the open doorway.
She gave him a less than enthusiastic wave and went to the truck, yawning as she got inside.
Now that she was finished working, she suddenly felt tired again.
Maybe she’d skip the coffee and go straight to bed.
But she also felt satisfied. She’d made it through her first day, and she was determined to make it through the summer.
Once she proved to her father that she could be responsible, he’d give her access to her phone, bank account, and charge cards again.
And once she had her trust fund money, she’d buy that Bentley— one twice as expensive as Bettany’s. Time to make her seethe with jealousy.
* * *
At four the next morning, Jade yanked the hood of her purple hoodie over her head and crept toward the dumpster behind the Clementine Inn.
After searching the premises as much as possible yesterday afternoon, Jade still hadn’t found her briefcase by the time Mabel and Clyde had processed the rush of guests and checked everyone in.
Right after that, Mabel had disappeared and hadn’t returned until after six o’clock.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here to help you look,” Mabel said when Jade met her at the front desk.
“Our daughter called and asked if I’d pick up my granddaughter Millie from daycare.
She was running a fever, and Kim couldn’t get off work.
I didn’t have a chance to let Clyde know before I left.
I felt bad about leaving him to deal with the rush of reservations.
I had no idea everyone would show up at once. ”
“Is she okay?” Jade asked.
“Yes. I gave her some Tylenol and she was sleeping when Kim arrived. She had a low fever and some sniffles, so I think it’s a cold.”
Jade was glad it was nothing serious—and said as much—but she still had to find her briefcase. “Clyde and Caroline said it wasn’t in the lost and found or the office.”
“It’s possible Phoebe picked it up before she got off her shift.” Mabel tapped her fingers on the reservation desk counter. “She’s one of our housekeepers.”
“Where would she have put it?”
“In the lost and found.” Mabel frowned.
“Could she have taken it with her?” Jade knew she was grasping at straws, but she was growing frantic.
“I don’t know why she would do that.”
“Can you call her and check?”
Mabel shook her head. “I wish I could. She finally got hitched to that navy boy she’s been dating forever, and they left for Miami right after she got off work.”
“Did she leave a phone number?”
“Not with us. Besides, she and Gary are going on a two-week cruise to Turks and Caicos. She’s gonna be out of pocket for a while.”
That put Jade into almost full-blown freak-out mode. She crossed her arms to hide her trembling hands.
“I’m sure Phoebe didn’t take it,” Mabel said. “That would be stealing, and we frown on that here in Clementine.”
Jade bit the inside of her cheek and nodded.
“Don’t worry, we will keep looking. I’ll also ask our guests if they’ve seen it.”
That was all Jade could ask for, but hope was slipping away. She thanked Mabel and spent the rest of the night in her room, kicking herself for being so irresponsible and dishonest.
Somehow she’d managed to fall asleep only to bolt awake an hour ago.
Could the briefcase be in the dumpster? It was a long shot, and it didn’t make any sense why someone would throw away a perfectly good briefcase and not just take it to the front desk.
Although she tried to dismiss the idea, she ended up pursuing it anyway.
She found the hoodie she’d packed in her suitcase at the last minute, slipped it on, and left the inn.
It was warm outside, but the hooded sweatshirt gave her a semblance of disguise.
Unlike other hotels she’d stayed at in the past, the Clementine Inn had only one streetlamp, and it was situated between the front parking lot and the back of the building.
Fortunately it gave her enough light to see by because she didn’t have a flashlight.
It was also fortunate that no one was around, and all of the rooms were dark on this side of the inn.
She walked around the medium-sized dumpster and didn’t see anything, not even a single piece of trash.
The outside of the container looked as clean as a freshly washed car.
The inside probably was not.
Jade stared at the dumpster lid on top of the container. It was split in two, with one side open and the other closed. She had to be certifiable to even consider climbing it and looking inside. But what if by some miracle her briefcase was there?
Placing her hand on the top edge of the container, she planted her tennis shoe–covered foot on the side—
“Hey!”
She slipped at the sound of a deep male voice and nearly landed on her backside. Dread filled every cell of her body, and she searched her mind for a cover story as footsteps neared, then slowed down.
“Jade?”
Sebastian? Of all the people to catch her climbing a dumpster.
.. Slapping a smile on her face, she slowly turned around.
“Hi,” she said, giving him an awkward little wave, as if they’d just run into each other in the frozen food aisle and not outside a huge trash receptacle. “What brings you by?”
While the streetlamp did provide some light, it wasn’t enough to see his face clearly. He shined his flashlight on her. “Newspaper delivery. We’re down a carrier, so I picked up this route. When I pulled into the parking lot and saw someone walking around the dumpster, I had to check it out.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?”
“No offense, Jade, but you’re not the size of a linebacker.
I can handle myself. Besides, this isn’t the big city, and we don’t have much crime here.
The last time Sheriff Thistle had to arrest someone was over a year ago, and that was for drunk and disorderly, which I thought might be what was going on.
Most folks around here are good, honest people. ”
She gulped.
“So... what’s a lady like you doing at a dumpster like this at 4:00 a.m.?”
She tried to chuckle, hoping it sounded light and airy instead of deranged. “I... I’m looking for something.” The truth, such as it was.
“Your briefcase?”
“No, we found that.” She was disturbed by how easily the lie slipped out.
“Where was it?”
“Phoebe picked it up. She’s one of the housekeepers. Did you know she finally got married to that navy guy she’s been dating? They went on a two-week cruise to Turks and Caicos.”
“Yeah, everyone knows about Phoebe and Gary. I’m more surprised that you know that.”
“Mabel is quite informative.”
“That she is. If you’re not looking for your briefcase, then what are you looking for?”
Of course he would ply her with twenty questions, or more.
“A bracelet.” It was the first thing that popped in her mind.
“I set it on the bathroom counter yesterday morning and forgot to put it back on. With, um, everything going on, I didn’t remember about it until early this morning, and when I couldn’t find it, I thought it might have fallen into the bathroom trash, but that had already been taken out.
I didn’t want to wake up Mabel and Clyde, so I came out here to see if it was in the dumpster.
” Oh no. Too many words. No way he would believe such an absurd story.
“Must be an important bracelet.”
Her irritation rose. Why couldn’t he just return to delivering the papers and let her be? “If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t be out here looking for it in the dumpster. I’m not an idiot.”
“I didn’t say you were. You’re one of the smartest, most capable people I’ve ever met.”
During the last two days, she’d been anything but smart or capable. The compliment was the last thing she anticipated from him, and it triggered that warm feeling she did not want to feel around Sebastian Hudson.
“Need some help?”
“I can do it.” She resumed her climbing position on the dumpster. Immediately, her foot slid down the side. Nuts.
He moved closer to her, handed her his flashlight, and dropped down, threading his fingers together to give her a foothold.