Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Roscoe the Driving Dog
GHOST
I ’d dropped Emily off, my heart fuller than it had been in years. And then I took Aubrey and her little family down to the staff housing on the property. There, the front yard of their cozy three-bedroom house had been decorated with signs welcoming the baby home, and balloons were tied to the door, while numerous packages were tucked to one side on the doorstep.
Once I’d walked the new family inside, it had been hard not to linger. Phineas was quiet, content. Aubrey and Wiley, though clearly tired, gave off the same air of fulfillment. And together, the three of them seemed complete in a way that made me so happy for my sister, and also doubled the loneliness I’d been feeling the past few years.
Meeting Emily had cast a light on the life I’d had before she’d walked into that elevator with me. I hadn’t recognized the darkness I held onto, how much it had widened and grown to shadow every part of me. I’d been thinking for a while that when the hunt concluded I would need to find something else to occupy my time. Now I was certain it was a different place altogether.
Of course I wanted to stay here, to be close to my sister and the family she was building.
But it wasn’t mine.
I was on the outside—now more than ever. And the recognition of that fact had things shifting around inside me, looking for a new way to fit.
“Thanks for everything, Ghost,” Wiley said, walking me out and shaking my hand as he pulled me in for a quick hug.
“Of course. Congratulations, man. I’m so happy for you guys.”
Wiley’s smile was all the answer I needed to know that they were ready for whatever adventure life and little Phineas had in store for them.
“I’m right up the hill. Just reach out for whatever,” I told him, heading back out down the snow-covered walkway to the SUV.
Once inside, I texted Emily to see what her plans were for the night, but an answer didn’t come back right away, so I put the phone down. I hoped to see her when I got back. It felt more like a need than a want, actually. I missed her already.
I pulled away from the curb, but found myself pulling right back over just one house down as Sasquatch bolted out his front door and waved me down. He and CeeCee had completed building their house just before the summer ended—Lucy’s company had gotten it rolling while they were on their honeymoon in South Africa, and the couple had only just finished moving in before the snow started a few days earlier.
“Hey Sass, what’s up?” I asked as he jogged up to the window on the passenger side.
“Just saying hi. Heard we’ve got a new KR staffer.”
I laughed. “Phineas isn’t even forty-eight hours old, we might hold off on giving him any real responsibility.”
My old friend grinned and nodded. “Wanna come in and see the place?” He glanced around, then a worried look passed over his face. “Or, are you probably pretty busy?”
I could always find things to do, but the contemplative mood I found myself in wasn’t necessarily anything I wanted to dwell in alone, so I accepted his invitation. Emily still hadn’t responded to my text.
The house was furnished simply but gave off a comfortable vibe. Sasquatch had always been a relatively easygoing guy, not one to drop loads of money on material things. I didn’t know CeeCee as well, but given that she ran the local adventure shop and enjoyed things like backpacking and rock climbing, I could guess she didn’t lean that way either.
“CeeCee home?”
“At the shop,” Sasquatch explained. “I sent Roscoe with her in case she had any trouble in the snow.”
I settled into the low couch and frowned at Sass. “Roscoe’s helpful in the snow?”
“He’s a very talented dog. He could go for help, keep her warm...hell, he could probably drive.”
“Your flunky service dog cannot drive,” I laughed.
“Careful how you talk about my dog, man.” Sasquatch laughed and gestured toward a bottle of Half Cat sitting on a bar car at one side of the room. “Quick sip and a catch up?”
“Sure.” It was just past five, and there was a good amount of stuff for me to check in on at the resort, especially with Wiley and Aubrey suddenly out, but I felt like I could use a friend for a minute or two. As he handed me a glass, I asked, “Things good with you guys? Married life is treating you well?”
He grinned, letting out a little chuckle. “Much better this time around.”
Sass had been married once before, in name only, and it had become a whole issue when he came up here and fell in love with CeeCee. But he’d really never expected to survive deployment, so he hadn’t been too worried about falling in love.
“Glad to hear it.”
“What’s going on with you and the writer chick?” Sasquatch dropped that grenade and then leaned back into his armchair, sipping his whiskey while I decided how much I wanted to share.
Clearly, everyone at the resort was already talking, no doubt thanks to my sister.
“I don’t even know. It’s new.”
“But you aren’t denying anything . . .”
“I mean . . . we just met.”
“That’s usually how things start.”
“Right.” I sipped my own whiskey, settling into the comfortable couch and making up my mind to open up a bit more than I usually did. Emily had that effect on me, maybe. After talking so much with her in the past couple days, it felt less foreign. And it had been a relief in some ways, to share my thoughts. My feelings.
Sasquatch just watched me, crossing one leg across the other and looking perfectly at home as he waited.
“She’s from San Diego,” I said, knowing her geography was really a minor issue. I wasn’t tied to the resort, as I was beginning to see. “She’s a travel writer.”
“Cool.”
“Yeah. But she writes mostly about San Diego, I guess.”
“So she came up here to write about the resort?”
“Used it as a way to pay for the conference, she said. She’s hoping to help solve the hunt and land a cover story.”
Sasquatch frowned. “Sounds kinda fishy. She using you?”
I blew out a breath, considering. “I guess that crossed my mind, but I don’t really think so. If I didn’t know her at all and someone told me what I just told you, I’d assume the same thing. But”—I shook my head—“No.”
“Okay.” His tone encouraged me to go on, and for a minute or two I just let the words spill out, retracing the evolution of my short time with Emily and concluding with the night we spent in the hotel.
“She’s just...I can’t really explain it. I feel more okay with her.” I didn’t know how to verbalize that it felt like Emily was pushing aside this curtain I didn’t even know was there, and I could see a whole world on the other side of it that we might go explore together someday.
Sasquatch smiled and his eyes shone. “I get that, man.”
“I told her. About Shazz.” Shazz was Jake Schaeffer’s callsign.
My friend’s brows rose. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“And?” he asked. “As far as I know, that topic is pretty much off limits.” It definitely had been. Until now.
“I mean...It’s not, but I guess I can see why you guys probably feel that way. Not something anyone enjoys reliving, you know?”
“Of course. But, how was it? Telling her? How’d she react?”
“Like you’d expect, I guess. Except, I didn’t really have expectations. And she was just kind, and forgiving—as much as a total stranger to the situation can be.”
“Did it take any of that weight off your shoulders?”
I lifted one of the shoulders he’d referred to. “Maybe?” It had, I thought.
“You think you guys might stay in touch then? When the conference is done? Try a long-distance thing?”
“I hope so.” I hadn’t thought a lot about what would happen when Emily left, but it was definitely creeping into my thoughts now, after the night we’d spent. I stared into the remnants of my whiskey for a second. “It’s quick, I know. But I feel like her showing up here is kind of a sign. Like she’s the thing that finally knocks me loose. Part of me wants to believe she’s the one for me.”
“Then go for it.”
“It’s a little crazy, though.”
“I don’t know much about love, Ghost. But I do know a fair bit about crazy. And when you put the two together, I can tell you a couple things. Number one, love doesn’t roll around often. And if you’re even thinking that’s what it could be, I’m guessing that’s what this is. Number two, love comes in a matched set with this other asshole—fear. Do not let that douchebag win.”
I laughed at his description. “Noted.”
“Fear tries to ruin things. Kick fear’s ass and take what life owes you.”
“Okay.” It was good advice, phrased in Sass’s less-than-traditional way. The guy wasn’t going to be hired to write greeting cards, but he made a point.
“You deserve to be happy, Ghost. And this shit happens when you’re not looking for it.”
“Thanks.”
We talked a little longer about the shop, about his plans with CeeCee to develop their own Kasper Ridge line of gear, and then I headed back up to the resort.
There were two things I really wanted to do after I checked to make sure everything was on track with the conference: check out room 515, and find Emily. Not necessarily in that order.