120 days... (18 page)

“Let me take care of it.” He continued before she could speak, “Please, let me do this for you. Seriously, I speak his language.”

“What is that?
Man
?” Sam narrowed her eyes at him, afraid that was exactly what he meant.

He smirked at her. “Something like that. Actually, since I’ve worked in a garage, I can let him know, nicely, that I know what he’s been doing, and he’d better not ever do it to you again, or to anyone else. Better?”

“Yes, that will work. For now.” Sam leaned back in her seat and opened up the folder to double-check what they needed, and she relaxed to the music coming out of the speakers. She looked up when Ethan started to slow down and frowned. There was a sheriff’s cruiser blocking the road.

When the van stopped, he walked over to the window Ethan had rolled down. “What can I do for you?”

“Where are you headed?”

“This is Samantha Truman from Last Resort,” Ethan said. “We’re going down into city for supplies.”

“Ma’am.” The deputy tipped his hat at her. “You’re going to want to spend the night down there.” He pointed up behind them. “Big storm, strange storm. It’s coming down from the northeast. That’s why it’s still relatively sunny here and the ocean is calm.” He pointed over the hood of the van toward the waves of the Pacific. “It’s washing the roads out up there and it’s heading down the canyons. You have enough time to get ahead of it and find a place a lot more comfortable than this van for the night, or longer.”

“Are you sure we have enough time to get the rest of the way down without getting stranded?”

“We’ve been monitoring the road. We spoke with everyone who uses this road to get to their residences, and you were the only two who were unaccounted for. Everyone else is either staying in their homes or in town. If you made it to this point, we calculated you’d have enough time to make it past the last bridge before the water hits.”

“But I need to get back to my resort. What if they need me?” Sam was willing to unbuckle her seatbelt and walk back up if she had to. She couldn’t leave them alone up there.

The deputy’s face became stern. “There is someone up there to make sure everything is fine. You’re at a high enough elevation, there shouldn’t be too much damage to your place. As soon as it is safe, you’ll be one of the first allowed back up there.”

“That’s not good enough. Don’t you understand what the resort is?” She couldn’t keep her anger from her voice. She was always taught to respect authority, but she needed to get through to him how important it was. “There are guests up there who are very sick and need twenty-four hour care. I need to be there for them.”

Ethan turned toward her and held her hands. “Sam, you need to calm down. There’s nothing you can do now. You may not be able to get up there, but no one else can come down either. All the staff are up there and they know just as well as you do what needs to be done. They can watch the place for you. It will be okay.”

Squeezing his hands tightly, she didn’t want to let go. She felt like he was the calm within this storm and if she was going to make it until they were able to return, she was going to have to rely on him to keep her grounded. “But what if it’s a week before we can get back up there?” Unable to hold them back, tears ran down her cheeks. “So much can happen in a week.”

“Shhh . . . it will be okay. Do you remember who I am? If anyone can get you back up there as soon as it’s safe, it’s me. Hell, if I have to, I’ll rent a helicopter and we’ll fly up there with whatever’s needed. You can call and check in. Let’s look at this as a kind of adventure we can have together and not about what’s going on back at the resort.”

“You’re going to have to help me,” she whispered. “I’m not sure I can do this on my own.” She felt both weak in asking him and happy she was able to.

“Will you put yourself in my hands for the next twenty-four hours, or more if needed? I’ll make sure you’re completely distracted and have an amazing time.”

“I’m not sure I’ll be able to 100 percent forget.”

He cupped her cheek with his hand. “And I wouldn’t expect you to. I’ll try my best, if you try yours.”

“Looks like we may have a deal.”

“Excellent.” Ethan turned back toward the deputy. “Thank you for the information. Is there a specific number we can call for updates?”

“Here.” He handed Ethan a card. “You can call this as often as you need to. Once it blows out of here, we’ll start clearing the roads going to your resort first.”

“Thank you so much,” Sam said. “That really means a lot.”

The sheriff tipped his hat at them again, backed away and waved them through. When they went over the bridge, Sam watched the water flowing quickly past. It was higher than normal and she wondered if there was more to come and if it would go over the bridge. If it was washed out, it could be longer before they were able to get back.

“Why don’t you go over your list again? We’ll be at the store soon.”

Grateful for a distraction, she refocused her attention on the list, trying to block out what could be going on up at the resort while she was heading toward the city, on what still felt like a date.

The sun had been shining when they went into the warehouse style bulk store, but by the time they came out two hours later, it was pouring. Ethan had done a good job of distracting her while they were in the store, but seeing exactly how much rain was pouring down, Sam worried about the resort and the guests.

“Wait here,” Ethan said. “I’ll go get the van. This way maybe everything won’t get sopping wet.”

“Sure, we can try.”

The parking lot was eerily quiet with everyone taking refuge in either their car or the store. Soon enough, Ethan pulled up, getting as close as he could to the small overhang she stood under. As soon as he was out and opening the doors, she started handing him boxes, surprised at how cold the rain was. Focusing on the task at hand, they quickly loaded everything and jumped back into the van. Shaking from the cold, Sam rubbed her arms.

Ethan started the engine and turned the heat on full blast. “Here.” Ethan climbed out of his seat and rummaged around the box of supplies she kept in each van, pulled out a blanket and draped it around her shoulders. “This should help.”

“But . . . I think . . . you’re . . . wetter than . . . I am,” she said, her teeth chattering.

“I always run hot.” He winked at her. “I’ll be fine.”

“Why, yes . . . yes, you are.” Her lips twitched.

“You must be starting to warm up.”

“I am.” She leaned forward and looked up at the sky. “What are we going to do?”

He hesitated. “We could always stay at my place until it clears up. I probably should check on it, I haven’t been back in weeks.”

Sam analyzed his hesitation. Was it because he didn’t want to take her to his house? Or was he being a gentleman? She knew she had to make a quick decision and couldn’t spend hours debating his meaning. “It does make the most sense, but how far away is it?”

“Actually, it’s not far at all. So when the weather clears, we’ll be able to get back up to the resort.”

“Okay, yes. Take me home.”

Ethan didn’t know why her words meant so much to him. Was it because she used the word home? Or could it be because she was trusting him to take care of her? Either way, it was something new to him. He felt like a teenager wanting to impress the girl he had a crush on, which was the truth.

First they stopped by the costume shop, since it had ended as a draw. They had no choice but to pick up what their teams had picked out for them. They were under strict orders not to peek. They were told where to go to collect the costumes, but they had to swear not to look at them until the day they were to wear them.

Hopping back into the van, Ethan hung the large plastic bags up in the back. “Gee, lucky they’re protected. Wouldn’t want them getting wet.” He shook his head, trying to get some of the excess water off his hair.

“Hey! Trying to dry off over here.” Sam looked over at the bags. “Maybe we should check to make sure they didn’t get wet?”

“Samantha Truman, are you suggesting we should peek? After we swore we wouldn’t?”

She folded her arms across her chest and stuck out her bottom lip slightly. “Fine.”

Laughing, he turned the engine over and pulled out of the parking lot. Winding his way through the familiar streets, he pulled up to the keypad at the entrance to his garage. Punching in the numbers, he looked up at his three-story row house which had originally been two separate houses before he’d remodeled it. He remembered the pride he’d felt when it was completed and it was his. Back then, it was a way to show everyone how much money he had. No expense had been spared, and he’d wanted the best, and he’d wanted everyone driving or walking by his house to know it.

Now he was almost embarrassed by it. Spending so much money on something so frivolous when he could have spent half the money he did and it would still have been the nicest house on the block. He knew better than to overbuild for the area, but at the time he didn’t care.

After parking, they walked up the steps into the house and into the living area. Looking around at the modern clean lines, he was faced with another aspect at how different his home was when compared to hers. Even if he took away the cost, they were vastly different. Remembering the time he’d spent there, he could say hers felt completely like a home, like everyone was welcome, just like the resort. It didn’t matter who you were, she opened the door for you, invited you in, and accepted you. While he used to like his home, now it felt cold, like he had been before meeting Sam.

He rubbed the back of his neck. “So, yeah, this is where I live.”

She turned and looked at him over her shoulder as she walked to the wall of windows which looked out toward the bay. “I hope so, otherwise, I’m assuming the cops should be showing up soon.”

Chuckling, he crossed the room to join her. “The view is spectacular. That was part of the reason I bought this property.”

“If I wasn’t so worried about my guests, I’d still love this view. I’m sure it’s nice to sit and watch the changing weather, not to mention the sunset.”

“Oh, yeah. It is nice.” He tried to remember the last time he’d sat and simply enjoyed something as breathtaking and beautiful as a sunset from his window, but couldn’t. There was no time to sit and smell the roses when you were building an empire. “We’ll have to plan for you to come back when it’s clear so you can see for yourself.”

“Sounds good. But we should probably bring everything inside so things can dry out, and we can put the food in the refrigerator. I’m going to call the resort and see how things are going up there.”

“Feel better?” Ethan said after she got off the phone with Phil.

“Oh, so much better.” She smiled. “They’re all having a blast telling spooky stories. You know, the ones that all start with, ‘It was a dark and stormy night . . . ’”

“Great.” Ethan rolled his eyes. “I hope no one has nightmares tonight.”

“They’re all going to try to bunk together in the main house and rec center. Easier than keeping track of everyone in the cabins. We always have rollaway beds in both places. We sometimes have sleepovers, and this way everyone can be comfortable.”