Pet Friendly (6 page)

CHAPTER 8

E
mma kept stealing glances at Todd while she drove to the rest stop. It was hard to believe she'd just been thinking about him and now there he was in the flesh. Of course, it wasn't as if he'd come there to see her, but after the way things between them had ended, she never imagined she'd see him again.

It had been thirteen years, she thought. Thirteen long years since they'd seen each other. A lot had happened since then.

Emma had still been living with her mother back then, moving from place to place, changing schools twice or three times a year, and spending her summers working at the inn and trying to piece together enough of what she'd gleaned in the classroom to keep from being held back the next school year. She'd eventually graduated, gone to college, and been in and out of some bad relationships, but on the outside, she really hadn't changed all that much. Todd, on the other hand, looked like a completely different person.

He'd been a skinny teenager with thick glasses back then, a shy boy who'd struggled to keep up with her as they roamed the backwoods, climbing trees and jumping streams. Now Todd was a head taller, the glasses were gone, and she could tell there was muscle under the old sweatshirt he was wearing. As Emma watched him from the corner of her eye, she wondered if his memories of her were as fond as the ones she had of him.

“I still can't believe you own the old inn,” he said.

“Yeah, there'd been some hints over the years, but I never thought Gran was serious about leaving it to me. It felt like winning the lottery.”

“When I saw it from the trail, it was as if I'd just left. The outside looks exactly the way I remembered it.”

“There have been a few changes,” she said, “but you're right. The building is pretty much the same as when your family was here last.”

He cleared his throat, looking shamefaced.

“I'm sorry you never heard from me. Things got pretty hairy after my dad died. He didn't believe in life insurance and we didn't have much in savings. I pretty much became the man of the house.”

“Forget about it.” She glanced at him. “It was a long time ago.”

“It wasn't really my choice,” he added hastily. “I wanted to write, but my mother wouldn't let me.”

Emma smirked. If there was one thing she'd learned from her Gran, it was that you don't blame others for your bad behavior.

“What did she do? Lock up all the pens and paper?”

She'd said it without thinking and it surprised her to hear how much venom there was in her voice.

“No, but she asked me not to,” he said. “What else could I do?”

“Oh, I don't know. What does the man of the house usually do?”

Todd's face clouded. “I said I was sorry.”

“I know.” Emma softened. “I guess I was just a little more upset about it than I thought. Apology accepted.”

There followed a few minutes of uncomfortable silence. Emma felt sorry for giving Todd a hard time, but it wasn't as if her life had been any easier back then. Had it never occurred to him that sharing their experiences might have helped them both? Still, she thought, it wasn't her place to criticize, especially now, when he'd just lost his dog.

She began scanning the woods on either side of them.

“What does this dog of yours look like, anyway?”

“He's small, with kind of wiry white fur, and he's got a tan patch over one eye, but if he's been running around in the mud, you might not be able to tell.”

“Any particular breed?”

“Nope. Just a mutt.”

The turnoff for the rest stop was ahead on the right. As Emma drove into the parking lot, her truck's headlights swept across the only other vehicle there—an old Jeep Cherokee covered in road grime. It had to be at least fifteen years old, she thought, feeling a bit let down. Todd must not be doing so well.

“Is that yours?” she said.

“Yeah.”

Emma pulled into the space next to the Jeep and looked around. The rest stop had a wide grassy area that sloped sharply downward about fifty feet from the parking lot. There were bathrooms off to the left and a couple of picnic tables on either side of the concrete path that divided the space down the middle. If there was a dog out there, however, she didn't see any evidence of him.

“Where were you guys when he got away?”

“Right here,” Todd said. “I hadn't even stopped before Archie opened the window and took off.”

Emma looked at him. “He opened the window by himself ?”

“Yeah. I thought maybe it was an accident at first, but now I wonder if it was something he learned from Uncle Bertie.”

“Wait a minute. Is this the Uncle Bertie who was a circus clown?”

Todd laughed. “Did I tell you about him?”

“Oh, my gosh. I used to think that was the coolest thing I'd ever heard of. For years, I wanted to join the circus like your uncle did. Is he still performing?”

“No,” Todd said. “He died last week. That's how I got Archie.”

“Oh, Todd.” Emma put her hand on his shoulder. “I'm sorry.”

She paused for a moment.

“Wait a minute. You mean Archie's still alive? He must be ancient.”

“No, this is a different Archie. Uncle Bertie had a whole series of dogs with that name.”

“And they were all circus dogs?”

“Pretty much. This last one mostly did kids' birthday parties, but he knows a lot of tricks.”

“Well, even a smart dog can get lost in the woods,” she said, reaching over and grabbing the flashlight from her glove box. “Come on. Let's go take a look.”

They searched the rest stop for twenty minutes while the dusk deepened and the rain intensified. Todd and Emma yelled themselves hoarse calling for the little dog, but Archie either couldn't hear them or didn't want to be found. When the two of them finally turned and trudged back to the truck, the only sound they heard was the squelching of their shoes.

Todd looked dispirited. “Do you mind if we wait a few more minutes? He might still turn up.”

“Okay,” she said. “But let's get back in the truck. My teeth are starting to chatter.”

Emma started the engine and turned on the heat. It didn't take long before the windows began to fog up.

“I'll fix that,” he said.

Todd stripped off his wet sweatshirt, revealing a T-shirt underneath that clung to him like a second skin. As he started wiping down the glass, Emma tried not to stare.

“I can have housekeeping launder that when we get back, if you'd like.”

He shrugged. “That's okay. I've got plenty of dry clothes in the Jeep.”

As Todd worked his way across the windshield, she kept her eyes on the trail that had led him to the inn. There was no sign of anything even remotely resembling a small white dog out there, but at least it distracted her from ogling Todd.

I've been alone too long,
Emma thought.
I'm becoming shameless.

“You see something?” he said, following her gaze.

Emma shook her head. “Nope. I don't see anything.”

Todd sat back and tossed his sweatshirt onto the floor. Between the effort of looking for Archie and clearing the windows, he'd begun to sweat, and in the close confines of the truck's cab, Emma found the effect intoxicating. There was something she still found very attractive about Todd, she realized, and bit her lip. He wasn't wearing a wedding ring, either, which was encouraging. What was it he'd said about his mother bugging him to get married?

“Why don't we head back?” she said. “Maybe someone's seen him up at the inn.”

“Maybe.” Todd was still watching the woods. “The inside seemed a lot different, but maybe I'm just misremembering.”

It took her a second to figure out that he was talking about the inn.
He doesn't want to give up yet,
she thought.
He's stalling for time.

“You're right,” she said. “When business started going downhill about eight years ago, Gran decided to come up with a theme that would attract new customers. She and Clifton liked the idea of tying it in with the age of the building—”

“Hence the Victorian stuff.”

“Right. The antiques, the stained glass, all the period pieces you see in the lobby, are in the rooms, too. And everything just clicked when she discovered that the place was haunted.”

Todd's head swiveled. “Haunted? You're kidding.”

“Nope. Gran and Clifton did some digging into the history of the inn and found out about it. We've had people come from all over the world hoping to encounter one of our ghosts.”

“And do they?”

“Who knows?” She shrugged. “I've never encountered one myself.”

“So the new theme worked.”

Emma paused, thinking about her current financial struggles.

“More or less. I worry sometimes that we're dependent upon a pretty limited clientele, but they're loyal and it's hard trying to differentiate yourself from the big chains.”

He looked back out the window.

“I can imagine.”

“So,” Emma said, “what are you doing with yourself these days?”

Todd hesitated, looking uncomfortable.

“I'm in a period of transition at the moment,” he said. “I left my old job a few months ago and now I work at home part-time.”

Emma nodded.
Well, that settles it,
she thought. A period of transition? Working part-time from home? Todd was definitely down on his luck. She sighed.
Why am I always attracted to the losers?

Todd set his hand on the door.

“I'd better let you get back to work. I'll get the Jeep warmed up and follow you in a few minutes.”

As the door clicked open, he shook his head.

“I keep thinking that Archie must have seen a squirrel,” he said. “Why else would a dog just take off like that?”

Emma shrugged. “Maybe he saw a ghost.”

CHAPTER 9

B
y the time Todd stepped into his hotel room, he was exhausted. It had been a long day of driving on top of a pretty sleepless night when Archie ran away, and that had been more than two hours ago. Cold, hungry, and sick with worry, he was too tired to set his burden down gently. He opened his hands and let the suitcase and dog carrier crash to the floor.

Archie might be trapped somewhere, he thought, or hurt. A coyote or a black bear could have eaten him. Had he run out onto the highway and been hit by a car? Was he shivering and wet, in danger of starving to death? The myriad ways a little dog could be killed or injured flashed through Todd's mind like a montage of disaster.

He stripped off his clothing and stepped into the shower. Once he was clean and wearing warmer clothes, he'd get himself some dinner and figure out what to do next. There had to be an emergency vet or an animal shelter around somewhere. He'd give them a call and see if anyone had brought in a small white dog. After that, well, who knew?

At least he had a place to stay that wasn't a smelly, run-down kennel. When Todd thought about the Dog Days Inn, it made him shudder. He'd probably be spending the night in his Jeep if Emma hadn't offered to take Archie in. Todd hoped she knew how grateful he was. He could never have left the area without knowing what had happened to the little dog.

He dried himself off and put on the complimentary robe that was hanging on the back of the door, then walked out to the bedroom, picked up his suitcase, and keyed in the four-digit security code. It was ridiculous having luggage that was as impregnable as Fort Knox. Todd would have exchanged it for something simpler, but Gwen's father had made a big deal about that particular feature and he knew the old man would take it personally if he found out Todd had gotten rid of it—which he would. Living with Gwen was like having her father's spy in the house.

The suitcase didn't open.

Maybe his fingers were damp. Todd wiped his hand on the robe and tried a second time. Once again, the lock refused to budge. He tried a third time and swore in frustration when it didn't open. Even the correct combination wouldn't work now, he thought. After three incorrect entries, the lock required a one-hour time-out. Todd was too tired and too hungry to deal with another setback just then. There was a restaurant just off the lobby. He glanced at the pile of damp clothing on the floor.

While he waited for his food to arrive, Todd took a tour of the room. He was tempted to stretch out on the bed, but he knew that the second his head hit the pillow he'd be wrecked and there was still too much to do before he could let himself sleep. Besides, he was curious to see what a so-called haunted hotel room looked like.

Emma's grandmother had furnished the place with some very nice Victoriana. Mostly reproduction pieces, but a couple of curios on the nightstand looked as if they might be the real thing. As he crossed the room to the window, he suddenly realized that he'd been in this room before. It surprised him, too, because he and his family had never rented a single when they stayed at the inn. His mother had always insisted they get a suite so that the four of them could stay in the same room.

So why was this one so familiar? The same feeling he'd had out in the woods came back to him. He was sure he'd been in there before. Todd scanned the room, searching his memory for a clue. Was it in the closet? He opened the door and winced. Even after all these years, the smell of cedar was as bracing as smelling salts.

He found what he was looking for at the back of the closet. Crudely carved into the cedar lining, two sets of initials—his and Emma's—that he'd put there the summer he turned fourteen, their secret hidden from prying eyes. For years, Todd had put any thoughts of the Spirit Inn out of his mind. Now he found himself flooded with happy memories.

 

He'd been eleven the first time he met Emma. She was a year younger than he was, and he remembered his mother commenting that she looked small and underfed. If she was, though, he'd never have known it. Back then, Emma wore a knife strapped to her right leg, “just in case,” and could climb a tree like a monkey. Todd had thought her very brave. In subsequent years, she dropped the tough-kid act, but she was never completely at ease around other people. The summer he turned thirteen, Todd spent the entire week trying to work up the courage to kiss Emma, only to have her punch him in the stomach when he finally did. The year he turned sixteen was the last time they were together, and by then their friendship had blossomed into something that felt a lot like love. Since then, those summers at the Spirit Inn seemed more like fairy tales than something that had actually happened.

Todd ran his index finger over the letters he'd carved in the fragrant wood. Seeing Emma again had been a pleasant surprise. From the little his mother had told him about her circumstances, he knew she'd had a tough childhood and he was glad she'd gotten a chance to make something of herself. A few breaks in life could make the difference between doing well and falling to the bottom. It was nice to know that Emma was the kind of person who'd make the most of any breaks she got.

There was a knock on the door. He ducked out of the closet and let the waiter in. As the man set the table and laid out the covered dishes, Todd felt his mouth begin to water. He reached for his wallet and the waiter shook his head.

“Compliments of the house.”

Todd stood there awkwardly, so focused on the food that he was temporarily at a loss. Then he took out a ten, handed it to the man, and hustled him out the door.

“Thank you, sir,” the waiter said. “Enjoy your meal.”

 

Todd did enjoy his meal, and when it was over he finally allowed himself to lie down. The staff had been told to keep an eye out for Archie and the animal shelters were closed for the night. There wasn't much more he could do for the little dog now but rest and start looking for him again in the morning. He glanced at the suitcase.

Todd took out his phone and started looking through the list of passwords, log-in IDs, and PIN numbers that he kept there. He found the code for the suitcase and frowned—he'd been entering the right one all along, so why hadn't it worked? He tried it again.

Still no luck. If it had been any other type of case, he could have picked the lock or even broken it to get his things out, but a pipe bomb wouldn't have helped with that thing. Once again, Gwen and her family had put him in a fix.

He looked at the clothes sitting in a heap on the floor. For the time being, at least, they were all he had to wear. Emma had offered to have the housekeeping staff launder them. Maybe it was time to take her up on the offer.

When the housekeeper had gone, Todd got into bed, leaving the robe within easy reach in case someone came to the door. Then he took out his phone and called Gwen. The number rang five times before kicking him over to her voice mail. He left a brief message telling her where he was and that he'd call again in the morning, but didn't say anything about Archie. After the argument they'd had over whether or not to keep him, Todd wasn't sure he wanted to hear Gwen's reaction when she found out the little dog was missing. He supposed his next call should be to Claire, but Todd was reluctant to tell his sister what had happened. She might have held her tongue once, but if she found out that Archie was lost, the gloves would come off. And there was no way he was going to tell her where he was staying, either. Knowing his sister, she'd see it as an open invitation to try to get Todd and Emma back together again. It would be safer, he thought, and much easier just to call his mother and have her pass the news along.

“Where are you staying?” his mother asked when he got her on the phone.

“Do you remember the Spirit Inn?”

“Of course. We stayed there lots of times when your father was alive.”

“The rest stop where Archie took off is just down the road from there. I didn't even realize how close it was until I literally walked up to the back door.”

“My goodness,” she said. “Has it changed much since we were there?”

“Inside it has, yeah. But from the outside it looks exactly the same. Do you remember the owner's granddaughter, Emma?”

There was a pause.

“Yes,” she said. “She used to play with you and Claire.”

“Well, she owns the place now. We ran into each other in the lobby and she drove me back to the rest stop to help me look for Archie.”

“Oh. Well, that was nice of her.”

Todd frowned. Had the news about Emma made her uncomfortable, or was he just imagining things?

“Is something wrong?”

“Of course not. Why would there be?”

“No reason.”

You're just tired,
he told himself.
It's been a long day.

“Anyway,” he said, “she asked about you and Claire and I told her about Dad. She even comped me a room in case Archie shows up.”

“Oh, Todd. You didn't let her.”

“Don't worry, I'll pay for it. I just didn't want to be rude.”

“Well, thank you for checking in. I'll tell Claire you'll call her tomorrow.”

“Thanks, Ma.”

“It's no problem,” she said. “Say hello to Emma for me. Tell her I . . . well, I hope there aren't any hard feelings.”

Todd hung up and turned off the light. It was so peaceful at the inn, no traffic on the road outside, none of the chatter and background noise that he took for granted in the city. As he lay there in the dark, lulled by the patter of the rain outside, he felt his body begin to relax.

If he and Gwen bought a place out here, he thought, they could enjoy it all the time. With the money he'd made from the sale of his company, Todd would never have to work again, and if he wanted to continue writing game apps, he could do that anywhere. Gwen had been hinting that she might like to quit her job when they had kids, too, and what better place to raise them? The best times he and Claire had ever had were spent in the woods around the Spirit Inn. He couldn't think of a more precious gift to give his own kids than the chance to do the same.

Remembering the good times they'd had, Todd thought of how lucky Emma was to be living there at the inn. It was a job, yes, but one where you could walk out the door at the end of the day and find yourself in the place you loved best in the world. No commute, no waiting for time off so you could cram some relaxation into a week or two before heading back to the grind; just step outside and you're there. No wonder she'd been so forgiving. Who could hold a grudge when they were surrounded by such peace?

He supposed that's why his mother's comment about hard feelings had struck him as so odd. Was she worried that Emma would be angry with him? Well, she had been, briefly, but it hadn't lasted long, and Emma had said nothing to make him think she was mad at his mother. Then Todd thought about how quickly he'd acquiesced when his mother asked him not to write to her all those years before, and it shamed him to realize how cowardly he'd been back then.