Lost and Found in Cedar Cove (3 page)

Connor delivered their lattes, and before long Amanda and Travis were sitting side by side with the algebra text open in front of them. She reviewed the formula and showed him a couple of tricks she’d used to remember how best to work it out. Soon their heads were close together.

“I don’t get it,” Travis murmured, clearly frustrated.

“You forgot a step,” she said, doing her best to remain patient. She reviewed the formula again.

It took four tries before Travis figured it out. He looked to her when he finished. “Right?”

“Right. You got it.” She offered him a congratulatory smile.

“How did you get so good at this stuff?”

“It comes naturally; it’s just the way I think.”

“In other words, you’re the brains, I’m just the dumb jock.”

“I didn’t say that. Why are you so defensive? And what’s with all this negative self-talk?”

He chose to ignore her questions and returned his attention to the textbook, refiguring the quadratic formula. Once again he came up with the correct answer.

The door to Java Joint opened, and in walked Hailey, another high school senior. She apparently didn’t notice them, which was a good thing, and headed directly to the counter, where Connor waited to take her order. Amanda watched as Travis closed the text and slipped it back inside his backpack.

Hailey had her Almond Joy latte in hand before she saw the two of them. Right away her eyes widened. “Hey, Amanda, Travis. I didn’t see you.” She tried to hide her surprise but wasn’t nearly good enough an actor to carry it off. She carried her drink over to their table.

“How’s it going?” Amanda returned weakly.

“What are you doing?” Hailey asked, and seemed unable to hide her curiosity.

“We’re just hangin’,” Travis explained, his gaze shifting nervously between Amanda and Hailey.

It didn’t escape Amanda’s notice that being seen with her wasn’t good for his image. Someone just might guess that he needed tutoring, and that definitely wouldn’t be cool. What was that saying she’d heard—no good deed goes unpunished?

“Really. I didn’t figure the two of you … you know.” Hailey left the rest unsaid, as if she was afraid she might have wandered into uncomfortable territory.

An unsettling silence followed that Amanda felt no obligation to fill. She’d let Hailey make all the assumptions she wanted.

Their classmate continued to study them, as if she wasn’t sure what to think.

Coming out from behind the counter, Connor approached just as the silence was getting
more than a little awkward. His gaze went from Amanda to Hailey. “Did you hear Hailey recently got hired at Rose Harbor Inn?” he asked in a blatant effort to change the subject.

“That’s great, Hailey. Congratulations.” Amanda needed a summer job herself, but prospects were few.

“It’s just until I head off to college in the fall,” Hailey clarified. “The lady from the library introduced us.”

“Grace Harding?”

“Naturally, you’d know the librarian,” Travis whispered under his breath to Amanda.

“Naturally,” she repeated, unwilling to let him think he’d scored a point.

“As soon as Grace heard I was interested in majoring in hotel management, she contacted Jo Marie and arranged for an interview. It’s not every day, but I’m learning a lot.”

“Cool,” Connor said.

“Speaking of which, I was headed up to Rose Harbor Inn now. See ya.”

Amanda raised her hand. “See ya.”

Travis waved farewell.

As soon as Hailey was out the door, she heard Travis heave a deep sigh. “You know what’s going to happen, don’t you?” The words were more accusation than question.

Amanda did know.

“By tomorrow morning, it will be all over school that you and I were sitting in a corner, cozying up with each other.”

He made it sound like a disaster in the making.

“And that bothers you?” she asked, and then, before he could reply, she added, “You don’t owe anyone an explanation, and for that matter, neither do I. Besides, you can make up an excuse—we just happened to run into each other or something.”

His frown deepened. “You mean to say having gossip spread around the school about us won’t bother you?”

“Should it?” she asked flippantly. “What about you? Will this ruin your chances with the nominees for prom queen?”

“What about you and Chad?”

Chad Mullin had been her date for the Valentine dance. The fact that Travis knew anything about the two of them surprised her. “What about Chad?” she asked, needing to know.

“I thought the two of you—”

“You thought wrong,” she said, cutting him off.

Travis shook his head as if it was of little concern to him one way or the other. “Are we done here?” He was halfway out of his seat, eager to escape.

Unwilling now to drop the matter, Amanda asked, “Is gossip a problem on your end?”

He took a moment to answer. “I guess not. What you said about making up an excuse should work.”

Amanda had no idea if he was dating anyone or not, and he had taken a risk letting Hailey make an assumption.

She’d barely touched her latte, so when she stood to leave, she reached for her backpack, slinging it over her shoulder, and grabbed hold of her drink. Travis seemed more than eager to leave. “When’s the test?” she asked as they walked toward the door.

“Friday.”

Travis hesitated and then nodded toward her as if to show his appreciation before stepping outside.

It was better than nothing, Amanda supposed, as she followed him.

Thankfully, it had stopped raining, and the sun was out. Large drops dripped off the roof and bounced against the pavement, causing a prism effect.

She was a couple steps behind Travis as she headed toward the parking area behind Java Joint.

“Are you following me?” Travis asked as he glanced over his shoulder.

“That’s a pretty egotistical question. Why would I be following you?”

“Maybe to add to the gossip.” Unsure how to answer, he apparently threw out the first thing that came to mind, which was ridiculous.

“Oh please.” If she wasn’t so irritated, she might have laughed. All in all, this tutoring session hadn’t gone well. Amanda wasn’t sure what she’d expected from Travis. Gratitude, perhaps. Or at least a little appreciation. Wrong again. She wasn’t getting anything out of this other than the satisfaction of being able to help. Deep down, she’d expected more. Unfortunately, they were too far apart in the social ranks to connect, even as friends, and that disappointed her.

She was only a few feet away from her car when all at once a dog appeared and started barking, first at her and then at Travis. The animal wouldn’t allow her to get near her car. Every time she stepped in that direction, the dog barked. It wasn’t a threatening bark but more a warning bark.

“What’s he trying to tell you?” Travis asked.

“I don’t have a clue. Do you?”

“No.”

Amanda tried again, and the dog’s barking grew more frantic.

“You might as well give it up,” Travis said.

“You think I should leave my car here and walk home?” As far as she was concerned, that was a ridiculous idea.

“No, give it time.” He hesitated and then suggested, “Do you wanna hang out at the waterfront park? We could finish our lattes there.”

“Aren’t you worried about your reputation?” she asked, enjoying egging him on.

“I can live with it, if you can.”

Amanda shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal. “I suppose I can, too.”

As soon as they started toward the gazebo, the dog trotted off in the opposite direction. The sky had turned a South Sea shade of blue. This was actually turning out to be a great day, after all.

Chapter Three

Jo Marie’s cell buzzed, and she grabbed it out of her purse, praying with all her heart that it was someone with news about Rover. She’d been out searching for hours and had lost heart that she would ever find him.

“Yes?” she said eagerly.

“Jo Marie, it’s Olivia. Is everything all right? You don’t sound like yourself.”

“I’m not myself,” she admitted, struggling to hold herself together. “Rover is missing.”

“So I heard. Grace called and asked if I’d check with Hank Hampton over at Animal Control.”

“Did you?” She hated to sound this anxious, but any word was better than the agony of not knowing. This limbo should be familiar. It brought back a far-too-familiar ache. Paul’s body had yet to be recovered from the side of a mountain in Afghanistan. At the time his helicopter went down she’d been told the crash site was in an inaccessible area. Translated into civilian speak, that meant it was deep inside enemy-held territory. She’d been assured there were no survivors. Still, she couldn’t help wondering if it was possible, if there was any way Paul might have come out of the horrific crash alive.

“I was able to talk to Hank,” Olivia continued, breaking into Jo Marie’s thoughts. “He’s got the word out. If Rover is out and about, then I’m sure he’ll be located soon.”

“Thank you so much. I can’t tell you what this means to me.” Jo Marie knew she sounded pitifully appreciative, but she couldn’t help it. She wasn’t ready for this emotional roller coaster.

“Keep me updated, and don’t worry, Rover will be found.”

“Yes, of course,” Jo Marie assured her. “And Olivia, thank you. If there’s anything I can do for you in return, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

“This isn’t about returning favors, Jo Marie,” Olivia said. “It’s about friendship and community.”

Jo Marie was a woman who prided herself on keeping tight control of her emotions, but Olivia’s kindness nearly choked her up.

“I’ll let you know the moment I hear anything,” Olivia promised.

“As will I,” Jo Marie said.

“Everything will work out,” Olivia reassured her. “Rover will find his way home.”

“I pray you’re right.”

They ended the conversation, and although Rover was still missing, Jo Marie felt
considerably better. Since moving to the small Puget Sound community of Cedar Cove, Jo Marie had been blessed beyond measure by the friends she’d made.

Peggy Beldon, another B&B owner, had been one of the first to extend a helping hand. Later, she’d met Grace, and through Grace, Olivia and of course Mark.

Her mind circled back to Mark. It hadn’t escaped her notice that he couldn’t seem to get away from her fast enough. As soon as he realized how upset and emotional she became, he hightailed it out of the inn. His reaction had been completely different from that of Grace and Olivia. He was probably sanding the cradle he was building. Sometimes Jo Marie was left to wonder if she would ever figure him out.

Getting to know Mark Taylor was like becoming friends with a porcupine, which went along with his prickly personality. She almost smiled at the analogy, realizing she didn’t know enough about porcupines to realize what their redeeming quality was once you got past the bristles. Nor had she figured out why she found Mark compelling despite everything he did to make himself otherwise.

Thankfully, the rain had stopped, and after spending the last several hours wandering aimlessly around town in a fruitless search, Jo Marie reluctantly returned to the inn. As she walked up the steep hill leading to the inn she hoped and prayed she would find Rover curled up on the front porch, patiently awaiting her return.

When she arrived, her heart plummeted. Rover was nowhere to be seen.

After a dreary day, late that afternoon the rain had tapered off and the sun broke out over Puget Sound as Travis and Amanda walked side by side down the boardwalk that edged the waterfront.

“Our marine biology class was here last week, and we saw a starfish that I swear was about the size of a basketball,” Travis commented, looking over the railing and into the water that gently lapped against the rocks below. “It had wrapped itself around a big rock. I could barely believe my eyes.”

“Was it pink?”

“Pink? No, it was white.”

Amanda had to be careful—she didn’t want to intimidate him by rattling off a bunch of facts about local sea life, although she knew quite a bit. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him starfish weren’t the only species that grew to inordinately large sizes in Puget Sound. Octopuses did as well.