Trapped Under Ice (23 page)

He buried his face in her hair, breathing in her fragrance, mingled as it was with the smell of bleach and laundry detergent in the small laundry/storage room. She spun to face him, his hands grasping two of the hooks above her head.

“I missed you,” he declared simply, pressing her up against the cinder block wall. Their lips found each other.

“
Ummm…I’m all wet,” she murmured apologetically between kisses.

“I don’t care.” He moved his hand behind the lunch lady’s head and pulled her into another kiss. All at once, the couple found themselves being smashed behind the door as someone entered the storage room.

“Ahem,” Linda broadcasted loudly, coming in to retrieve some storage containers from a back shelf. They guiltily moved apart and gave Linda an awkward smile as she strolled out with an empty whipped cream container in hand, sliding Beth an amused look.

Beth grabbed Chad’s hand as the door closed behind her. “Let’s get out of here. Where’s Pete?”

“He’s out back smoking a cigarette.”

“Okay.” She grabbed her jacket and headed into the kitchen. All of the girls were gathered, no doubt discussing them. “Thank you, guys, so much.” She gave them all a hug in turn.

Chad reached out to shake their hands. “Nice meeting you all.”

Before they knew it, they were peeling out of the parking lot in Beth’s car, Pete in the back.

“Whooo! This is great. I feel like I’m playing hooky. Where to?”

“Well, we can’t check into the hotel yet…I thought I should get a hotel with Cassie and all...”

“Good idea. Well, do you want to go back to my place and I can get changed into some real clothes?” She was wearing an old t-shirt and jeans.

“Well, I don’t mind what you have on, but if you want to.”

“I’d like to at least get into something dry.”

“I can’t believe how hard you work. Some of those pans seem like they’re really heavy.”

“They are, but it’s no harder than what you do on stage.”

Chad reflected on this. It was quite a workout entertaining for two hours under the bright lights.

“Oh shit!” Beth cried.

“What?”

“Ohh!” she moaned. “I told a friend of mine I’d bartend for her tonight. She works as a teacher’s aide at the school, but moonlights as a bartender at a place in a little town not far from here. She had carpal tunnel surgery and was worried about asking her boss for the time off, so I said I’d fill in for her. Oh, man-n-n!”

“What do you know about bartending?”

“Nothing. But I figured, small town, I could hand out beers and pour the occasional shot of whiskey. And Kim gave me this.” She picked up a book sitting on the console between their seats, handing it to him.

“‘The Bartender’s Little Black Book,’” he read. “I see. Well, lucky for you, I’ve partaken of most of the concoctions in this book, so I’d be happy to help you.”

“Are you sure?” she asked doubtfully, pulling up to a red light.

Pete poked his head between them. “Let’s see. Hang out with you, at a bar, where alcohol is readily accessible…doesn’t seem like Chad’s gig at all.” He snorted sarcastically.

Chad shoved Pete’s head back, at the same time saying, “I’ll be with you and that’s exactly where I want to be.”

“I love you.”

“Yeah, that’s another thing,” Pete began, sticking his head between them as before. “I don’t get that.” They both pushed him back, and then kissed.

CHAPTER TWENTY

The threesome pulled into the garage of a two-story house, much like the other houses in the neighborhood, except, perhaps, for its interesting roofline.

“I wasn’t expecting you, so you might as well know now that neatness is not my strong point.”

“Don’t worry about me. You remember my bedroom.”

“Yes. I was speaking more to Pete,” she joked.

The men followed her into the house. Chad felt uneasy at first about entering what had been another man’s home with Beth. But the interior of the house was all her, light and airy, while at the same time, warm, inviting, a little quirky, and pretty. Despite what she said, the house was not messy. It definitely had a lived-in air, a few things here and there left where they didn’t belong, but that added to its charm and comfort. The floors were light wood, and there were a lot of windows whose shades were open to a view of a semi-wooded lot. Several Monet prints hung on the walls, and a large Tuscan countryside tapestry hung from a wrought iron bar above the couch. A brass fire hydrant and weathervane spoke to her more whimsical side, but the black accents everywhere gave it all a touch of class.

Chad took in his surroundings.

“This is great, Beth,” Pete said. “I love the layout.”

“Thanks. We looked at so many houses, which basically all had the same design…we wanted something a little different.” She was watching Chad.

“The trees are nice, too,” Pete added, peering out the window.

She gazed out wistfully. “Coming from Missouri, we missed the trees. I think this is the only neighborhood with mature trees in Central Illinois. You missed it, flying in, but the drive here, from just about anywhere, is mile after mile of flat farmland, not a hill or tree to be found.” Chad remained silent, casually scanning some pictures over the fireplace. “You guys make yourselves at home and I’ll change as quickly as I can. Can I get you anything to drink?”

“No, I’m good.”

“Chad?”

“Huh? Oh, no thanks. I’m okay.”

“All right, I’ll be right back then.” She gave him a quizzical look before heading up the stairs.

Pete’s face became stern. “You need to tell her.”

“
Shhh, Pete! She’ll hear!” Chad listened at the bottom of the stairs, holding a hand up, until he heard the water turn on. “I’m going to tell her.”

“When? She deserves to know about these notes you keep getting. And the other day, when we found your guitar gutted.”

“Don’t remind me,” he groaned.

“You know, she could be in danger, too.”

“Don’t you think I know that?” he snapped, and then realizing he’d been too loud, he moved over to listen at the stairs again. “I’m not going to let anything happen to her.”

“You can’t guarantee that.”

He ran his hand through his hair and paced back and forth. “I just need more time. I really like her and I don’t want to scare her off.”

Pete put a hand on his arm. “I know you like her, son. I like her, too. That’s why I think you ought to tell her. And besides, you’d never forgive yourself if something happened to her.”

“I’ll tell her. I swear, man. I just need a little more time is all.” He craned his neck toward the stairwell. “The shower’s off! We need to stop talking about this.”

“I’m not
gonna wait forever. If you don’t tell her soon, I will.”

“Okay. I promise. I will.”

Pete sighed, sitting down on the couch, but Chad wandered over to the mantle. He took down a wrought iron picture frame containing a photo that had to be of Paul.
He looked like the kind of guy you could throw a couple of beers back with.
The image was of a handsome, boyish face, framing thick, dark hair and kind eyes. Chad picked up a smaller frame next to it displaying a black-and-white photograph of Beth and Paul and an infant Cassie. Paul was peering down at the baby, but Beth was gazing at him with a face clearly portraying the love she had for her husband. He set it down as if it held an electrical current.

“Hey, look at these,” Pete called from the couch. “Cassie looks just the same as she did when she was a baby.” He held a thick scrapbook in his hands with colorfully captioned pages and picture upon picture of Cassie.

The two men were still absorbed in examining it when Beth reappeared. She was putting an earring backing in as she glided in. She had done a good job of restoring her hair back to the style the steamy dish room stole and had put on a fresh layer of lip gloss.

“Oh, you’re looking at those.” She laughed.

Pete glanced up. “Yeah. Did you scrap these?”

“Yes. I haven’t done any in a long while, but I used to like doing that.”

“They’re great.”

“Thanks. So, do you guys want to go check in at the hotel or…?”

“Yeah. That might be good,” Chad answered, closing the scrapbook and standing up. “We left our bags at the front desk earlier, because they hadn’t cleaned the rooms yet.”

“Okay, where are you staying?”

“Actually”—the two men exchanged glances and chuckled—“we’re staying in Normal.”

“Oh yes. The twin cities. Bloomington/Normal, Illinois.”

“Sure, Minneapolis/St. Paul ain’t got nothing on you,” Pete teased.

“And, we noticed…you’re not a resident of
Normal
are you?”

“Yeah, well, normal’s overrated. Let’s get out of here.”

As they sped down the main thoroughfare minutes later, she pointed out landmarks.

“This area of buildings on your right is called Corporate South. It’s where most of Illinois Insurance computer analysts’ work is done. And that building beyond it is the regional office building for Illinois Insurance.”

Chad wondered if Paul worked here, or at the big, brown corporate office building they passed on the way to the school earlier in the day. As he stared off into space, he felt Beth’s hand on his. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” he responded, forcing a smile. “Just tired, I guess.”

“Of course, you are. Maybe you should lie down for a while when we get back to the hotel room.”

“Yeah,” he repeated vaguely. “Maybe I should.” He stared out the window again and became silent.

Pete stepped up and filled the void, asking all kinds of questions about the city, keeping Beth occupied until they got to the hotel. She was relieved Chad grabbed her hand when walking from the car to the hotel lobby.

“Mrs. Donovan,” the clerk behind the desk called.

“Why, Amy, I didn’t know you worked here,” Beth exclaimed, recognizing the cute blonde behind the counter as one of Cassie’s classmates.

“I just started. It’s with the work program, so I get out of school early.” She whispered, “Is that him?”

Beth peeked over her shoulder to where Chad was leaning his hand against the mantle, staring into the depths of the fake fireplace. “Yes,” she responded absentmindedly.

“Way to go, Mrs. D.”

She realized, with embarrassment, what it must look like, checking into a hotel room in the middle of the day with her boyfriend.

As she stood at a loss for words, Pete came to her rescue. “I’ve got two rooms for Pete Harris, please?”

She strolled over and touched Chad’s back. He was so absorbed in his thoughts, he jumped. “Is anything wrong, babe?”

He put a hand on either of her shoulders. “Nothing a few minutes alone with you wouldn’t cure.”

The corners of her lips lifted; she was glad to see the light back in his eyes. “Well, we’ll just have to see what we can do about that.”

When they got to their floor, Pete searched Chad’s room. “You can never be too certain,” the older man told Beth with a smile before heading to his room, which was connected to theirs.

Chad had already slipped into the room and flopped onto the bed. He lay with his eyes closed and arms folded under his head.

Maybe he is just exhausted
. She stood, feeling awkward, inside the doorway. The room was spacious, with a king-sized bed, but fairly nondescript.

“Come here, babe,” he murmured, raising his arm.

She crept up the bed next to him and laid her head on his chest. He rubbed her arm idly. After several minutes, she commented, “It’s too bad you’re so tired...”

Perhaps hearing something in her voice, he slit his eyes open and lifted his head off the pillow a little to look at her. “It is?”

“Yes.” She sat up, walking her fingers up his chest. “‘Cause I was thinking...”

“Yes?” he growled sexily.

“We never did finish our shower—”

Before she could complete the thought, he rolled out of bed and rushed into the bathroom. She smiled as she heard the water starting. When she entered the bathroom, she saw his clothes tossed haphazardly under the sink. She undressed slowly, building the anticipation, and climbed in behind him, grabbing him from behind, as she did in his dressing room. He turned to look at her, his hair dripping wet, the water running down his shoulders, his face serious. She began to kiss his chest. The combination of the feel of his skin and the warmth of the water running over her lips and into her mouth was tantalizing. They made love slowly, sensually. Whenever the water would cool, he would reach back and turn the temperature up, and the renewed warmth would rush over them, reawakening their urgency.

***
            

They had dinner with Cassie at a nearby restaurant Pete checked out beforehand. There were a few stares and some whispering, but since Trapped Under Ice wasn’t playing in town, most people chalked it up to a phenomenal resemblance. The mood was lighthearted and Cassie seemed glad to see Chad again.