Id have to leave tomorrow.
That shouldnt be a problem. Im sure Betty and Glory can cover for you, or you can rearrange a few appointments.
Oh, honey, this was so nice of you, but Bettys daughters baby shower is on Saturday and I cant miss it, Im one of the hostesses. Maybe the spa will let me reschedule. You think they will?
Theyre always booked months in advance, is what I hear. Sorry, Mom, I didnt know about the baby shower.
Well, Ill work something out, Winnie said, even if I have to schedule my spa visit for next year. She stepped around the table to give Russ a hug. This was really generous of you.
He shrugged. Its been a good year at the store. I think as hard as you work, you should pamper yourself every so often.
Can I get one of those mud baths? Winnie asked. It might be worth missing Bettys shower for a mud bath.
You can get whatever you want.
Russ had ordered the shrimp scampi, but he hardly tasted it when it arrived. Hed just wasted several hundred dollars, not to mention the fifty bucks hed shell out for dinner.
What was worse, tomorrow he was going to be dealing with a very ticked-off Sydney Baines. Hed forgotten to tell her about the hidden door behind the staircase that led to the bathroom.
Chapter Seven
By early afternoon of the next day, Sydney was ready to gnaw her own arm off to escape from the cabin in the woods.
Shed nearly frozen to death last night, despite the fact shed rolled herself up in feather comforters like a caterpillar in a cocoon. The sink in the kitchen would have featured running water if she could have figured out how to make the pump work, which she couldnt.
Last night for dinner shed eaten all the granola bars and finished almost all the bottled water from the two backpacks. At a little after six the sun had gone down and the cabin had become pitch black-no electricity. Though Russ had started up the generator, it had conked out less than an hour after his departure.
Now, grimy from not bathing and grumpy from lack of sleep, she was resorting to the canned food shed found in the cabinets-none of which had labels. The Texas heat had apparently melted all the glue that adhered the labels to the cans and theyd fallen off, perhaps years ago.
This morning shed had cold barbecued beans and succotash for breakfast. For lunch shed had a real treat-cold split pea soup and unsweetened cherries. Shed have opened more cans and hoped for something better, but with the crummy little crank can opener, the task of opening had taken her fifteen minutes per can and her hand was killing her.
She was back to wanting to kill Russ. She would wait until hed led her out of this godforsaken wilderness. Then she would conk him on the head, steal his car and drive herself straight to the Austin airport.
She couldnt believe shed let herself get talked into this-and all because a studly guy had flexed his muscles and batted his blue, blue eyes at her.
Yeah, killing him would be something of a waste. Maybe shed have sex with him first.
Oh, God, what was wrong with her? She hadnt had any coffee this morning, for one thing. Shed found some coffee and an ancient percolator. But the percolator didnt have a plug, even if thered been anything to plug it into, which there wasnt. Apparently it required a heat source and Sydney could not for the life of her figure out how to light the antique woodstove. She had wood and she had matches, but throwing matches onto the wood hadnt accomplished anything. After using up almost an entire box of matches, shed given up.
Maybe she should have joined the Girl Guides when she had the opportunity, but the prospect had horrified her and shed sworn she would run away from home if she had to wear one of those uniforms.
Okay, so she couldnt kill Russ, and sex was out of the question. When he finally arrived to take her back to civilization, she wasnt going to speak to him. Thats what shed do. Give him the silent treatment.
Unfortunately, when he finally did arrive some time in the early afternoon, he found her sitting cross-legged on a sunny spot on the porch, fast asleep. She was warm for the first time since the previous day and her stomach was full. Since she was completely sleep deprived, shed succumbed to fatigue. Shed planned on greeting him with an icy stare and a haughty sneer-not rubbing her eyes and struggling to wake up like a child awakened too soon from her nap.
Sydney. He gently shook her shoulder. Hey, Sydney, you okay?
No, I am not okay, she managed, but her voice sounded all bedroom muzzy instead of royally ticked off.
Did you find the bathroom?
If youre referring to the world-class facilities over there, she said, pointing to the outhouse, yes, I did.
Im so sorry. Theres a bathroom inside, but I forgot to show you where it is.
There is no bathroom in that cabin, she argued. I checked every single door.
But when he led her back inside, he walked over to a wood-paneled wall under the stairs. All you had to do was press on it. A previously well-hidden door sprang open.
You mean, there was a bathroom here the whole time? She could not believe this. Shed endured that disgusting outhouse for nothing!
Sure enough, the tiny bathroom featured all the amenities-well, the bare minimum, but it looked like heaven to her.
Im sorry, he said again. Ive never brought guests here before. I forgot the door was hidden.
Im sorry, he said again. Ive never brought guests here before. I forgot the door was hidden.
Yeah, well, you neglected to mention a few other things-like the fact Id have to build a fire if I wanted to heat food or avoid freezing to death, or the fact I needed to know how to repair a generator.
Somethings wrong with the generator? I thought youd turned it off.
It quit working right after you left. And you could have warned me that sleeping would be impossible. I dont know what kinds of creatures live out here, but they were having a party and I think a bear was trying to get into the cabin. At one point I actually got up and locked myself in the closet. And they say the city is noisy.
No bears here, he assured her.
Then what was it?
Raccoon, probably, or maybe a skunk. Theyre always looking for a handout.
Just get me out of here, okay? So much for the silent treatment.
Okay. Did you find anything in those boxes?
Oh, yeah, I found loads of stuff-about Bert Klausens family. Certainly nothing about yours.
At least Russ looked a bit guilty.
Berts no more your cousin than he is mine. Admit it. You dragged me here to get rid of me. Youre hiding something.
Bert is a cousin. He didnt bother denying the rest of her accusations. Which only made her feel worse. He really had wanted to get rid of her. She knew she could be annoyingly persistent when she was trying to find answers while working a case, but shed walked away from him and hed insisted on coming after her. Hed been the one whod invited her to go dancing. Hed pushed the idea of the cabin. Did he dislike her that much? Was he secretly contemptuous of her New York accent and city ways? Had taking her out to dinner, dancing and being nice been some sort of setup?
Wed better start back, Russ said. Theres a blue norther headed this way and its gonna get cold. Might even have some ice.
I just need to change clothes and Ill be ready to leave, she said stiffly.
You might want to keep those clothes for the hike. Pretty as you look in a short skirt and slinky blouse, flannel and cotton are a lot more practical.
Wear these clothes in public? No way. This trip to Texas had been a disaster from start to finish; she wasnt about to add fashion crime to her list of faulty decisions. And if he thought flirting with her and calling her pretty would offset her anger, he was sadly mistaken.
Suit yourself, he said with a shrug.
She quickly changed back into her skirt, blouse and jacket, immediately feeling more like herself even though shed had to trash her stockings. She stuffed the old jeans and flannel shirt into her backpack-there was plenty of room now that shed eaten all the granola bars and drunk all the water. She would launder the clothing and return it to Russ, showing him that she had manners even if he didnt.
She waited on the front porch while Russ closed up the cabin. The weather was still pleasant. It was hard to believe that anywhere in January could be so mild, harder still to believe a cold front would hit in a few hours. She hoped the weather didnt delay her flight. She was booked on a red-eye leaving at ten tonight. Shed be home by morning.
Ready? Russ asked, suddenly appearing on the porch beside her.
She nodded. She was beyond ready to get back to civilization and was feeling grateful shed not been born a hundred and fifty years ago to a pioneer family.
It felt good to stretch her muscles after crawling around for hours the previous day digging through those boxes. And the hike was much more pleasant now that she didnt have to worry about the dog. At least Russ had left the beast at home this time. Now the only distraction was Russ himself, hiking a few feet in front of her. She wished he didnt have to be so darn good-looking. What was it about soft, faded denim over a mans posterior that was so appealing?
She stumbled and almost fell.
Russ halted and looked over his shoulder. You okay?
Yes, fine, she said quickly, reminding herself she needed to keep an eye on the path ahead rather than her guides backside.
Looks like we had some rain last night. Just enough to make things slippery, so watch your step.
His warning came about a second too late. One moment she was contemplating what Russ might look like naked, the next, something gave way beneath her foot. With the backpack throwing off her balance just enough, she couldnt catch herself. She let out a scream as she found herself falling down a hillside, hitting trees like a pinball on the way down.
She did a neat somersault and wound up on her butt in a pile of wet, rotting leaves.
For a few moments she was so stunned she couldnt move, couldnt say anything. Then she was vaguely aware of Russ calling her name as he scuttled down the hill after her with amazing speed. He was at her side almost instantly.
Sydney, dont try to get up.