Once Lost

by Brenda Dugas

  But it did, all too soon. Their wonderful day wrapped up with Slade walking her to her room and kissing her goodnight. She held on to him longer this time, enjoying the security she felt in his arms, thankful that they were now a real couple. She was giddy like a school girl, thrilled with how much had changed in one day. Slade had opened up to her on a whole other level and the more she saw of the man behind the suit, the more she liked.

  ***

  Sam paused for a few seconds and listened, thinking she heard a noise somewhere in the back of the house. She had been quite comfortable alone at night in the old house while Leah was away, at least up until now. A sixth sense seemed to tell her that something was amiss. She walked cautiously from room to room, pepper spray in hand, turning on lights, looking into closets and behind doors…even under the beds. Her fears slowly began to ease. Everything appeared to be in order, but she wished Dustin would have stayed longer. After a while, she tried reading to shake the eerie feeling, then finally decided to call it a night.

  Climbing into bed she felt a strong draft while leaning toward the window to turn off the bedside lamp. A cold chill ran down her spine as she saw the curtains moving in the breeze, and realized the window was partially open. Now shaken, she dialed Dustin’s cell number. “Are you sure the window was closed before?” he asked. Glancing down, she noticed something else on the bedside table; a cell phone. Has it been there the whole week? She was almost sure she’d have seen it before now. It was dead so she couldn’t check the screen.

  “I’ve slept in this room every night since I’ve been here, and I have never once opened that window.” Feeling sure now that someone else had, she was happier than ever that Leah would be back tomorrow.

  “I’ll be right over. I’ll stay the night.” Dustin’s concern was evident in his voice. “Stay on the phone with me ‘til I get to your road, ok? I’ll be there in a sec.”

  As he made it down the winding road, a car sped by him in the opposite direction. He had to look twice in his rear view mirror because he was almost sure he saw Liz Michaels in the driver’s seat. He shook his head dismissing the idea. What would she be doing on this side of town?

  After a thorough check throughout the house, he prepared his bed on the sofa. “Who in the world would have opened that window, and why?”

  “I hope I’m wrong, but the only one who comes to mind is Craig Warner, Leah’s ex-fiancé. There’s something really creepy about that guy! She told me she suspected that he’s been having someone follow her.”

  “You ladies really should think about getting a dog, preferably an inside dog. That would at least discourage someone from coming inside.”

  Before leaving the next morning, Dustin walked around to check Sam’s bedroom window from the outside. If there had been a screen on the window, it wasn’t there now. The lock didn’t work and he was easily able to push the window open; he found a piece of wood to act as a window jam that should force the window closed until the lock could be fixed. He walked all around the house and found nothing unusual. Making his way down the driveway to his truck, he noticed a C & A parking pass in the ditch in front of the mailbox. He brought it inside to Sam. “Please give this to Leah. She’ll need it to get into the parking garage at work Monday. I guess she dropped it on her way out.” Sam kissed him good-bye, thanking God she had someone so caring in her life now.

  ***

  Leah and Slade had everything packed before retiring for the night, and left the hotel early the next morning. They turned in the rental car upon their arrival at the airport and then enjoyed breakfast on the flight. Private jet service is awesome! Slade was very sweet, cuddling with Leah as if he wanted to enjoy every last moment they had together before returning to reality. She knew he held a lot of stress running such a big company. They arrived shortly after noon.

  She noticed the dark storm clouds gathering over Rockport as they began their descent. As the jet circled the airport awaiting clearance to land, Leah felt a sense of foreboding as the plane approached the runway. She noticed Slade seemed to feel it too, as she could almost see him instantly transition back into the stiff businessman she’d left with.

  Chapter 13

  Sam met Leah at the door hopping with excitement as if her friend had been away for a year! “What a time NOT to have your cell with you!” Sam exclaimed. “We have to get internet here soon. Then we could have at least emailed!”

  “We? As in, you’re going to stay?”

  Sam’s face was glowing. “I’m falling hard for him Lea. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt this way! We’ve spent every minute together that he wasn’t working while you were gone. He’s so great!” She blushed. “You planned this, didn’t you?”

  “No, I swear! I don’t know why I didn’t even think of it, I should have! He is pretty great! I’m so happy for you… and speaking of falling hard!”

  “I knew it!” you have to fill me in. I want EVERY detail! But first, I have to tell you what happened last night!”

  Leah was angered at the thought that Craig would go this far! First having her followed and now having someone actually opening her windows? Was he trying to scare her into leaving Rockport? He must not know her as well as he thought! He must have thought it was Leah at home instead of Sam. What would he have done if he knew where she had really been last night?

  “And then I saw this phone on the night stand. I’m almost certain it wasn’t there before last night!”

  “That’s my phone!” Leah grabbed the phone trying to turn it on. “Oh, I’ll have to charge it. I could have sworn I left that phone at work! How weird!”

  “You could have had it with you the whole time! Well, at least I had a good excuse to get Dustin back over! He was so cute when he woke up this morning!” The girls laughed.

  They heated up leftover pizza and talked well into the afternoon, sharing all the exciting new details. After a visit to the local market, the two begin to prepare an evening meal for the guys. “This is going to be so fun, I’m so glad my friend is staying!”

  The rain had ended and all seemed right with the world that evening as the two couples enjoyed the meal Leah and Sam had put together. They toasted to Sam’s decision to stay at Rockport and their new found relationships, in anticipation of many such evenings to come.

  Leah was so pleased at the way things were working out for her two friends. I've never seen Dustin smile so much.

  Carmel cake brownies had been served as they played “girls against guys” in a board game. They had stopped to take a coffee break when a loud knock sounded at the front door. Who could that be? Leah and Sam looked questioningly at each other, and Leah went to answer the door as her inner voice warned caution. Sam could tell by Leah’s expression when she opened the door that this was an unpleasant surprise.

  “Craig! What are you doing here?” She stepped out on the front porch, quickly closing the door behind her.

  “Hi, Sweetheart… I’ve missed you. I like to have never found this place!” Craig attempted to scoop Leah up for a passionate kiss. His amorous expression changed to bewilderment as she instinctively slapped him, pushing him away. Sam must have clued Dustin in as to who this unwelcome visitor was. He flung the door open as Leah side-stepped Craig’s advances with a look of shock on her face.

  “Leah, are you ok?” She wished now that she had filled Slade in about her crazy ex, the broken engagement and the stalking!

  “Slade, I’ll explain this to you later…”

  “Slade? How about I’ll explain it now…” Craig argued. He produced a ring box from his pocket. “Leah! I brought your engagement ring back and I’ve come to take you home! Who is this guy?”

  “You’ll do nothing of the sort!” Slade exploded. He had moved up from behind Dustin, and Leah could see the situation was getting out of control very quickly. “Leah, can you explain this? Who is this, and what is he doing here with an engagement ring?”

  “I have no idea what this is about,” she began to explain,
only to be interrupted by Craig, his typical arrogance rising to the surface.

  “I can show you what this is about!” Why are you acting like you don’t know anything about this, Leah? I have all your text messages right here!” She stared in disbelief as Craig produced his cell phone and began reading off the messages. He became the attorney proving his case, reading each message, triumphantly showing Slade and Leah the screen, including her cell phone number!”

  “Craig, I don’t know what to say. I didn’t send any of those messages to you! Slade, I didn’t send those messages. I have no idea what’s going on!” Leah looked nervously between the two men who stood on her porch facing her, both wanting an explanation she couldn’t produce.

  “I think I figured out what’s going on here! You never expected me to actually show up here to surprise you, and you’ve been playing us both!” Craig belted, looking accusingly down at Leah. He was confident now that he had proven his case to Slade.

  Slade shook his head at Leah in disbelief. “Well, I’ll get out of the way then. Don’t worry, I’m leaving!” Leah’s heart sank at the look of hurt in his eyes.

  “No, Slade, please don’t go! I promise, I never sent ANY of those text messages!” Leah didn’t know what was going on. The only thing she did know in that moment was that Slade Coleman was more important to her than any other man in the world… and she would fight to keep him!

  She shoved the ring box back at Craig. “I told you when I left that we were through, and our engagement was off. It’s still over, Craig. It’s been over! I don’t know who sent those text messages, but I swear it wasn’t me. I’m really sorry you came all the way here for this to happen, but I’ve moved on with my life. You need to move on too. And stop having me followed!”

  “Why would I have you followed? I would never have suspected you of doing this to me! He was obviously still unconvinced. “Tell me, Leah, if you didn’t send those messages, who else could have sent them?”

  “I don’t know! Uh, when exactly did you receive the messages? I haven’t had my cell phone for over a week now!” Craig read the dates of the messages; they had all been sent while Leah and Slade were at the Great Lakes facility… “Sam?” Tears began to fill Leah’s eyes.

  “Leah, I didn’t find your phone until last night. You know I would never do anything like that!” Leah knew that Sam was telling the truth.

  “I could have sworn I left my cell phone on my desk at work. That’s where I expected it to be when I came back.”

  Dustin and Sam looked at each other, “The window!” Dustin spoke up, “Do you think someone could have put the phone on the table in Sam’s room last night? She swore there was no way it could have been there all week without her seeing it! Wait a minute…Leah, where did you think you left your phone?” A thought suddenly occurred to Dustin. “Sam, where is the parking pass I found in the driveway, maybe it was someone from C & A who sent those messages while you were gone!”

  Sam ran to grab the parking pass that Dustin had found that morning. “I found this in your ditch and just assumed it was yours, is it?”

  Leah grabbed her wallet from inside the door and came back, holding her own parking pass that had TEMPORARY stamped across the top. “Well it’s not mine either.” Dustin looked at Slade, “and you don’t need one.”

  Slade grabbed the card from Sam, “One quick call to Security can clear this up!”

  All eyes were on Slade as he dialed the guard house. “I need to verify the owner of a parking pass, Joe…” He read out the bar code on the back of the card as all listened intently. “Elizabeth Michaels?”

  He turned to face Craig, “I’m sorry you seem to have wasted a trip here. If you would like to come along with us, I think we’ll get to the bottom of this in a short time. It’s time we pay Liz a surprise visit. We have a parking pass to return!” Leah had never seen Slade like this.

  Craig smirked at Slade, still not fully convinced, but he agreed to follow. If someone was responsible for making a fool of him, that someone was going to answer for it!

  This time it was Liz who seemed stunned when she opened her door. At first, she acted indignant over such “wild accusations.” She denied vehemently that she had anything to do with Leah’s missing phone or the messages… until Slade produced her parking pass. “You probably would have gotten away with this, had your parking pass not fallen out of your car!” Dustin chimed in, “I thought I passed you coming from Leah’s road last night. What were you thinking?”

  “Liz, I’m Craig Warner.” Pushing his way to the front of the group, Craig continued, “I am an attorney. Fear filled Liz’s eyes as he continued, “I would strongly advise you to come clean. You can be cited for invasion of privacy, breaking and entering, and theft of a cell phone” at the very least!” he emphasized the last few words.

  “Ok! I’m sorry!” After a brief hesitation, a now rattled Liz Michaels broke down crying. “I took the cell phone, but I did not send any text messages.”

  “Well, Liz, if you didn’t send any text messages while you had Leah’s cell phone in your possession, then who did?” Slade pressed.

  “I don’t know!”

  Slade had had enough. “I’ll call the police; they’ll get to the bottom of this!”

  “It was Alaine! She sent…the messages.” This confirmed what Slade had already figured out for himself.

  Leah couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Why, then, did you break into my house to return the phone?”

  Liz glared at Sam, then back at Leah. “Why don’t you figure that out?”

  “Leah, I’ll call the police.” Slade grabbed his phone. “Liz, you owe all of us an explanation.”

  “Obviously, to make it look like she sent the messages!” Liz glared at Sam.

  Dustin stepped forward protectively. “Liz, I thought we were friends. Why would you want to do that to Sam? You don't even know her!”

  “Well, someone had to send the messages! If the cell phone was found inside the house, it would look like she sent them,” (pointing at Sam) “while she was away!” (Now glaring at Leah.) “If we could break up their friendship, Sam would leave.”

  “And why would you want her to leave? Dustin asked.

  “Don’t play dumb, you know I’m in love with you Dustin… for years now!” Shame and embarrassment took over as Liz looked down at her feet, unable to face them any longer.

  Slade took over the conversation. “Well Liz, you won’t be needing your parking pass Monday morning, or the next day either for that matter. As you’ve admitted to stealing Leah’s cell phone on Company property, you no longer have a job at C & A Enterprises!” Now turning to address Sam, he continued, “If you’re still looking for a job, there’s a Receptionist position open at my company, effective immediately!”

  “It’s time now to pay Alaine a personal visit.” Liz began fiddling nervously with her phone while they were talking. “Don’t even think about texting her…actually, I’ll be taking that company phone with me!” She bolted back into the house slamming the door behind her.

  “There’s no need to wonder why Alaine got involved.” Slade looked at Leah, “I told you she wouldn’t give up without a fight. Well, she’s got one now!”

  Their timing proved to be perfect; the two cars pulled up just as Alaine was getting out of a gray car. “That’s the car that’s been following me!”

  “It must be the rental car she was trying to use as an excuse to extend her stay at my house, her own car is parked right here! She's been using it to go unrecognized!”

  Alaine found herself facing five angry faces. “John, I have visitors here now, but I will be back in touch!” She ended her call with a curious smirk on her face.

  With Liz’s confession and the gray rental car parked in her driveway, Alaine was forced to own up to her part in the conspiracy. “I was trying to protect you Slade! I just got off the phone with a detective! There are people looking for her! No one runs to a small town like Rockport if they do
n’t have relatives here, unless they’re hiding something! She’s after your money, Slade… practically a fugitive!”

  “Looking for me? That can’t be true! Who could possibly be looking for me?”

  “Really Leah... then why is it your own father doesn’t even know where you are? You have to have something to hide!”

  “My father is dead! He and my mother died in a car wreck. My step father died years ago. I have NO father to look for me!”

  “It’s true,” Craig piped in. “This woman’s a lunatic!”

  It was late in the evening when they arrived back at Leah’s house. Slade turned to Craig, “Well it looks like you two were the victims of sabotage. I’m sorry but its Leah and I that have a wedding to plan.” With a deflated look on his face and without another word, Craig got in his vehicle and drove away. Leah hoped she had finally seen and heard the last of Craig Warner.

  Sam and Leah sat quietly on the front porch still amazed at the lengths the two women had gone to, in order to try and get rid of them. All the questions had finally been answered …all except one. Did Slade say we’re planning a wedding?

  Chapter 14

  The autumn leaves swirled around almost enchantingly as Leah watched while sipping coffee from her front porch swing. The whole thing felt like a fairy tale; in just two short weeks she would be Mrs. Leah Coleman. Who would have ever dreamed so much was in store for her through this gift Mrs. Mullen had left. She wondered if her guardian angel had put in a good word for her with the Man Upstairs.

  The wedding party would be small, with only Sam by Leah’s side as her Maid of Honor and of course, Slade’s “best man” Dustin would be his Best Man. The ceremony would be held in a gazebo that was nestled on the back property of the Coleman estate. It overlooked one of Leah’s favorite views of the Rockport bay, with the lighthouse visible in the distance.

  “Well good morning, Sleepy Head.” Leah giggled as Sam sleepily stumbled out to join her with coffee mug in hand. “Late night I see! I didn’t even hear you come in!”