by Dylann Crush
“Mind over matter, remember?”
“My mind has been messed with enough for one day. If there’s any chance of me getting back onto that stupid train, you’d better not push it.”
Zach wanted to pick her up and carry her the ten feet or so to the rail but decided against it. Instead, he jammed his hands in his pockets and walked backward toward the edge of the observation area. “Fine. But you’re missing out. You can’t see all six states from there.”
“I’ll wait for you over there,” Reagan said, pointing to an empty bench next to the building.
She could be so damn stubborn. It wasn’t his job to loosen her up, but it sure would make the trip go by faster if she was a little more adventurous. He’d told himself he’d let it go, that he didn’t have time to introduce a little fun into her life, especially when she was so dead set against it. But for someone who liked to roll with the punches and enjoy a little spontaneity every once in a while, her unwillingness to come out of her shell drove him up a fucking wall.
Soon it wouldn’t be his problem.
He glanced back to see her settle onto the bench a good fifty yards away then pulled out his phone. When Scazzoli hadn’t gotten an answer, he’d sent a text instead.
Scazzoli: Still on track?
Zach: Yep. Be in Miami in 12 hours.
The ping sounded less than a minute after Zach sent the text.
Scazzoli: Great. Word on the wedding is out but no one’s figured out where it is yet. Keep an eye out and stay in touch.
Great. All he needed was a horde of photographers trying to track them down the coast. He’d stay in touch all right. Although, he still hadn’t figured out how to convince Reagan to stick with him once he got her to Miami. His heart warred with his head. Could he really keep up the charade? If he wanted to protect her, how could he afford not to?
Stepping closer to the railing, he took in the view. The city of Chattanooga sprawled out in front of him. He let his gaze drift from west to east, appreciating the one-hundred-eighty-degree view. Although he’d read the altitude was just shy of three-thousand feet, the air felt cooler and slightly thinner.
He took in a deep breath and turned to check on Reagan. She’d moved from the bench to kneel in front of a little girl. Where were the kid’s parents? An older couple held hands and strolled past him to the railing. The backpackers from the train perched on the edge of a concrete planter while they consulted a map. No other adults in sight.
Reagan tucked a strand of the girl’s dark hair behind her ear and took her hand as an announcement came over the loudspeaker stating that if they wanted to catch the last train down the hill they needed to board now.
He pushed off the rail and made his way toward her. “Hey, Reagan.”
“Hey. Lily, this is my friend Zach. Lily seems to have lost her parents, and I told her we’d help her find them.” Reagan’s brow furrowed, and she gave him a look that begged him to stay calm and not freak the poor kid out.
“Um, yeah. Let’s go talk to the people at the ticket window. Maybe they know where the lost kid department is.” Zach smiled and offered his hand to Lily. “Want us to swing you while we walk?”
The little girl sniffled and wiped her nose with her hand, then slid it into his. “Okay.”
Zach tried to keep his voice low as he leaned toward Reagan over the tyke between them. Poor kid couldn’t be more than four or five. “The train is boarding. Can we hurry this up?”
“We can’t leave her here,” Reagan pursed her lips and whispered back.
“Swing me?” Lily asked, yanking their hands back and forth.
“Sure. Ready? One, two, three!” Reagan and Zach swung her hands back and forth and Lily giggled as her feet left the ground.
Another announcement blared from the speakers. There was no way they were going to make it. It’s not like they could take the kid on the train with them, and it looked like he’d have to pry the kid’s hand away from Reagan if he wanted her to let go.
“Reagan, the train.” Zach nodded toward the tracks where the last few passengers stood ready to board.
“Do you see your mom or dad anywhere, sweetie?” Reagan bent down to make eye contact with Lily.
“No. They told me to stay right by them, but I saw a puppy go by and I wanted to pet it. Did you see the puppy?”
Reagan smoothed her hand over Lily’s hair. “No, I missed it, but it must have been cute if you wanted to pet it so bad.”
“It was. White and black and fluffy, like my dog at home.”
Zach let go of Lily’s hand and looped his thumbs through his belt loops. “Let me go see if they can hold the train. You want to go check at the information desk? Hopefully someone is looking for her.”
He turned to jog toward the information booth as a woman ran toward them, yelling. “Lily! There you are. Your daddy and I were worried sick.” The woman gathered the girl into her arms.
Reagan’s gaze met his over their heads. Her eyes reflected the relief he felt inside. Thank God.
“Thank y’all so much. She was standing there and then poof—all of sudden, she was gone.”
“I wanted to pet the puppy, Mommy,” Lily whined. “But Reagan and Zach said they’d help me find you.”
“And we did.” Zach grabbed Reagan’s hand. “And now we’ve got to make the train. Lily, be more careful, okay?”
Reagan let him drag her away as she said her goodbye. “Bye, Lily. Stay safe.”
They ran to the platform—just as the train eased down the track, away from the station.
“Dammit!” Zach leaned over, putting his palms on his thighs.
Reagan panted, out of breath from the sprint. “The train. But it left without us.” She stood there, her mouth gaping.
“Yeah, it sure as hell did.” Zach slapped his hands against his thighs. “I told you it was boarding. What the fuck are we going to do now?”
“What were we supposed to do? Leave that little girl all alone? Surely they’ll send another one up for us.” Her phone rang, drawing her attention away from the problem at hand and dumping her back into wedding planner mode.
Zach tunneled his hands through his hair and looked around for an attendant or someone he could ask for help. They should have stayed on the highway and skipped over the detour to Chattanooga.
“I’ll be back,” he said in Reagan’s direction. She probably didn’t hear him since she had the damn phone pressed up against her ear again.
He wandered through the small cluster of shops and finally found someone at an info booth. Looked like everything was closing for the night.
“Excuse me,” he said to the attendant.
She popped a large bubble and smacked her gum. “What can I help you with?”
“The last train just left. Is there another way to get down the mountain?”
“Sure. You can drive down the road over there.” She pointed in the direction of a small parking lot.
“Well, I rode the train up and missed it, so I don’t have a car.”
The gum smacked. “That sucks. It’s about a two-mile walk.”
Zach tapped his fingers against the countertop. “There’s got to be a bus or something, right? I mean, people live up here. How do they get around?”
Her lips twisted into a dude-are-you-a-complete-idiot grin. “They have cars, or they don’t miss the train.”
“I’m sure it’s a great walk.”
Her head shook from side to side. “Not really. It’s steep. You could always hitch down. Lots of people leaving around now since everything kind of closes up.”
Ha. Reagan Campbell relying on the kindness of strangers? Not likely. “Uh, thanks.” He wheeled around, dreading having to share news of their predicament with Reagan.
12
Reagan ended her call as Zach ambled toward her. “One of my vendors canceled. Can you believe it? Three days before the wedding? How dare he do that to me?”
He put an arm around her shoulders and urged her to he
r feet. “Right now we’ve got bigger problems to worry about. We might not be getting off the mountain tonight. Let’s go.”
She shook her head and wiped a few tears off her cheeks but allowed him to half-pull, half-drag her toward the parking lot. “How am I going to tell Teddy and Cal that their photographer cancelled? I never should have hired that prima donna in the first place.”
“I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”
“No, I won’t figure it out. Who does that? He’s going to take pictures of dogs. Can you believe it? He picked dogs over my brother’s wedding.”
“What are you talking about?” Zach asked.
“Some Hollywood celebrity’s dog is having puppies. They’re calling it the first royal litter in years.” First the issues with the florist, now the photographer. Having hosted every type of event imaginable during her climb up the hotel chain’s corporate ladder, she’d experienced a fair share of last minute issues: a band she’d hired to play the big New Year’s Eve bash coming down with Noro virus, a truckload of champagne ending up in a rollover accident on the way to the hotel for a 65th anniversary party of a shipping tycoon, and a pastry chef delivering a pink cake instead of blue at a celebrity’s high-profile baby shower.
In every situation she’d held it together, kept her cool, and figured out a fast fix before the guests knew anything was wrong. In all of those circumstances she’d been on site, not eight-hundred miles away on the top of a freaking mountain with limited cell phone reception.
As Zach urged her along, her gaze traveled to the pack slung over his shoulder. What an idiot she’d been. Zach had a camera. He could take the pictures of the wedding. Hope rose in her chest like bubbles floating to the top of a champagne glass. She pulled herself up to her full height. A scowl darkened his usual happy-go-lucky look. Maybe she should wait to ask him about the pictures until they got back on the road.
He plopped down on a bench at the edge of the lot and she sat down beside him. “We’re screwed.”
“What do you mean?”
His gaze remained straight ahead. “I mean we’re stuck. The train is gone and there isn’t a bus. We either hike down a steep two-mile road or find a nice bench to spend the night on.”
Reagan let out a sharp laugh. “Yeah, right.”
Zach turned to her. “I’m not joking. There’s no other way down.”
Anger flashed in his eyes and a tic pulsed along his jaw. Her heart did a flip-flop in her chest. “That’s ridiculous. Why can’t we call for a cab or put in for a ride share?”
His brow furrowed. “That’s actually not a bad idea. My cell doesn’t have service, but let me go ask the info desk if they have a number for a cab.”
As he walked away, she turned her attention back to her notebook. What else could possibly go wrong? The intense need to get to Miami gnawed at her. She couldn’t tell Teddy and Cal about the photographer until she got Zach to agree to stand in. For now, all she could do was butter him up and try to get him in a more agreeable mood. Missing the train hadn’t helped. But with any luck they’d be back on the road soon and she could start working on him. With at least twelve hours until they hit Miami, she’d have plenty of time.
Her eyes drifted closed, and she let her head fall back to rest on the edge of the bench. The breeze brushed against her skin, carrying the scent of freshly-mowed grass and funnel cakes from one of the shops they passed. Her stomach gurgled, and she pressed a hand to her abdomen. How could she possibly be hungry after all that ice cream?
She didn’t want to think about how many calories she had ingested. Between the monster cone, Sal’s cupcakes, and wedding food, it would take her a month to get back in shape. She ran through the schedule of wedding events in her head, envisioning how everything would go off without a hitch. As she conjured up the mental picture of Teddy and Cal saying their vows at the altar, Zach called her name.
“Reagan! Hey, come on. I got us a ride.”
Her eyes flew open and she jumped off the bench. “That’s great. Is a cab coming for us?”
He shook his head. “Nah. I ran into a family at the info desk, and they’re about to head down the hill. They said they’d give us a lift.”
She stopped walking. “What? You want to ride with strangers?”
“It’s fine. They’re nice people. Two little kids. The cab company said it would be at least an hour before they could send someone up here. You want to wait that long?”
“Well, no.” But riding with complete strangers?
Zach might be used to taking risks, but she had always played it safe. She had to. Her parents had ingrained their warnings since she was a little girl. Don’t trust anyone. Expect the worst from people. She couldn’t help where her thoughts naturally traveled.
“Trust me. If anything goes wrong, I can take him.” His eyes crinkled at the corners, and he fought a smile.
“You’re mocking me. You don’t know what it’s like to always be on guard, growing up—”
“As a senator’s kid,” he interrupted. “I get it, believe me. Your dad ripped me a new one about that. I’ll never forget.”
“What are you talking about?”
He shook his head. “Forget about it. That was a long time ago.” He thrust his hand at her. “Come on. We don’t want them to leave without us.”
“No. Tell me what you mean. When did you talk to my dad?” Her arms crossed over her stomach and she braced herself, ready to hold her ground.
“I’ll tell you when we get back in the car.”
“You’re sure they’re safe?” She didn’t budge.
Zach let out a cross between a groan and a sigh. “Yes. I promise.”
“You’ll owe me one after this.”
“Ha. That’s rich. Aren’t I the one carting your spoiled butt down to Miami since you botched your flight plans, cupcake?”
Whirling away from his touch, she glared at him. “Spoiled? Really?”
“Agh.” He rubbed a hand over his scruffy cheeks. “That’s not what I meant.”
“If you didn’t mean it, then why did you say it?”
“Can we catch our ride before they leave us? We can duke it out at the bottom of the hill.”
Reagan felt like he’d knocked the wind out of her. Spoiled? Is that what he thought of her? She’d almost been enjoying their banter. Under different circumstances, she was pretty sure she’d be able to enjoy his company. But he’d just gone and ruined any chance of a continued friendship. Over the years, she’d been called a variety of names by classmates, co-workers, and the press. Spoiled had never been one of those names. If he saw her as spoiled, maybe she’d give him what he expected. But first, to get off the darn mountain.
She shot him her best go-to-hell-and-stay-there-to-roast-in-eternal-fire look and moved ahead of him. “Fine. Show me where the serial killers masquerading as a touring family parked their vehicle.”
“Jesus, Reagan. Aren’t you being a little overly dramatic?” He followed her, taking one long step to every two of hers.
“So now I’m a spoiled drama queen? Keep ’em coming.”
He half-laughed. “Right over here.”
His hand lifted in a wave. Reagan looked ahead to the motor home in front of them. A short, wiry bald man stood at the door next to a petite woman holding a towheaded toddler. An immediate surge of guilt rose in her chest. Zach probably outweighed the guy by a hundred pounds. He’d definitely be able to take him if something went wrong. Their smiles seemed genuine, and the man held out his hand as they approached.
Zach gripped it and shook. “Thanks again for helping us out. Bob, Shelly, this is Reagan.”
Bob offered his hand to Reagan. She took it.
“Hi, Reagan.” He pumped her hand up and down in his. “Come on aboard.”
Shelly smiled and climbed up the steps onto the motor home. “Watch your step here.” Her voice came out soft with a bit of a Southern drawl. “We’ve been travelin’ around the country now for about six months. Sorry ‘bout
the mess. I make jewelry while we’re on the road and sell it online. Go ahead and sit anywhere.”
Reagan followed her up the steps into an immaculate kitchen area and took a seat on a cushioned bench. Zach stepped inside behind her. As Bob closed the door and the latch clicked, a wave of panic swelled. She tried to hold the fear at bay, not wanting to give in. Zach paused in front of her and put a hand on her shoulder.
“You okay?” he asked.
She gazed into her eyes, and her heartbeat slowed. Taking in a deep breath, she said, “Yes. I’m fine.”
“Bob asked me to sit up front and help direct him down the hill. You all right with that?
“Yeah, sure.” She wriggled out from under his touch.
“Let me know if you need me. You got this, Reagan.”
His gaze drilled into hers. How could he read her so well? She felt exposed and comforted at the same time, an unnerving combination.
“Go. I said I was fine,” she lied. She sat back against the cushion, breaking contact with his hand. He held her gaze with a long look then climbed into the passenger seat and buckled in.
“Everyone settled?” Bob called out over his shoulder.
Shelly buckled the toddler into a car seat and sat down next to a baby in one of those infant carriers. “Kids are all strapped in.”
Bob turned the key in the ignition and the huge vehicle rumbled to life. Reagan clutched the thin cushion with both hands and braced herself for the steep trip down the hill as the motor home inched forward.
“He’s a good driver. You’ll be fine, hon.” Shelly leaned over and tapped Reagan’s knee. “Only thing we need to worry about is that the brakes don’t get too hot. Otherwise should be smooth sailing.”
Reagan’s breath came in short, ragged puffs. “What happens if the brakes get too hot?”
“Oh, then we hold on and pray that we run into a tree or somethin’.” Shelly giggled. “But don’t you worry about that. Odds of that happening are about as likely as crash landing in a pasture full of cow patties.”
Somehow that didn’t alleviate Reagan’s fears. She had crash landed in a pasture once. The odds had always been stacked against her.
