Landlady: A New Adult Romance (Northbridge Nights Book 1)

by Jackie Wang

  I laughed. “Hardly. I didn't really do much.”

  “On the contrary,” Terri said, handing me a cold beer, “I think you did a lot. Here's to Sierra. You go, girl.”

  The two saluted me, and I took a sip of the frothy beverage. “Thanks, girls, for not hating me.”

  “Hate you? We love you already.” Terri grinned. “I think I may have learned a few tricks from you.”

  We spent the next few hours getting buzzed and chatting about random topics. The wind and rain had died down a little and we actually had a great time. I returned to my hotel room around eleven. My head spun, but I was surprisingly still able to walk straight. I shrugged off my sneakers and face-planted into the pillowy mattress. A few thoughts about Asher and Cameron wandered into my head but soon floated away. I was too spent to worry about them. Even though I hadn't seen them the rest of the night, I was sure they were fine by now. After all, if they were best friends, they probably wouldn't let some stranger come between them. Right?

  CHAPTER 13

  ASHER

  “I'M SORRY MAN,” I said, handing Cameron a bag of ice.

  He brought it up to the bruise on his cheek and winced. “It's fine. I was a bit wound up and plastered. I shouldn't have picked a fight.”

  “Sierra really stuck it to us didn't she?” I sighed.

  It was just after eight and we were sitting at the hotel bar, each nursing a glass of Jack Daniels. The fight had ruined the rest of the night, so we decided to come back early. It was nice to sit in a quiet bar and just chat. Most of the hotel guests would be at the beer fest until well past midnight.

  “You really like her?” Cameron asked, staring at his drink.

  “I do,” I admitted. “She's spunky and stubborn and feisty.” I took a sip and then added, “Flirty, too–when she wants to be.”

  “I have a confession to make,” Cam said. The alcohol seemed to have loosened him up. His massive frame didn't seem as tense as before, and he was focusing on his bruised knuckles.

  “Oh, what's that?” I asked.

  “Sierra's not even my date,” Cam said.

  “What do you mean?”

  Cam explained, “I asked her out the other night at the bar. To come as my friend. That's why she said yes.”

  “Why as a friend?”

  Cam frowned. “Because otherwise she wouldn't come. We went on several dates and just never had that spark. So I started seeing another lass. Sierra was right to be vengeful and upset earlier. I was a huge arse towards her. I wanted to make it up to her this weekend but looks like I lost my chance for good.”

  “I see,” I mused. So Sierra really didn't like him.

  Why did I feel like fist-pumping the air?

  But she kissed him at the pool...

  Just to piss me off.

  Of course, that didn't mean she liked me either. But at least I wouldn't be competing with my best friend for her affection. I'd hate for her to come between us. In all the years I've known Cam, we've never even argued over a girl before, let alone physically assaulted each other over one.

  “So we all good?” I asked, shooting Cam a smile.

  Cam nodded. “Yeah, mate. You can have 'er,” he said, patting my back. “That is, if she still wants ya.”

  I scoffed but didn't say more.

  After four more drinks, I decided to call it a night. Tomorrow we'd check out a few more vendors and then leave after lunch. Maybe Sierra would be in a better mood then.

  I was too hammered to set an alarm so I slept in. Sometime that night, a huge thunderstorm had developed, and it was still a raging tempest when I woke up around 10a.m. Heavy raindrops slapped against the windowpane and sounded like stomping feet on the rooftop. I looked out through the rain-blurred window and saw that most of the partygoers were leaving. That was probably a good idea since muddy rivers and large puddles were already obscuring the road down the hill. Slippery trenches had been carved on to the grassy terrain overnight, transforming it into an inhospitable morass.

  I reached for my phone so I could call one of the guys.

  Ten missed calls from Cameron?

  Fuck!

  I called him back. It went straight to voicemail.

  So I tried Mike's cell. Then Jeremy's. Nothing worked.

  I looked down at the dimmed screen and realized I only had one flickering bar. Of course. The storm was causing shitty reception inside the hotel.

  I stumbled out into the hallway and saw countless people hurrying to the elevators. Women in floral dresses tugging at the wrists of their young children...rocker chicks nudging silver-haired seniors...babies wailing...It was a cacophonous symphony that gave me an instant headache. You'd think it was a goddamn evacuation or something.

  I tapped an older gentleman's shoulder. “What's going on? Why is everyone in such a rush?”

  “Didn't you hear the announcement? There's a hurricane warning. Possible flash flooding on the island. They told us to catch the next ferry out.”

  I thanked the man before he disappeared into an overstuffed elevator.

  Fuck!

  Where was everyone? How the fuck was I supposed to reach my friends when the phones weren't working? I struggled to see through the throng. Their rooms were on the same floor as mine, I was pretty sure...I just couldn't remember which room numbers. And trying to find them in a crowd this size was like playing Where's Waldo. Except they weren't wearing red and white stripes.

  After pushing through several nervous families, and making my way downstairs, I finally caught a glimpse of Mike and Terri. Mike had his duffle bag hiked over one shoulder and his arm protectively wrapped around Terri's waist.

  “Mike! Terri!” I cried, waving at them.

  “Asher!” Terri said, sounding relieved. “We were so worried. Does your phone work?”

  I shook my head. “Thank God I found you two. Have you seen the others?”

  “Jeremy and Rose had a family emergency so they left last night. But we haven't seen Cam or Sierra yet,” Terri said.

  I swallowed hard. “Cam called me ten times. My phone was on silent. Fuck. Do you think he's in trouble?”

  I'd never forgive myself if something had happened to Cam. Especially since I'd treated him like shit last night. I mean, we made up, but still. That man was like a brother to me.

  “Don't overthink it. Maybe he was just calling to make sure you heard the evacuation warning,” Terri said.

  “Yeah man, you look hungover as hell. And you sleep like a log,” Mike added.

  “Can we call them through the hotel intercom or something?” I suggested.

  “Maybe,” Terri said. “But the hotel staff are probably swamped by check-outs right now.”

  Sure enough, when we made it downstairs, the lobby was packed with hundreds of irate guests, all eager to check out and leave.

  “When is the next ferry?” I asked.

  Mike glanced at his watch. “In fifteen minutes.”

  “That's not enough time,” I said. “Are you two already checked out?”

  They nodded. “Okay,” I said. “You guys go ahead. I'll hang around and try to find them. I still need to check out anyway.”

  “Are you sure, Asher?”

  “Go, I'll be fine,” I reassured them. “It's just a little rain.”

  Okay, so it was a lot of rain. But I wasn't leaving until I found my best friend and my...Sierra.

  Mike and Terri nodded before filing out with the rest of the people. “Call me as soon as you can,” Mike said.

  I looked back at the reception desk. Guests swarmed around it like ants around sugar. There was no way in hell I was waiting in line to check out. They could charge me an extra night or two for all I cared.

  My number one priority was finding Cam and Sierra.

  I had Sierra's number. It was a long shot, but I could try calling her.

  Please work, please work, please work.

  It was going through...but she wasn't picking up!

  Finally, just when
I was about to give up, she answered the phone.

  The connection was poor; static made her voice barely recognizable. I couldn't understand what she was saying at all.

  “Ash—Come—Flood—Hur—”

  “I can't hear you,” I said, trying to talk above the noisy hotel guests.

  “Ash—H—He-Help!”

  I understood that loud and clear.

  “Where are you Sierra? I'm coming to get you.”

  “Bott-Bottom—hi-hill”

  “Bottom of the hill?”

  The line went dead.

  I looked up and realized my phone was out of battery. Shit. I'd been so drunk I hadn’t even plugged it in last night.

  But I got what I needed. She was somewhere at the bottom of the hill. Now all I had to do was shove past about three or four hundred people, find her and help her. In the middle of a fucking thunderstorm. With potential pitfalls and death traps at every turn.

  Easy, peasy?

  Ok, so it would be damn near impossible, but I was still going to try.

  The lodge's main entrance was clogged up like toilet; fresh waves of people joining the obstruction, but barely anyone trickling out. I didn't have any time to waste. I scanned the pandemonium and spotted an open window a few feet away. Making a beeline for the alternate escape route, I managed to slip out of the window and land in an ankle-deep puddle outside. Sure my shoes and socks were soaked now, but I probably saved myself a good ten or fifteen minutes.

  Scrambling down the hill, my runners skidded across a patch of black mud. The ground rushed up to greet me and I heard a loud 'oomph' escape my lips. Fuck! Hot daggers radiated from my tailbone all the way up to my spine. Who did I think I was? Superman? I was no hero, and I certainly couldn't fly down to the bottom of the hill. This fall made that clear. I needed to be way more careful if I wanted to make it to Sierra's side in one piece.

  When I reached the bottom of the hill almost fifteen minutes later, there were hundreds of people getting into their vehicles and skidding away. It was anarchy. Mud, rain, grass, yelling, tears—everything. Parents screamed at children who screamed even louder back at them. Miscellaneous toys, beach umbrellas and towels were abandoned and trampled into oblivion. And the stampede showed no signs of slowing down.

  How the fuck was I supposed to find Sierra in all this?

  And what about Cameron? What if he was in trouble too?

  God, how did such a nice weekend turn into a bloody nightmare so goddamn fast?

  “Sierra!” I cried. “Sierra!” But my voice was drowned out by everyone else's, as well as by the torrential downpour. I was going to fail. I was going to let her down. She was all alone and I wouldn't be able to help her. My clothes were already drenched through, the fabric clinging against every inch of my skin. Fat raindrops rolled down my nose, my mouth, my arms, my legs. I couldn't blink away the rain fast enough and it burned my eyes. I couldn't feel my lower body; it was just so goddamn numb. Everything was so goddamn numb.

  Come on, Sierra. Where are you?

  I circled the area three times before I heard someone call my name.

  “Over here, Asher!”

  I turned around, trying to pinpoint the location of the voice. Wiping the rain with my wet sleeve and squinting, I saw someone waving at me in the distance.

  I stumbled towards the figure and tripped over someone's luggage, landing face-first in the mud. It flew up my nostrils, and I coughed. Wheezing but undeterred, I wiped my face with my shirt and soldiered on.

  When I finally zeroed in on the voice, I realized it was Cameron. Shit. Not the person I was looking for. But I was glad he was alright.

  “Did you get my call just now?” Cam asked.

  “No, phone's dead,” I said. “Have you seen Sierra?”

  “You didn't get my voicemail?”

  “My phone's dead!” I repeated, every bone in my body screaming with pain. “Have you seen Sierra?”

  “She's already on her way to Saint Peter's hospital,” Cam said. “Come on, mate, let's go.”

  I didn't have time to ask any questions. Cam dragged me by the arm to his car. Within seconds, we were maneuvering through bumpy, muddy side roads, away from the main crowd.

  “Where are we going?”

  “To the hospital, of course,” Cameron said. “I was just trying to find you so I could give you a ride there.”

  “The hospital on the island?”

  Cameron tensed. “She's hurt. Bad. There wasn’t enough time to take the ferry back.”

  “What the hell happened? Is she okay now?” I asked.

  “Her room was next to mine, so when we heard the evac warning, we met up and decided to check out and find yous. We found the others, but not you. I must've called ya ten or twenty times. I told her we should just go and contact ye later like. But she didn't want to leave until she knew yeer okay. When we were out looking for you, there were too many people pushin' and shovin'. She tumbled down the hill. I don't know what the extent of 'er injuries is yet, but it's bad, mate. She was unconscious when I found 'er.”

  I felt like I was suffering from a stroke. Blinded by fear, I choked back my panic.

  She was fine. She had to be. Sierra Maywood was a fighter through and through.

  “Thank you, for waiting around. And finding me,” I finally croaked out.

  “No worries. Are you okay, Ash? You look like shite.”

  “How can I be okay?” I said. “She's hurt because of me.”

  “No, that's not true,” Cam said. “It was an accident. She fell.”

  “She wouldn't have fallen if she wasn't in a rush to find me.”

  Cam tensed, his knuckles white. “Shut up, Ash. Just shut it. Stop laying the blame on yerself. If anything, blame me. I should've just taken 'er to my car and driven 'er to the ferry. Then come back to find ya.”

  “Do you know what room she's in?”

  “No, I didn't go with 'er to the hospital. I figured it'd be better to find ya, then go.”

  After a moment, I nodded.“You made the right call. Let's just hurry.”

  If something happened to her, I'd never forgive myself. No matter whose fault it was.

  We arrived at the hospital half an hour later. It would've been faster if the roads weren't so goddamn slippery and the visibility wasn't so goddamn bad. I bolted from the parking lot into the hospital as if my life depended on it.

  I launched myself at the reception desk, gasping for air. “Sierra. Maywood. Where?”

  “Calm down, sir. Now who are you looking for?” an elderly, African-American nurse asked.

  “Sierra Maywood. She came here maybe less than an hour ago. Emergency room. She's got—”

  “—I know the one. She's still in the ER. Are you her family? We'll need you to fill out some forms.”

  “No, I'm her friend,” I said. “Close friend.”

  “Sorry, sir. Only family will be allowed to see her for now. Please take a seat until her emergency contact arrives.”

  “Fuck,” I swore under my breath. I wanted to give the counter a good pounding with my fist just to express how pissed off I felt.

  I felt Cam's hand on my shoulder. “Come on, let's just wait. She's still in the ER, anyway. Not much we can do about that.”

  I clenched my teeth and sank into a puke-green plastic chair in the waiting area. A few curious eyes had noticed my abrupt entrance and studied me. The hospital was actually quite busy, no doubt overwhelmed by the accidents caused by the hurricane and subsequent evacuation warning.

  “Do you think she'll be okay?” I asked, squeezing my eyes shut.

  Cam nodded. “You said yourself last night that she's a feisty one. She's a fighter; she'll be fine.”

  “She better be,” I murmured, bone-dry eyes prickling with pain. I had a huge migraine, and the hangover was taking its toll on me. My calves and lower back hurt the most. If I tried to stand now, my noodle legs would probably buckle and I'd just collapse on the floor.

  The storm outsi
de was getting worse by the minute. I almost expected the hospital lights to start flickering at any minute. The old building seemed to sway in the wind, and I was appalled at how composed all the staff seemed to be. Didn't the hospital need an evacuation or something? What if there really was a flood? This matchstick building would get washed out to sea.

  Hinges creaked and gurneys screeched against the linoleum. “Jesus, that noise,” I complained. My stomach growled, but I was too defeated to heed its complaint.

  “Why don't you grab something to eat?” Cam offered. “I'll be here.”

  I wanted to say no, but my empty stomach forced me to surrender. “Fine, I'll be right back. You want anything?”

  “Nah, I'm good.”

  I followed the arrows and signs down to the hospital cafeteria. There weren't many people there so early in the morning so the entire place felt cold and haunted. I ordered two large coffees and two ham-and-cheese sandwiches. It was the least I could do to thank Cam. I'd make it up to him when we got back home.

  When I returned to the waiting area, Cam was talking to a huge, tattooed guy, built like a goddamn semi. Did they know each other? The man was intimidating, to say the least, and was at least a full head taller than me–seven foot at least. He easily overshadowed everyone else in the room.

  And he looked pissed.

  I sidled up to Cameron, handed him his coffee and sandwich, and arched my brow.

  “Jordan Maywood,” the hulk said.

  I faced him and stuck out my hand. “Asher Morgan. I assume you're related to Sierra?”

  Jordan nodded. “I'm her older brother.”

  “I see.” I didn't want Jordan to notice how tense I was so I looked away and offered him a seat. “Have they told you anything?”

  “Just that she's still in the ER,” Jordan replied. He sat down beside me; his tree trunk legs made mine look like twigs. God this guy was jacked. Never in a million years would I have pegged him to be Sierra's brother. Hell, I didn't even know she had a brother.

  That realization felt like another punch to the gut. How did I still know so little about her?

  “So are you like her boyfriend or something?” Jordan asked.

  I shook my head. “I'm...her friend. And tenant. We live together.” It was the world's worst introduction, and I hated myself for saying it.