“Photo?” Harrison asked with a smile.
“Yep, of Garcia standing in front of Marino’s car, grinning like a fool.”
“I seem to remember a Jeep in that picture with a recognizable license plate.”
“Funny thing happened with that scrapbook. Two of the photos fell out when I brought it back to the office. Probably old glue. They fell right into a puddle on the floor. Not sure what they fell in, but it completely wiped out the image on one snapshot and removed half the image from the other. Fortunately, I was able to save enough of one photo to identify Garcia and Marino’s car. And I’m pretty confident it was taken up at Sutter’s Lake. It’s pretty nifty how they used to date stamp those old snapshots. Garcia must have taken the film to the photo lab within a week after Marino disappeared.”
“Interesting. So, tell me, Sam, should we try out these cigars?”
Chapter 44
January turned to February and the people of Coulson moved on, away from the tragedies of Myrtle Scarlett, the Carters, and the sensational killing of a kidnapper. Locals wanted to return to their safe and wholesome tourist town where visitors and locals had nothing to fear, even if it was only an illusion.
Adam and Sophie continued to exchange text messages on a regular basis, and every night when they got off work, the two visited via FaceTime. Sophie was no longer living at her father and stepmother’s, but rented a room from a friend. Instead of looking for another job, she reluctantly went back to work for her father. While she couldn’t try out her innovative culinary ideas at her family’s restaurant, she shared them with Adam, who then implemented them at the Lucky Lady.
While Sophie and Adam had never discussed entering into an exclusive relationship, their nightly FaceTime chats made it difficult for either of them to date in the evening. Yet, neither one seemed to care. Late on Valentine’s Day, after all the dinner customers went home, they sipped wine together—Sophie in Portland and Adam in Coulson.
March arrived, and Harrison and Russell had still not shared the secrets of the diaries with Kim. So much had happened, and Kim was busy managing work and personal responsibilities; the contents of the diaries did not seem like a priority to her. Harrison had kept his promise and sat down with Russell and Garret, telling him all that he remembered of William Hunter.
As May approached, Adam asked himself where his and Sophie’s relationship was going. Do we even have a relationship? he wondered. Or was she simply a great pen pal of the digital age. Adam booked a flight to Portland.
“I can’t believe you’re here!” Sophie said for the third time as they walked to her car in the airport parking lot. “I told Dad I’m not working this week.”
“How’s it going, Sophie, at the restaurant? You haven’t said too much about it lately.” Adam loaded his luggage into the back of her car. Sophie got into the driver’s seat and Adam into the passenger’s side of the vehicle.
“I’m going through the motions. I don’t even know why I went to culinary school. Dad keeps talking about me someday taking over the restaurant, and I don’t want to.”
“Then don’t. Do what makes you happy.”
“Easy for you to say.” She drove the car out of the parking lot. “You’ve told me enough how you sometimes don’t want to be at the Lucky Lady.”
“It’s the classical love hate relationship. But I have to say, it’s been more fun lately, with you.”
“With me? What do you mean?”
“Our talks. Your ideas that I’ve tried. You know, business is really picking up. We’ve been getting a crazy turnout for happy hour—the customers love your appetizers. And many of those customers are staying to have dinner.”
“Who woulda figured? Never imagined there was a market for a telecommuting chef.” Sophie laughed.
“I don’t think so, Miss Sophie.”
“What do you mean?” Sophie glanced over at Adam, her hands on the steering wheel. He leaned over and kissed her cheek.
“I’m not sharing you with another restaurant.” He kissed her cheek again.
“Actually, you already are. My father’s.”
“I was hoping I might be able to do something about that.”
“What do you mean, Adam?”
“I want you to come back to Coulson with me.”
“Adam…”
“Sophie, I had no idea I was going to say that. In fact, when I made my reservations, I wasn’t really sure how I would feel when we were face to face again. We knew each other for less than two weeks when you went away. But we’ve spent so much time together these last three months. It’s like you’re already part of my daily life—a very important part. But I want to be with you in person.”
“I know what you mean when you say you weren’t sure how you’d feel when we were face to face again. I felt the same way. But when I saw you walk into baggage claim, any doubts I might have had—wondering if I was imagining how I felt—they were just gone.”
Sophie pulled into the parking lot of the motel where Adam had made reservations. After turning off the engine, she faced Adam. Without saying another word, she went into his arms. When their kiss ended, Adam looked into her eyes as his hand gently caressed the side of her face.
“God, I missed you, Sophie.”
“I’ve missed you, too.” Sophie kissed his lips. “But I think we should get out of this car and get you checked in. People are starting to stare.”
When they entered Adam’s motel room fifteen minutes later, Sophie studied the king size bed for a minute while Adam set his suitcase in the closet and went to use the bathroom. When he returned from the bathroom, Sophie was still standing in the same spot, looking forlorn.
“Are you okay, Sophie?”
“Not really. I think I need to tell you something.”
“Is something wrong?”
“Not that way…” Sophie blushed. “Adam, when you told me you were coming to see me, I sort of wondered if… well, if things worked out and I felt… like I do now… that maybe we would take our relationship to the next level.”
“And?”
“Well, I can’t…”
Adam walked to Sophie and pulled her into his embrace.
“Sophie, I don’t want you to ever do something you aren’t comfortable with. When the time is right for both of us…”
“Oh Adam,” Sophie pushed him away. “I didn’t say I don’t want to. I said I can’t.”
“I don’t understand?” Adam frowned.
“Sheesh, why do you have to make this so difficult? When you told me you were coming, I was so excited, but I didn’t consider the timing.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Gosh, this is embarrassing. I… well started this morning.”
It took Adam a moment, but he finally understood what Sophie was saying.
“Sophie, don’t be embarrassed. My main reason for being here is to see you, and while I certainly want to make love with you some day, I’m just happy to spend time with you right now.”
Adam had arrived in Portland late Monday afternoon and was planning to return to Coulson on Friday morning. After checking into the motel, Sophie took him to see her family’s restaurant and to have something to eat.
Carmen’s was a quaint little Italian restaurant with red-checkered tablecloths and a loyal clientele. Adam found Tony Marino far friendlier than their first meeting, yet considering the circumstances, he understood. Sophie’s stepmother seemed to go out of her way to make him feel welcomed.
Sophie and Adam spent every minute together. During the day, she showed him all her favorite spots, they ate their meals out, and in the evening, she slept with Adam at his motel, content to simply cuddle and kiss.
As Adam’s departure day approached, Sophie became more and more convinced that she wanted to return to Coulson with him. She found the thought of remaining in Portland alone a dismal and lonely thought. On Thursday night, she told him how she felt.
“Adam, I’ve been thinking a lot abo
ut us… about your job offer. I understand what my father was saying when I first considered it. I suppose then it was too soon. But I want to give it a shot now. What is the worst that can happen? The job and the relationship doesn’t work out, and I come back to Portland. But I am already in Portland, and frankly, this is not really working out for me.”
Adam made a whooping sound and grabbed Sophie, swinging her around the motel room as he kissed her. When he settled down, he asked how soon she intended to come.
“I guess I need to talk to my Dad, help him find someone to replace me. I’m not too concerned about the room I’m renting. I already know someone who’ll jump at the chance to take it. I might be able to get everything together and leave by next week.”
“You can stay with me—unless you don’t want to. But I’ll give you the guest room. Unless you’d like to share mine; you’re certainly welcome to!”
“I think I’d like that, Adam.” Sophie grinned.
Adam’s smile faded a moment later, and his expression turned solemn.
“Sophie, you know how I’ve always told you I don’t want to screw up this relationship, that I want to get it right.”
“Would you rather I stay someplace else? I can do that if you want, I understand.”
“No, that’s not it. Sit down. I want to talk.”
“Dang, Adam, that sound’s serious.” Sophie sat on the edge of the bed.
“Sophie, when you think about it, our relationship has moved very fast.”
“Too fast? Do you want to slow down?”
“No, please listen. I like to think it’s moved fast because we clicked right away. We have so much in common; we have fun together. I like to think it moved fast because it was meant to be, you and me. I’ve never felt this way about any other woman before—ever.”
“Oh, Adam.” Sophie reached for him but he pushed her away.
“Please, let me finish. I’m serious when I say I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. But I do have some things in my past that I’d rather tell you about now—get them out in the open, deal with them if they are a problem, and then move on. I don’t want them to come up down the road and screw up what we’ve built.”
“Okay. What is it about your past you want me to know?”
Adam sat next to Sophie on the bed.
“You know how I dated Kimmy when I was in high school?”
“Yes.”
“When we were seniors, I got her pregnant.”
“You two have a baby together?”
“No.”
“She had an abortion?”
“No, although Kimmy considered it. We were both so young. But she went ahead with the pregnancy, and we planned to get married, but then she lost the baby, and we broke up shortly after the miscarriage. Kimmy left Coulson after we graduated from high school, and I went off to college.”
“You never saw each other again?”
“No. Not until her mother was killed a few years back and she returned to Coulson. By that time, I was engaged to Angela.”
“And you cheated on Angela with Kim…”
“Yes, but it wasn’t like we were back in a relationship or seeing each other. It just happened; it was a one time thing, and it never happened again.”
“Who broke up after she lost the baby?”
“It was a mutual thing, really, although Kimmy initiated it. I’m ashamed to say I was pretty relieved when it was all over.”
“Do you still have feelings for her?”
“Not those kinds of feelings, Sophie. Honest. Kimmy is a dear friend, and we do have a history.”
“Does Nick know all this?”
“Yes. Like I said before, it took a while for Nick to get used to me.”
“I can imagine.”
Chapter 45
By the time Adam made it back to the Lucky Lady Restaurant on Friday night, business was slammed. There was an hour waiting list, and it wasn’t until the restaurant was closing down and some crewmembers were gathered around the bar for their end-of-shift drink, that Steve had time to ask Adam about his trip to Portland. He found Adam in his office going through some invoices.
“No end of shift drink for you?” Steve asked when he walked into Adam’s office and sat down.
“I don’t think so.”
“So, how was the trip? Did you have a good time?”
“It was great. Everything was great… until I told Sophie about the baby.”
“You finally told her? So what happened? Did she have a problem with it?”
“Not exactly. But she acted, well, a little distant afterwards.”
“So, where do you think you’re going with the relationship?”
“Until I told her, I thought she was moving to Coulson.”
“And now she’s not?”
“I don’t know. She said she was ready to move; we even talked about her staying with me.”
“And work here?”
“Yes, that was the plan. But then I thought about what you said, and I told her. She just got all quiet after that. And we didn’t talk about it again. Not once. She took me to the airport the next morning, kissed me goodbye, and didn’t say anything about moving.”
“Why in the hell didn’t you just come out and ask her?”
“I felt strange asking, considering she acted so weird about the pregnancy. I suppose I was afraid to ask. Afraid to hear what she was going to say.”
“I’m sorry, Adam. But really, if it was going to be a problem, it really is better you know up front before she moves here and you fall deeper in love with her.”
“Yes, but maybe by that time she’d also be deeper in love with me so that it wouldn’t matter.”
“Sorry, bud, it just doesn’t work that way. Have you talked to her since you got home?”
“I tried calling her, but there was no answer. So I sent a text message. But I haven’t heard from her.
By Saturday afternoon, Adam had still not heard from Sophie, but he was reluctant to call her since he had sent the last text message. By Saturday evening, he broke down and called, yet once again, she did not answer her phone.
“I hate caller ID,” Adam told Steve as he put his phone back in his pocket. Adam was just walking out of his office while Steve was filling up an ice bucket from the machine at the rear of the restaurant.
“What’s the problem?” Steve asked.
“I decided to try calling Sophie. I haven’t talked to her since we said goodbye at the airport.”
“Considering how you were continually tossing text messages back and forth, that doesn’t look promising.”
“We need to at least talk about this, but it’s kind of hard to do when she won’t take my call.”
“I suppose you could force the issue by calling her on a line where she doesn’t know you’re the caller. That way she has to talk to you. And if she hangs up, then you have your answer.”
“She rents a room from some friends, and I don’t even know if that place has a land line.”
“Isn’t she working at her family’s restaurant? Call her there. It’s worth a shot.”
“They’ll probably ask who’s calling.”
“Just try, Adam. You can always say a friend. Don’t give a name. Like I said, it’s worth a shot. If you manage to get her on the line, just ask her straight out if you two are over. But frankly, I think it’s pretty chicken shit of her if she’s handling the situation this way. Maybe you’re better off without her.”
“No. I’m not better off without her. But okay, I’m going to try calling her at the restaurant.”
Adam returned to his office and shut the door. He didn’t know the phone number of her family’s restaurant, but he remembered it had a website. Sitting down at his desk, Adam turned on his computer and searched for Carmen’s website. Within a minute, he had the phone number.
“Carmen’s,” a male voice answered the phone. By the background noise, it sounded as if they were in the midst of a dinner rush.
“Can I speak to Sophie Marino please?”
“Hey, Sophie, it’s for you!” Adam heard the other person on the phone call out.
“Can you ask them who it is?” Adam heard Sophie call back. His heart sunk.
“Hey, we’re pretty busy right now. Can you tell me who this is?”
“Adam Keller.” For a brief moment, Adam was tempted to say a friend, but he changed his mind at the last minute.
“Adam Keller,” the guy called out to Sophie.
There was a moment of silence, and then Sophie came on the line.
“Adam, hi! I’ve been meaning to call you, but we’re really slammed right now.”
“I hadn’t heard from you, Sophie, I guess I was getting kind of worried.”
“I lost my phone, Adam. I would have called you earlier, but I lost your number with the phone. I was going to call you at the restaurant and tell you, but I’ve been kind of busy.”
“Sophie…”
“Sorry, Adam, I can’t talk… Coming… later, Adam.” The line went dead.
“Well? Did you talk to her?” Steve asked when Adam walked up to the bar a few minutes later.
“She said she lost her phone and didn’t have my number.”
“I suppose that can happen. I stopped memorizing phone numbers years ago.”
“She said she was going to call the restaurant and tell me, but she’s been busy.”
“I’m sorry, Adam.”
Lying in his king sized bed, Adam stared at his bedroom’s ceiling. He had slept in, and it was already 10:30 a.m. on Sunday morning. Normally, he woke to several text messages from Sophie, but there were no messages, no phone calls, and no FaceTime chats.
Dragging himself out of bed, he pulled on his sweat pants and slippers and headed outside to get the morning newspaper.
“Morning, Adam,” he heard someone call out from next door. Looking toward Myrtle’s house, he spied Molly getting out of her car. It was parked in her mother’s driveway.
“Hey, Molly. How’s it going?” Adam wandered over to Molly, newspaper in hand.
Coulson's Reckoning Page 27
