Scattered Ashes

by Maria Rachel Hooley

  Besides, even if Sarah’s idea of a good time didn’t match hers, she did have to admit that it had been a while since they’d really done something fun together. Lately it had pretty much been about academics. That tended to happen with the senior year at college. Sarah might just as well bring on the mischief for her to enjoy. Telling her no wouldn’t do any good, and maybe a little distraction was in order.

  Still, maybe it wouldn’t hurt, she thought and dialed Jordan’s number. The phone rang twice before she heard him answer, his voice resonating deeply within her, bringing back memories of the day they’d met. She might even have said something, but in the background she distinctly heard a woman speaking to someone. Inhaling sharply, she snapped the phone shut and slid it onto the table.

  What could it hurt? Her, that’s what. Nicole just wished she knew why.

  * * *

  “Okay, now I know you're truly insane,” Nicole muttered, watching Sarah load two duffle bags with clothing and toiletries into her old blue convertible. The sun was beating down, reminding them that, even though it was close to the middle of September, summer wasn’t over yet, and the way her skin radiated in the heat told Nicole she might be sorry if she didn’t pack sunscreen, so she hurried inside to grab a bottle.

  When she came back out, Sarah leaned against her car, her long, blonde hair spilling down the front of her shirt. Although Nicole could guess at her expression, the large sunglasses hid her eyes. Still, her folded arms suggested she was ready to go. Patience had never been one of Sarah’s strong points, which was why they got along so well.

  “Are you done yet?” Sarah asked, shaking her head.

  “I had to get sunscreen. Ten to one you didn’t pack any,” Nicole smarted back, walking around to the passenger side. She stopped before grabbing the door handle. “Maybe I should go get a couple of textbooks to work on my projects.” She started to go back into the house again when Sarah blocked her.

  “That’s a ‘no’. We’re going out of town to have fun, not get smarter. You can resume that plan of study when you come back, Sunday night.”

  Nicole tried to step around her, but her best friend matched her. “But my project is due--"

  “When it’s due.” Sarah grabbed Nicole's shoulders and turned her so she faced the car. “So get in and let’s hit the road before I’m so old, I forget how to drive.” She stubbornly waited until her roommate had belted in before she headed for the driver’s seat.

  “You’re being a pain, Sarah,” Nicole said, leaning back.

  Sarah backed down the driveway. “Yeah, well, maybe I am, but you'll thank me later, when we've left this little town in the dust and found much more interesting scenery.”

  Figuring she might as well just give in to Sarah’s latest whim, she pulled the sunglasses from her purse and slid them on. “Okay, Thelma, where're we headed?” She closed her eyes and savored the way the wind wildly blew their hair to and fro, for once not caring that when the car finally stopped she was going to look like the bride of Frankenstein.

  “Not over a cliff. I can promise you that.”

  For two hours they drove, heading far from Bristol, Oklahoma, towards Oklahoma City, and while Nicole suspected Sarah would have a great time, she, herself, much preferred hiking in the mountains to the flash and dazzle of nightclubs. There was definitely something to be said for knowing what was real and what wasn’t. Even the cactus spines going through her shoe and into her foot hadn’t dissuaded her from loving nature and hiking. They had just made her more conscious of where she walked and what she might step on.

  Nicole peered at the tall hotel and shook her head. The Marriot would definitely be a welcome respite, but she had a sneaking suspicion getting any rest wasn’t on Sarah’s list of activities. Sarah was more a I’ll-sleep-when-I’m-dead sort of person, and she tended to drag those around her with her until somebody collapsed, usually Nicole.

  “Did you make reservations?” Nicole asked as they got out of the convertible. She peered into the rear-view mirror, trying to bat her hair into some kind of shape, but the long, wavy strands weren’t playing nice.

  “Of course I made reservations. I’m not an idiot.” She hefted her purse indignantly over her shoulder.

  “No, but you like spur-of-the-moment things better than most people.” Nicole brushed the hair from her face and tucked it behind her ears. “You’ve always been impulsive, and you know it.”

  “You say impulsive like it’s a bad thing,” Sarah muttered as they headed into the air-conditioned bliss of the hotel where a short brunette with a name tag that read “Amy” looked up at them.

  “May I help you?” Amy asked.

  “Yes, we have a reservation for tonight and tomorrow.” Sarah gave her a smug smile.

  “Okay, let me check.” Amy side-stepped to the computer where she quickly tapped a few keys. “And what name is the reservation under?”

  “Middleton.” Sarah pulled out her credit card, and even though Nicole started to reach into her purse to get some money, her best friend tapped her on the hand and whispered, “No, I’ve got this. It’s your intervention, remember?”

  Shaking her head, Nicole wondered exactly what Sarah was intervening her from that wouldn’t still be there when she returned. If Sarah thought Jordan were going to go away like a flu bug or something, Nicole seriously doubted it--not that she knew why, exactly. It was more of a hunch.

  “Umm, I’m sorry, Ms. Middleton, but we don’t show any record of your reservation. Did you call or perhaps make the reservation online?”

  “Yes, I did it online,” Sarah snapped, and when she caught sight of Nicole’s huge grin, she smacked her best friend. “This isn’t funny.”

  “Sure it is. You couldn’t plan your way out of a wet paper bag, and you know it.”

  “Could you double-check that, please?” Sarah asked, beaming a huge smile.

  “Of course.” Amy tapped a few more keys as the door opened and admitted a family of four, obviously on vacation by the dad’s loud Hawaiian shirt. Amy scrolled through a couple of screens and shook her head again. “No, I still don’t see any reservations. I’m sorry.”

  Sarah tapped her credit card against the counter as she frowned in concentration, trying to come up with a contingency plan. “Do you have any available rooms?”

  “No, I’m sorry. There’s a Bon Jovi concert tonight, and we’re completely full.”

  “Just my luck,” Sarah muttered as they turned and headed out the door.

  “So now what do we do?” Nicole sat in the passenger seat while Sarah slid behind the wheel.

  “We troll for a hotel. There’s got to be one here somewhere.”

  Of course, after driving around most of the metro area, they quickly realized that not only was there a massive rock concert in town but also that tourism was booming. No rooms were available, and no amount of cursing on Sarah’s part was going to change that.

  Together, they sat in the convertible, mulling over their options. “Maybe we should just drive home,” Nicole finally suggested, more than dreading another two hours in the car. She could already feel her muscles stiffening.

  “No!” Sarah snapped. “We both need a break, and we're not turning around and driving back so you can bury your nose in a textbook and I can go stir crazy in the apartment. We came here to have fun, and by God, that's what we're going to do, no matter what it takes!”

  Sarah saw the Bricktown area just ahead and slid into a parking spot someone else had just eyed and would have pulled into had traffic not stopped him. As they got out, they both heard the mad honking of a horn, and the driver, a teenage male, flipped them off.

  “I’d say he was just a little ticked,” Nicole muttered and looked at her best friend, who’s perkiness had slowly diminished, like a balloon with a slow leak. “So what are we doing now?”

  “Going to walk around the canal. It’s beautiful over there.”

  “That doesn’t solve the hotel issue,” Nicole said, shaking her hea
d. “We need to find a place to stay.”

  “And we will--right after we walk out some of the kinks in my butt.” She grabbed Nicole’s arm and dragged her toward the canal. Although she figured the walkways would be packed, there weren’t many people out; probably, most of them were getting ready for the Bon Jovi concert so it was kind of nice to stroll around without worrying about running into people.

  It seemed that stretching Sarah’s legs had done wonders for her perkiness, because before, long she was chatting about everything under the sun, and Nicole did what she always did, pretended to listen but really focused on the world around her. That was when she spotted him.

  He wore a forest green Henley and Bermuda shorts. The sunlight toyed with his hair, casting a red glow on some of the strands as he headed toward a deli. At first when Nicole saw him, her stomach knotted, and her feet stalled. She felt like even breathing was tough. Then, as she realized she was about to lose him to the corner just ahead, she broke into a sudden run, desperate to catch him.

  “Nicole? What are you doing?” Sarah called from behind. “Wait up!”

  Nicole pretended not to hear and managed to get right behind him before he rounded the corner, then forced herself to slow and say, “Excuse me.”

  The man turned, and while she had expected amber eyes and a Michael C. Hall smile, the features were all wrong--foreign. It wasn’t Jordan.

  “Yes?” the man said, frowning.

  Nicole stumbled backwards a step. “I’m sorry. I thought you were someone else.” She averted her eyes in embarrassment and turned away.

  He gave her one last look, shook his head, and walked off, just as Sarah caught up with her. Even though she had stopped running, she was breathing hard, suggesting just how out of shape she was.

  “What the hell, Nic? You know I don’t run or jog.”

  Nicole stared out into the deep green water of the canal, and her eyes took on a far-away look. She didn’t seem even to hear her best friend speak.

  “Nic? What’s wrong? What happened?”

  Nicole swallowed hard, trying to come to terms with the excitement that had so quickly turned to disappointment. “I just thought he was someone else.”

  A knowing expression filled Sarah’s face. “No, actually it wasn’t because you thought he was someone else. You wanted him to be someone else, didn’t you? You wanted him to be Jordan, right?” She touched Nicole’s arm.

  “It doesn’t matter," she said, pulling away.

  Sarah was about to argue when a stranger zipped up behind them both, wrapped his fingers around Nicole’s purse straps, and jerked at them. Nicole’s eyes widened, and she tried to hold on. She might have been able to had the thief not used the strap to slam her face-first into the brick wall. Nicole groaned, and the world seemed to blacken instantaneously.

  “Somebody help me!” Sarah yelled. Nicole could hear her best friend even beneath the warped blackness that now tried to wash her away, and she wanted to tell Sarah just to be quiet so the pain pounding in her brain would leave her alone, but she couldn’t muster the energy.

  “What happened?” This voice was different—masculine and deep.

  “Someone took her purse and threw her against the wall. She’s bleeding.”

  I’m bleeding? Nicole thought. Then blackness washed everything away.

  Chapter Six

  “Miss? Can you hear me?”

  Pain radiated through Nicole’s head, and she just wanted to be left alone. “Head hurts. Go away,” she mumbled, trying to push away the hand she felt touching her forehead.

  “I need you to open your eyes,” that same deep, calm voice said.

  “Is she going to be all right?” Sarah’s voice sounded anything but calm, almost like she were going to burst into tears at any moment.

  “We need to get her awake,” the guy said. “What’s her name?”

  “Nicole O’Roarke.”

  Figuring if she didn’t force open her eyes, Sarah was going to go off the deep end and this guy would never leave, Nicole blinked…and was immediately rewarded with pain.

  “Damn!” she swore and clenched her eyes shut.

  “Well, I’d say the chances are good she’ll be all right,” he said, chuckling. “Nicole, I need you to open your eyes again, please.”

  “It makes my head hurt,” she said, trying again to get away from him.

  “I know. But I need to see your pupils so I know whether we need to call an ambulance.”

  The thought of having to go to the hospital got her attention, and she forced open her eyes in spite of the pain. At first, everything was blurry. She could tell by the shapes where both Sarah and the guy were. Sarah hovered in the background while the stranger knelt beside her, leaning close.

  “Well, her pupils are normal-sized, so that’s a good thing.”

  Nicole lifted her hand to her head, but the stranger stopped her. “Easy there. You cut your forehead on the bricks.”

  “Must be why it hurts,” she muttered and blinked, trying to get the world to come back into focus. It worked. The guy’s dark hair took shape first, and when she could finally see his eyes, she realized just how brown they were, much darker than Jordan’s. She chewed her bottom lip not only to distract herself from the pain splitting her head but also to try and make things seem less foggy.

  “Are you a doctor?” she asked, puzzled at how he knew so much about caring for a head wound.

  “Nope. Used to be an EMT. Now I’m just a lawyer.” He turned to Sarah. “Do you think she broke anything?”

  “I don’t think so,” Sarah said, chewing her nails as she anxiously watched him check out her friend.

  The guy turned back to Nicole. “Do you think you can sit up?”

  If it’ll keep me out of the hospital, you betcha, Nicole thought, taking a deep breath. “Probably. Could you at least tell me your name?”

  He chuckled, and Nicole found irritation in it. “What’s so funny?” she asked.

  “I only tell people who are standing so if you can get to your feet, I’ll let you know.” He winked at her.

  “Funny guy.” She gritted her teeth and started to sit up in spite of the way it made everything fuzzy and unbalanced. She was grateful when the stranger slipped his hand to her back and gently helped her upright.

  "You okay?” he asked softly, the sudden smugness gone as he watched her.

  “Of course I’m fine. It’s just a little bump on the head.”

  “I wouldn’t….” he started to say when Nicole found herself falling, with only his arms to keep her from hitting the pavement.

  “I’m okay,” she said. “Just a little dizzy.”

  He lifted her hair to peer at the wound on her forehead. “Be that as it may, I think maybe we might want to take her to a hospital, and we need to call the cops to report that guy.”

  “No hospitals,” she spat, “and I really don’t feel like talking to the cops. I didn’t have much money and no credit cards in the wallet. I just want to rest.” She tried to step out of his arms, but he refused to let go.

  “Stubborn, aren’t you?”

  “Yes. Now will you tell me your name?”

  The grin returned. “Michael Adams at your service.” He looked around. “Do you live in the city, or are you staying at a hotel?”

  Sarah said “Hotel” at the same time Nicole muttered “We live here.” He frowned, looking from one to the other before shaking his head.

  “Okay. You two need to get your stories straight. Which is it?”

  This time, Nicole said “Hotel” and Sarah replied “We live here.” They looked at each other in horror as he started laughing.

  “How about the truth this time?”

  “Neither,” Sarah finally admitted, a flush creeping into her cheeks. “Our reservations fell through, and we live two hours away, in Bristol.” She folded her arms across her chest and leaned against the wall, almost looking like she were about to burst into tears.

  “Okay, that settles
it.” He slid Nicole’s arm around his neck and wrapped his arm around her back. “Let’s go.”

  Nicole tried to plant her feet, but she was still so dizzy she could barely walk. “Where do you think we're going?” She tried to sound condescending. Instead, her voice only wavered weakly.

  He nodded toward the hotel just ahead, the one right on the canal. “My hotel. You need to get comfortable, and you aren’t going to be able to do that in a car or with all these people watching.”

  Sarah stepped into his path. “We’re not going to your hotel. We don’t even know you.”

  “Good point. Then again, I do have an extra room that you can use with no strings attached, and I don’t think you want to find a bed for her at the hospital, so if you would just humor me, I’d appreciate it.” He looked from one to the other, waiting for more arguments, and when none came, he started walking again.

  Although Nicole would have preferred to make it on her own, she knew she couldn’t. As it was, she leaned heavily against Michael’s chest, aware he was just a little taller than she was, but it felt good to know his arms were keeping her standing. More than once, she felt herself drifting toward blackness. Michael must have sensed it, too, because he would then shake her back to wakefulness, saying, “Your head just hit the wall, which means you need to stay awake--unless you want me to take you to a hospital.”

  That threat worked wonders at keeping her conscious. It just seemed to take a long time to walk to the hotel, and her head was splitting. Once they'd finally arrived, Michael slipped his plastic key into the lock and propped open the door. Sarah swept in behind them.

  “Here we are.”

  Sarah and Nicole studied the room and the way he had neatly arranged his belongings. The maid had obviously been there, as the bed was made and the trash empty. “You’re very neat,” Nicole muttered, feeling more light-headed than ever.