by Liz Isaacson
“Oh, Eli.” The man was practically shouting. “It’s Eli Whittaker.” And he had an audience. “It’s Redd Sugarhouse. I just picked up this phone.”
Redd Sugarhouse owned the coffee bar in town. So Meg had been there at some point. Scratching and scuffling came through the line and then a woman said, “Hello, Eli, dear. It’s Maysie. I told Redd to mind his own business, but when a phone rings, he answers it.”
Eli managed to crack a smile. “It’s fine, Maysie. Do you know where the owner of the phone is?”
“We didn’t even know who it belonged to. You want to come get it?”
“How long has it been there?”
“Oh, a while, hon.”
A while. Which means Meg could be hours and hours away by now, what with the slow morning and the way Eli had barely been able to get his son out of bed.
“I’ll come get it,” he said. Maybe he could determine where she’d gone by her calls or texts. He drove the twenty minutes into town, the radio off and his thoughts his only company. He pulled up to the coffee house, the parking lot full for mid-afternoon. He supposed a lot of people had gotten a slow start to the day.
He caught Maysie’s eye as soon as he entered, the scent of dark roast a siren’s call to him. “I’ll take a deep brew,” he said. “And that phone.”
She passed him the device and rang up his order. He took his coffee to a corner table that was barely big enough for his mug and his own phone and swiped on Meg’s.
She had a lock screen, but he knew the code. They’d trusted each other explicitly, and when Eli hadn’t had anyone else, he’d always had Meg.
A moan started internally. Why hadn’t he been able to say something last night? Something to keep her in his life just a little longer. Something to let her know that he loved her and wanted to be with her.
She hadn’t made any calls this morning at all. Sent no texts. None that were still stored on the phone anyway. With his money, he could probably hire someone to find anything she’d deleted, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to go down that road. It seemed dark, and twisty, and totally not like something he’d do to someone he loved.
She had called one number last night, and when Eli dialed it, he got a chipper man saying, “Anytime Ride, this is Daniel, when do you need a car?”
“I’m wondering if you can tell me about a job last night,” Eli said, drawing out the last word.
“Are you a cop?”
“No, sir.”
“We don’t give out our client’s information or where we took them,” Daniel said. “Not without a warrant, anyway.”
Since Eli didn’t have one of those, he said, “Okay, thank you,” and hung up.
The phone had held some measure of hope, but now that Eli hadn’t been able to find anything on it, it only represented a piece of Meg he didn’t know what to do with.
“Where are you?” he asked the picture of her and Stockton she’d saved as her background. It didn’t answer, and Eli had no idea where a woman like Meg would go. No roots. No family she cared about. The whole world was wide open to her, and Eli hated himself for snapping the tether that had kept her in his life.
Chapter Sixteen
Meg felt divided in two. Right down the middle. Half of her felt freer than she had in years, with a wad of cash in her purse and the radio in the rental car on loud as she left the state of Wyoming in her rear view mirror.
The other half was equally as fearful, frustrated, and downright screaming at her to go back and make sure someone—anyone—knew where she was going and how to find her. After all, she could go right off the road on these lonely stretches of highway in Idaho and not a single person would even miss her.
The thought made her sad, and lonely, and she pushed it away. The last thing she needed was to worry about a car accident, and she readjusted her grip on the steering wheel.
She’d gotten as much cash as she could off her credit card that morning, as all the banks were closed for New Year’s Day. And she’d purposely left her phone in the coffee bar, knowing it wouldn’t take Eli long to call.
In fact, she was a bit surprised she hadn’t woken up to a half-dozen messages from him that morning. As soon as she could, she’d empty her bank account, because Eli had endless resources to track her movement with debit and credit cards, and she needed a clean break.
“You’re making him seem like a stalker,” she muttered to herself. And he wasn’t a stalker. But Eli Whittaker also didn’t hear no very often, and when he did, he knew how to turn it into a yes. Into another opportunity. It was actually one of the things she liked about him.
“You like everything about him.” She’d been talking to herself for hours, but she saw no reason to stop. It wasn’t like she had anyone to talk to, and her two suitcases in the back seat didn’t care if she was the crazy lady who talked jibberish in the front seat.
And besides, she didn’t like everything about him. She didn’t like that he couldn’t let go of the past. That he hadn’t truly seen her all these years. That he was so indecisive and couldn’t express his feelings.
Yeah, Eli had a few black marks against him, but being a stalker wasn’t one of them.
She drove as long as she was emotionally and physically able, finally pulling into a hotel in Elko, Nevada. She paid cash for a room and hoped she could get to a bank in the morning and close this chapter on the first thirty-two years of her life.
“Time to move on,” she announced to the empty room. She’d find a new job in California, and she’d make new friends, and she’d find a way to fit someone into the giant Eli-shaped hole in her heart.
Right now, that spot in her chest throbbed with an ache she didn’t know how to soothe. So she got out her laptop and started looking at the maps. She wanted warm, Southern California, so her next destination was San Diego.
The computer told her it was another eleven hours from Elko, and Meg laid her head in her hands. She’d only driven for six and a half hours today, and she felt like she’d been churning under the wheels for some of that.
“We’ll play it by ear,” she said as if someone else was there to agree or disagree with her.
The following day, she didn’t feel like stopping until she made it to the beach. So she drove, and drove, and drove, finally arriving at a hotel she thought she could afford by about seven p.m.
She checked in and dumped her carryon bag in the room before taking a quick walk between a couple of buildings and coming to the ocean. It spread out before her, and it was as if her heart grew wings and lifted from the soles of her feet where it had settled sometime last night.
The gravity of what she’d done hadn’t hit her until after she’d eaten and showered and was lying on the hard, hotel bed, the TV flickering in the dark in front of her.
Then she’d really realized that she didn’t have a single soul in the world to turn to. She’d written down Eli’s number before leaving her phone behind, and she’d picked up a disposable cell in Jackson Hole. She wasn’t stupid, and she knew she’d need a way to call for help if she got a flat tire as she drove to the beach.
But she hadn’t had any problems, and now she stood with sand between her toes and the entire world before her.
“I can do this,” she said, and the ocean waves simply repeated it back to her, already her biggest fans.
A week later, Meg stood in front of the mirror in the hotel where she was still staying. She’d found an apartment, but it wouldn’t be ready until the fifteenth, so she still had another week to call the Motel 8 her home.
She slicked her palms down the front of the new black skirt she’d bought over the weekend, for her new office job she’d gotten on Friday.
God had somehow made the stars align for her, and Meg had spent more and more time talking to Him lately. It was either the Lord or herself, and Meg liked feeling like someone else was out there listening.
“Okay, you’re ready.” She turned away from her reflection and headed outside. She’d decided to k
eep the rental car until she was settled into her new apartment, but she wouldn’t need a vehicle after that. She’d be living right next to a bus stop, and she didn’t want to burn through her savings too fast.
Everything in California seemed to cost more than Meg was used to, right down to a gallon of milk or a cup of coffee. But she still splurged on her morning to-go concoctions, and she’d finally found something about the lodge that could be improved: better morning coffee service.
If she’d asked Eli, he probably would’ve had someone come out and cater a pot just for her every morning.
The thought of Eli came so effortlessly into her mind, as they had been for a solid week. It stung, as usual, and Meg tried to hold onto it instead of push it away. She’d learned that she couldn’t bottle up so many emotions and expect to find happiness.
So she let Eli linger in her thoughts as she went downstairs to her car and then down the street to her job. She’d gotten a secretary position in a busy law office, and she hadn’t even had to give Eli as a reference. Something about them being desperate and her being able to type and start immediately.
So she stepped into Janklow, Nesbit, and Johnson, her purse clutched tightly to her side and her eyes scanning left and right, right and left.
She’d been hired by a man name Luke, she knew that, and his office had been…there. In the corner. She stepped that way, almost getting trampled by two women as they came out of a conference room with at least three feet of stacked folders between them.
“Oh, sorry.” Meg fell back, realizing her “power skirt” held much less voltage than theirs.
“It’s fine,” one of them, a brunette who’d pulled her hair back into a severe ponytail, said. “You must be the new secretary.” A smile touched her face, and Meg wondered how she held that stack of folders with her skinny arms.
“I’m Tia. Follow me.”
“Okay.”
Tia walked away, immediately turning her attention back to the other woman, also a brunette, but with streaks of blonde in her hair, which fell around her shoulders in magnificent waves. They both wore heels, and Meg’s sandaled feet could barely keep up.
“This is June. She works for Luke too.”
“June. Got it.” Meg couldn’t believe how busy this place was, and it was only nine o’clock in the morning.
“This is your desk,” June said, pointing to one of a triad situated in front of three doors—one in the corner, and one on each adjoining wall. The doors were all open, and lights on, and men talked on phones. “You’re Taylor’s PA, and you probably have one minute until arrival.” June settled at one of the desks while Tia placed her stack of folders beside the one June had already set down.
“I’m Lonnie’s PA.” Tia smiled. “And you’ll come to lunch with us today so we can talk about more than boring lawyer stuff.”
Warmth spread through Meg that had nothing to do with the California sun that shone brilliantly beyond the windows. “Sounds good.”
“Is this my new girl?”
Meg turned toward the feminine yet no-nonsense voice to find a blonde woman wearing a gray pair of slacks and a flowery blouse standing there. “I’m Taylor Janklow. You must be Meg. Meg? Yes, Meg. I think that’s what Luke said.”
“That’s what he said.” Meg stepped forward and shook Taylor’s hand. She wasn’t sure why Luke did Taylor’s hiring for her, but Meg was exceedingly glad to be working for a woman. After all, she’d already endured falling for her boss once, and this way, she knew it wouldn’t happen again.
“All right. I’ll need you in my office for twenty minutes, and then I’ll release you to June.” She flashed a quick smile in June’s direction. “Luke said he could spare you to train Meg.”
“I’m already geared up for it, ma’am.” June gave the fakest smile Meg had ever seen, but Taylor just turned and went into her office.
Meg stared at her back and then at June. “Taylor.”
“Go on,” June hissed. “She doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”
It seemed like a miracle that Meg made it through the week. She hadn’t started a new job in a long, long time, and she’d never been a secretary before. She thought she’d faked it pretty well, and she really enjoyed having girlfriends.
“Hey, there.” Tia slid into the front seat of Meg’s car while June wrestled her giant beach bag into the back.
“Hey.” Meg smiled at them, her heart only twitching a couple of times at the thought of leaving Laney and Celia behind in Wyoming without so much as a good-bye. A way to contact her. Nothing.
Well, Laney had already contacted her on social media, but the message had only said I miss you. Please let me know you’re okay.
Laney had always been particularly sensitive about Eli, and Meg had responded with I’m okay.
Laney had immediately asked about Eli, and mentioned how miserable he was, and Meg had quickly signed off. Of course Eli was miserable. She’d been taking care of his every need for four years.
“This has been the longest week ever,” June said as Meg pulled out of the parking lot. “I can’t wait to just lie on the beach.” She exhaled in a long hiss, and Meg caught her with her eyes closed when she looked in the rear-view mirror.
“Where are we going?” Meg asked. “You two forget I’m new here.”
“Coronado,” Tia said at the same time June said, “Pacific.”
Meg didn’t know where either of those were, and the other two women started bickering about why one was better than the other. Finally, Tia said, “June, Rhett will be at Coronado today. It’s Friday.”
“Oh, Rhett. Fine.” June sighed again as if Coronado Beach was so inferior to Pacific, and Meg typed in the destination into her phone. A few minutes later, they’d found a parking spot and were tromping through the sand.
Which was so much better than snowshoeing in arctic temperatures.
But is it? her mind whispered. There, she had Eli and Stockton, wide open sky, and huge pine trees. She could feel God in the very Wyoming air, and she missed her former life for a few heartbeats.
But here, she had the wide open ocean, and new friends and a new job, and a very handsome man walking toward her. He slung his arm around Tia’s shoulders, which made the normally business-like woman giggle in a very non-business way, and they continued through the sand together.
“Story on that?” she asked, pointing to Tia and Rhett.
“Oh, they’re on-again, off-again,” June said, watching as Tia kissed Rhett. “Apparently, they’re on again at the moment.”
Tia spun back to June and Meg, and said, “Meg, come meet Rhett.”
He stood as tall as Eli, and he exuded just as much charm and confidence as the cowboy billionaire. “Nice to meet you,” she said.
“Tia said you’ve come from Wyoming.” He flashed a smile at her, and Meg flicked a look in Tia’s direction.
“That’s right. I was a nanny there.” She hadn’t kept her past a secret. She’d simply said she’d been looking for a change and the New Year was a good time to do it.
“She took care of a little boy named Stockton,” Tia said. “Isn’t that the cutest name ever?” She looked at Rhett with diamonds in her eyes and obviously, she was thinking about diapers and having babies with the man.
Rhett cocked his head and studied Meg for a second past comfortable. “Yeah, babe. That’s a cute name.” He turned away and settled onto the blanket Tia spread out, and Meg pulled a big bag of truffles out of her purse.
“All right, who wants salted caramel?”
June could’ve called all the dogs in the San Diego area with the way she shrieked, and Meg laughed as the treats were passed out. It felt good to laugh, to feel like she’d put in a good week’s worth of work, and to be with people who had seen her the first time they’d looked.
Chapter Seventeen
“Well, what do you suggest?” Eli practically threw the butter knife back onto the plate. “I haven’t been able to do a single thing. There are no number
s in her phone. The top three locations gave me nothing. I’ve got nothing.” The second time he said the word, it felt like the world had collided with the sun, and there was a fiery hailstorm beating through his body instead of a pulse.
“Well, I wouldn’t hire a private investigator,” Graham said darkly, shooting a look around the table at the other brothers. They’d all come to the ranch for Sunday dinner, and Laney had just taken the kids into the TV room to put on a movie.
“Why not?” Eli asked.
“Yeah,” Andrew said. “Why not?”
“Do you guys even know Meg?” Graham glared openly at them now. “She won’t like that. She left for a reason, and she covered her tracks really well for a reason too.”
“Yeah, because she was mad at Eli,” Beau said, forking up another piece of chocolate cake. Laney returned to the table, one hand on her stomach, temporarily drawing Graham’s attention to her.
As Eli watched them interact, he couldn’t help feeling like an outsider. A jealous outsider. He wanted what they had—and it burned that he’d had it once and lost it. Had it again and thrown it away.
“I have to get her back,” he said, his voice raw. He’d been saying it for two solid weeks, and everything he’d thought of, from interviewing the hotel clerks, to searching for the top three locations she’d been on her phone, to logging into her social media, had led him nowhere.
And Graham had absolutely forbidden him from getting on her social media accounts. Eli had his own, and he’d been checking her accounts simply by watching, but she hadn’t posted. Not a single status update in sixteen days.
She’d only been gone for twelve days, but it felt like Eli lost a little bit more of his soul with every passing hour. He had the money, and he could hire a private investigator. One who would go to the bank in Nevada where she’d closed her account and find out if she’d said anything about where she was going.
