A Last Resort

by Brenda Sinclair

  Even Jake had deserted her in favor of sleeping outside on the patio on one of the wicker chairs.

  “Why me?” she lamented. Go to the cabin. Peace and quiet. You’ll finish the book in record time. Rachael’s words reverberated in her mind. “Yeah, right. Quiet my ass.”

  “Language,” Shelley accused.

  Emma glared at her. How had the kid heard anything above her music? “Sorry. Could you use your headphones, please?”

  Shelley’s face reddened. “Yeah, sure. You should have said something sooner. I wasn’t thinking.”

  “That’s all right. You’re being a kid.” Emma climbed off the family room sofa and stretched. “I’m getting myself a bottle of water. Want anything?”

  “A toasted tomato sandwich and a bag of dill pickle chips would be nice.” Shelley stared at Emma and then she dissolved in a fit of laughter. “I’m joking. But you should see your face.”

  “That’s it! Go to your room.” Emma stood hands on hips.

  Shelley sobered and her jaw dropped.

  Emma smiled. “Gotcha! Two can play that game.”

  “Oh, whatever. Mine was way better.” Shelley giggled.

  Emma tossed a pillow at her. “Want to go check on Lyndon? See what he’s doing to Mike’s garage?”

  “Sure.” The teen caught the cushion and set it down. “As soon as I finish an email to Beth.”

  Emma walked to the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge, and strolled outside. The air cooled more every day now that they were into November. Where had the year gone? Before they knew it Christmas would be here.

  “Lyndon?” she called, walking through the open middle bay door.

  “Back here.”

  She followed his voice and discovered him on a ladder in the workshop. Or what she assumed would become a workshop. All she saw was framed walls and a cement floor painted a medium gray color. An older man she’d never seen before, dressed in jeans, work boots, and a toolbelt, stood on another ladder a few feet the other side of Lyndon.

  “This is Len Peterson. He’s the electrician who’s wiring the workshop for lighting and power outlets ensuring there’ll be sufficient electricity to run all of Mike’s saws and other equipment.”

  “Especially the important stuff. Like the coffee maker and two bar fridges,” Len added, grinning.

  Lyndon pointed at her. “This is Emma Sullivan. She’s here for the peace and quiet while she’s writing a book.”

  Len burst into laughter. “Come to the right place then. Nothing but quiet around here.”

  “It’s totally idyllic. Can hear a pin drop.” She liked the older fellow and enjoyed his banter.

  “Pleased to meet you, Emma.” Len descended the ladder and shook her hand. “Seriously, I love this place. Wouldn’t live anywhere else.”

  “You live nearby?”

  “Up the road a couple miles. I work at the resort summers and head to Arizona every January.” Len removed his ballcap and scratched his head. “Keep promising the wife I’ll retire. Hasn’t happened yet. Mind you, if folks like Lyndon would quit hiring me to—”

  “You love this work and you know it,” Lyndon argued, tossing a short length of covered electrical wire at him. “Besides there isn’t a better electrician within a hundred miles of here.”

  “Now that, son, is an exaggeration.” Len settled his hat back on his head. “But I appreciate the sentiment.”

  “I wandered out to check how things were going, so I’d better get back to writing,” Emma said, hoping to execute a gracious exit. Besides, Shelley hadn’t shown up yet. Hopefully, the teen hadn’t snuck out of the cabin and headed for parts unknown.

  “See you later,” Lyndon called.

  “Nice meeting you,” Len added.

  “You, too.” Emma waved on her way out the door. “Talk to you guys later.”

  She almost raced to the cabin, hoping to discover Shelley emailing a reply to her friend. “I’m back,” she called, entering through the door off the patio.

  Silence greeted her.

  No one was in the kitchen or the family room. “No. No, no, no,” she muttered racing down the hallway to Shelley’s room and bursting through the door.

  The teen sat on her bed with her back to Emma, headphones in place, one foot moving to the tune only Shelley could hear. And her fingers were typing furiously on her laptop.

  Emma blew out her breath, unaware she’d been holding it. Her heart started again now that she found the teen. Emma snuck out of the room before Shelley discovered her there, frantic with fear that she’d snuck away. Ruining any hope of winning the teen over with her displays of trust and respect and understanding. She’d almost blown all she’d accomplished with the girl, so far.

  She returned to the family room and opened her laptop. She really needed to email Rachael, but decided she’d write for a while first. She could formulate a summary in her mind of all she’d learned, albeit not that much. She’d inform her friend of her finding before requesting a bit more time with Shelley, suggesting her family not descended on them and take the girl home just yet.

  Soon she’d lost herself in her work, thanks to the hunky muse she visited in his work space earlier. The hero in this book kept improving with each word, and she hoped the readers would fall in love with him as much as she had.

  Emma jolted. Fall in love with him? Where had that thought come from? She meant the hero in to the book, right? Not Lyndon. She’d only known the guy a month or so! She shook the thought from her mind. All this sharing a cabin business and caring for a teenager had played havoc with her mind and her emotions. Nothing more.

  She couldn’t be finished with this book soon enough. For everyone’s sake.

  Chapter 15

  Lyndon wandered down the hallway on the way to his bedroom. The chilly day called for a thicker sweater over his t-shirt. As he passed the main bathroom, he heard Shelley’s voice. Who the heck was she talking to? There wasn’t any cell service here, just Wifi and email the only method of reaching anyone. She couldn’t be talking on her cell phone, but she was carrying on a conversation with someone. Curiosity got the better of him.

  He backtracked and peeked inside the bathroom through the door left ajar.

  Shelley knelt by the bathtub, giving Jake a bath and talking to him. The dog stood in the water up to his belly, almost smiling in his delight and listening intently to every word. That dog loved water and he adored Shelley. The teen had soaped Jake to within an inch of his life with the doggie shampoo he left on the tub shelf. Lyndon stepped back into the hallway to keep from laughing out loud. She’d be rinsing the canine for a half hour to remove all those suds.

  Lyndon stood outside the door listening to the one-sided conversation.

  “You’re going to smell so good, Jake,” Shelley said.

  Lyndon could hear the smile in her voice. The girl really liked his dog, and giving him a bath without being asked showed her thoughtfulness and willingness to help. He’d mentioned the dog needing a bath at dinner last night, but he never dreamed Shelley would take the initiative on her own, which spoke volumes for the kind of kid she was.

  “I bet you love having a bath as much as I loved the shower the night Lyndon and Emma found me.”

  Lyndon moved closer to the doorway but remained out of sight.

  “I hated it in that darn shed, but I hadn’t any choice. You found me, but I couldn’t let the people know I was here. I’m sorry I yelled at you, but you would have given me away, hanging out beside the shed all the time.”

  Lyndon heard water draining and realized Shelley had pulled the plug on the tub. Water continued to run so she hadn’t finished the rinsing yet. No surprise there.

  “I don’t know how Emma is going to help me, but I really like her, Jake. She’s nice and she listens. Lyndon is okay, but he’s a guy. I like Emma better.” Shelley laughed aloud. “And you. I like you, Jake.”

  Lyndon wouldn’t take it personal, being third on her list. He hadn’t
a single thing in common with a teenaged girl, so her priorities made sense.

  The water stopped running.

  “No. Stay in there until I dry you,” Shelley instructed the dog.

  A long pause followed and Lyndon almost moved on down the hallway, but a different sound startled him. Was Shelley crying?

  “I’m not going back, Jake. No matter what my parents say.” Shelley sniffed loudly. “Dad won’t listen to me and Mom won’t argue about his decision. I don’t know what I’m going to do if Emma makes me go back to Vancouver.”

  A thud indicated the dog had jumped out of the tub.

  “There you go. You look so nice, Jake. Want one of my neck scarves? You’ll look really cool wearing a scarf. You can have the one with the skull and crossbones on it. Mom won’t let me wear it anyway.” Shelley giggled. “Wait until Lyndon sees you.”

  Lyndon silently hurried away, refusing to spoil the teen’s surprise. She really was a diligent, hard-working kid and he was thankful he hadn’t packed her off to town to the police station the first night they’d discovered her in the shed.

  But what had the teen meant by her dad wouldn’t listen? And what decision had her father announced that no one, including her mother, was questioning? Except Shelley. Whatever the problem, it affected Shelley more than anyone in her family. Was she an only child? Or did she have siblings? He couldn’t recall Emma mentioning anyone but Shelley’s father being Mike’s brother.

  Lyndon hoped the teen would share her issues with Emma. Clearly, the girl required guidance with this situation and he doubted she’d confide in him. And anything Shelley told Jake would remain confidential. Lyndon should know. That dog had listened without judgement to enough of Lyndon’s issues concerning his business and his future.

  He grabbed a pullover sweater out of the closet in his room and headed outside to work. Tonight, after Shelley went to bed, Lyndon would mention to Emma what he’d overheard. Unless in the meantime, Emma shared additional news with him. He’d bet his favorite table saw Shelley would open up to Emma sooner or later. And the earlier the better. They needed to reunite the kid with family and settle her future.

  * * *

  Someone cleared their throat and Emma looked up from her laptop screen. Had she worked through dinner preparation again?

  “Can we talk?” Shelley whispered.

  Emma cringed inwardly. Shelley had been there two days now. Here it comes. Time to don the big girl panties and suck it up. “Sure. Sit down.” She patted the same sofa cushion she had on the first night the teen arrived.

  Shelley settled beside her, not meeting her eyes.

  “Something wrong?”

  The teen’s head whipped up. “Not really. Well, Beth told me Jake took Amanda Warner to the movies last night. I guess he’s not my boyfriend anymore.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  Shelley shrugged. “We only went to the movies a couple of times and to a hockey game once. He wasn’t really my boyfriend, I guess.”

  “And he’s very fickle if he’s taking Amanda out already.”

  “Fickle?” Shelley giggled. “Yeah, I think you’re right.”

  “So other than that rat, Jake, everything’s okay?”

  “Well, you guys have been great. Beth can’t believe how kind you’ve been to me. And joking around. I told about that thing, you sending me to my room. She typed LOL in her reply to that. Beth thinks your books are the best and she’s dying to meet you.”

  “I’d enjoy meeting your friend, too.”

  “I talked about this with Beth and she told me to talk to you. That you might be able to help.” Shelley shifted sideways on the seat and met her eyes.

  “Try me. Whatever it is, I won’t judge you.” Emma mentally braced herself for what could be coming next. Apparently, losing Jake, the fickle boyfriend, hadn’t upset her world. But something else certainly had. Bullying at school. Caught shoplifting. Unplanned pregnancy. Unplanned? Like a fifteen-year-old would actually plan something like that. Emma took a deep breath and waited.

  “The reason I ran away… my dad got a promotion at work.”

  “Nothing wrong with a promotion,” Emma ventured, blowing out her breath. And she’d worried it was something horrible. “He must be a hard worker and his boss appreciates his efforts.”

  Shelley shrugged. “I guess so. But with the promotion comes a transfer.”

  “Oh.” Emma cringed, perhaps she’d been premature in thinking this was nothing terrible.

  “Yeah.”

  “To where?”

  The teen’s eyes filled with tears and she grabbed a toss cushion to hug. “Dubai.”

  “Dubai!” Emma blurted before she could stop herself. “As in United Arab Emirates, Persian Gulf, Dubai?”

  “That’s the one. Dad expects the whole family to relocate.” Shelley’s fist slammed into the toss cushion on her lap. “I’m not going.”

  Emma sat speechless. She hadn’t a reply for the kid. Emma decided in a second, she’d detest moving to Dubai and leaving behind her circle of friends, too. She couldn’t think of a single reason to encourage the teen to do it. And that would be the issue. Leaving her neighborhood. Moving away from her friends and her school.

  No one will listen to me.

  The reason for running away became crystal clear now. Shelley didn’t want to face such a life-altering upheaval. Emma couldn’t blame her one bit. At fifteen, Shelley would be in high school and graduating in another couple years. No wonder she refused to move.

  “Wow.” Emma shook her head. “I… I don’t know what to say.”

  “You’re not going to help me,” Shelley blurted, hurt evident in her voice as she leapt off the sofa. “I should have known better than—”

  “It’s not that!” Emma reached for Shelley’s hand and stopped her from bolting down the hallway to her room. “I’m in shock. Dubai? I wouldn’t want to move so far away and leave all my friends either. Especially with only a couple years of high school left.”

  “Exactly!” Shelley flopped onto the sofa again. “Dad says You’re an A-student. You’ll graduate wherever you attend school. This is not a big deal. Maybe it’s nothing traumatic for him, but for me…”

  “It’s close to the end of the world?” Emma suggested.

  “Only an atomic explosion that wiped out the entire universe would top it.” Shelley smiled at her outlandish scenario. “I can’t see that happening. Not really.”

  Emma smiled. “So what are we going to do about this?”

  Shelley gaped. “We?”

  “We.”

  “I don’t know. If I did, I wouldn’t have run away.” The teen scooted to the edge of the sofa. “Maybe you can come up with something. You’re an adult. You’re supposed to be smarter than us kids. What can we do?”

  “Give me a minute.” Emma tapped her head with her fingers. “I’m waiting for that ‘smarter than us kids thing’ to cut in and provide an answer.”

  Shelley laughed. “Could this take awhile?”

  “Probably. You’d better start dinner and let me think on it.” Emma waved the teen toward the kitchen.

  Shelley threw her arms around Emma’s neck. “Thanks, Emma. You’re the best. Thank you so much.”

  “You’re welcome. That smarts thing hasn’t cut in yet, but I’ll keep working on it.” Emma patted the teen’s back. “There has to be a solution. What about staying with grandparents?”

  The teen’s shoulders slumped. “They’re all dead.”

  “Staying with friends? Maybe Beth and her parents?”

  “I already suggested staying with friends, but Dad won’t allow it.”

  “Well, like I said, there has to be a solution. Go cook, please.” Emma waved her toward the kitchen again.

  “Okay. Thanks for helping me. I appreciate it.”

  “Don’t worry. We’ll solve this, one way or another.”

  The moment the teenager disappeared into the kitchen, Emma emailed Rachael, explaining in detail all t
hat Shelley had shared with her. The transfer to Dubai. Her refusal to leave her home, her school, and her friends.

  Emma leaned back in her chair and thought how best to add her suggestion. Finally, she finished the email…

  I know this is really none of my business, but I’ve been drawn into it. Shelley is trusting me to help her find a solution. Is there anyone she could stay with in Vancouver? She told me her grandparents are no longer alive. So, maybe a favorite relative? The family of a friend from her school? Perhaps a classmate like Beth? They’re apparently best friends, and they continue to email every day. She’s keeping Shelley up to date on homework assignments from school. Your niece is really a great kid. And she prides herself on being an A-student. Shelley claims her parents don’t know Beth, but apparently, they’ve been friends since Beth’s family moved to Vancouver several months ago. Shelley said she already suggested it but her dad refused. Might be worth a second attempt.

  I don’t know what to tell you, Rach. This has blindsided me but good. I don’t envy her parents having to sort this out, but I have to sympathize with Shelley. There’s no way I’d want to uproot my entire life at her age, either. Especially to move halfway around the world.

  Let me know when her parents are coming to take her home. She won’t like it, but at fifteen, she really hasn’t much choice. I should warn you, she told me she’ll just run away again if anyone takes her back to Vancouver. Thank goodness, I chose to forgo motherhood.

  On a positive note, this book is three-quarters finished. Already. I know. You were right about coming to the cabin. Well, for the most part… teenager aside.

  Talk to you again soon.

  Emma

  Emma closed her laptop. And she’d considered her life in Calgary complicated? Now, she’d trade anything for a day in her office at home, sipping her favorite flavored coffee, pouring over her manuscript and messing with her characters’ lives. She should have realized how good she had it.