"But now we are stuck here, no better than we were and so far away from home."
"We will make it through this, Sandy. When we get a little money together, we'll head home, if you still want to. Everything will be fine - you'll see."
Trying to make her brother feel better, she smiled and nodded. He had always done his best to be the big brother and he was a good one at that. "Come on now. Dry up those tears and finish your Coke. My shift starts in an hour and I've got to get back to the house and take a shower."
Sandy did as her brother said and had the last sip of Coke as she wiped the tears away. Travis put a tip on the table and he walked behind her to the door of the diner, opening it for her and patting her shoulder as he did.
Melanie wrote down on her napkin what she could remember of the conversation. Sandy & Travis Robbins ... Pueblo, Colorado ... Macon, GA ... Mother dying.
She felt a little uncomfortable writing down details of a private conversation, but if she were going to help these two, she needed to remember as much as she could. Before she left, she asked the waitress if there was more than one cannery nearby.
"No, ma’am, the nearest is just up the road and off to the right. The next isn't until you meet up with the next town."
"Thank you. Might you have a phone with a phone book close by?" Melanie asked.
"Actually the one in the back has a new phone book. It’s on your way to the restrooms."
"Thank you so much. You've been a big help." She paid for her meal and headed back to the phone book. She looked up Sandy Robbins in the white pages but none of them listed had an address, so she looked up Travis and there was a listing for him with a street address. She jotted down the address and number on the napkin with the other details and headed back to the car and her hotel.
As usual, she put her matchbooks collected for the day into the cigar box and mapped out her next day. She had written a post-it note to put in the car for the next day when she had used the credit card in Chattanooga. She also had a post-it note that had all the flight information she had made for Danny, Ellen, Lori, and Chris. Shoot. Where are those darn post-it notes? She had used the bathroom there and had laid on the bed looking at the map one last time before she headed to Georgia. What had she done with the post-its? She must have dropped them somewhere. Maybe it was in the car? Sure. They were probably in the car. She called the airlines and bought tickets for Sandy and Travis Porter to Colorado Springs leaving from Atlanta. She got them a non-stop flight with an open ended return flight as she had done with the tickets for Chris and Lori. She sent the tickets to the address she had taken down from the phone book. She hoped they would get there in time to say their goodbyes to their mother.
She then made reservations for herself and Josh under different names. She'd found a woman’s wallet during her travels to numerous diners, gas stations, and hotels. She’d had a picture taken at one of those silly instant photo booths and was able to attach her own picture to the woman’s ID and had it laminated. It was a bad fake, but if they didn't ask her to take it out of her wallet, it might just work. When she was safe in Connecticut, she would send the wallet back to its owner. No harm done.
Now she had four sets of tickets out there, all bought with either Josh's credit card or her own. One set leaving from Atlanta, one from Birmingham, one from Nashville, and the last for her would leave from Charlotte. They all left the day after tomorrow around the same time and all four airports were within an hour of each other. No way for Dimitri to hit all four looking for her. She would sure feel a lot better if she knew where those darn post-it notes were. She hoped and prayed that she had not dropped them in the hotel in Tennessee. Finally all this driving could end. She just hoped that they had come up with a plan or all this had been for nothing. She couldn't wait to be able to talk to Josh and maybe see Darby.
Chapter 25
Blake, Rowan, Dean, Sally, and Josh were greeted at the airport by a limousine. In no time at all they were pulling up to the house in Westport, Connecticut. An older man with bright eyes and graying hair opened the door and welcomed the bunch in. Josh could sense from the jolly man that there had not been such a happy event in this house in a long time. He introduced himself to those that did not know him. This was Bernard.
Along with Bernard was another member of the welcoming committee, Sammy. Sammy, with ball in his mouth, and tail whipping in a blur of excitement, greeted each guest with enthusiasm. Sammy looked at each of them as a potential ball throwing possibility to appease his Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. To his disappointment, each guest ignored his dropping his ball for them to pick up, but instead he enjoyed a pat on the head or an ear rub or two. As he made his rounds, somehow Sammy instinctively knew that Josh was dateless and therefore Sammy decided to keep him company by sitting on his feet and looking longingly at him, holding his slimy ball.
Responding to the commotion in the foyer, Dominic appeared at the top of the stairs and quickly descended to greet his guests. He made his way through the crowd to Josh where he stopped and offered his hand. Josh politely extended his hand to Dominic and Dominic shook it firmly.
"I'm so happy to meet you finally, Josh. I know you must be feeling at odds celebrating with us in the midst of your stressful situation, but I do hope you can enjoy the festivities. Once things have died down a bit, I look forward to talking with you. I promise you, my family will do everything to help, but in the meantime, I hope you will be comfortable."
Dominic paused as he saw Sammy sitting dutifully on Josh's feet. "I see Sammy has befriended you. He is an excellent judge of character." Dominic reached down to pet Sammy, who responded by lying on Josh's feet and exposing his belly for a few rubs and a wag of the tail. Dominic and Josh both chuckled and honored his request.
Josh said, "Thank you, Mr. Larsen, for inviting me. I look forward to talking to you too."
"Please, call me Dominic." Then Dominic turned to address the others.
"Devon and Darby will be here around 4:00. I'm going to have them stay in the cottage where they will get ready for what they think is just our normal formal dinner. I have had all the deliveries made yesterday and this morning so as not to tip them off, however there will be workers in the house and in the back setting up most of the day. The festivities will commence at 5:00. I've taken the liberty of providing something for each of you to wear. Gentlemen, you will find tuxedos in each of your rooms and ladies, I hope you don't mind but I figured with such short notice you may not have been able to find anything to wear, so I have gotten each of you a gown and accessories I hope you will find to your liking. Your significant others helped me with colors, styles, and sizes so I hope you will be happy with them. If not, let me know as soon as possible and we will get something more to your liking. I've also arranged for a stylist and manicurist to take up residence in the back room next to the kitchen for you to use if you so choose. For now, I'll let Bernard show you your rooms."
Bernard headed for the stairs and all the guests followed him. As they headed up the stairs, Josh noticed a huge portrait of an enchanting woman with auburn hair, porcelain skin, and hypnotic blue eyes. He figured this must be the late Mrs. Larsen. Josh was still looking at the painting as the crowd made their way up the stairs, when Anton appeared on the landing. He greeted each of them as they passed. Each of the guys received a pat on the shoulder and each of the girls, a kiss on the hand.
When he met with Josh, he extended his hand and said, "Josh. It's so nice to meet you. Welcome." Josh extended his hand to Anton and shook it. As their eyes met, Josh recognized the same blue eyes he had spied in the portrait. Josh thanked Anton for his hospitality and continued with the crowd up the stairs. As he passed, Anton gave him a pat on the shoulder as he had with the other guys. Josh wasn't sure if he had glanced into Anton's mind or if it was just one of those things, but he felt that he and Anton would be good friends. With that, he instantly felt at ease.
Josh started to unpack and went to the closet to hang a shirt
when he found a plastic covered tuxedo in the closet just as Dominic had said. Sammy, Josh's new short shadow, looked up at him as if to say, why are you surprised? Dominic said there would be one for each of you. Somehow Josh hadn’t been sure the speech had been meant for him too, but he was pleasantly surprised and Sammy sat on his feet as he hung his shirt next to the tux.
The rest of the day was a flurry of decorators and caterers. In order to stay out of the way, Josh thought it prudent to stay in his room and maybe take a nap. After the red eye flight he could certainly use some sleep, especially if the party went late. Apparently Sammy thought this was a good idea too. Circling around three or four times before lying down, he took a nap on the floor next to the bed on the side most near Josh. Josh was lucky he got any sleep with the snoring that came out of the sleeping, twitching dog.
Around 4:00 P.M. Bernard knocked on his door, obviously sensing he might have taken a nap, and informed him he had an hour before the party. He slowly got up and even tossed the ball a couple of times for a most appreciative Sammy, and then he made his way to the bathroom and showered. Dressed and looking quite dashing in his tuxedo, he headed downstairs to see if there was anything he should be doing to help. He found Dean, Anton, and Blake hanging out in the study wondering the same thing. Dean and Blake were trying to also get out of the way of their girlfriends who were frantically getting ready upstairs. They chuckled, sharing stories about how the girls had spent all day getting ready and how it takes a guy all of about twenty minutes to do the same.
Anton said, “Trust me, guys, it’s ALWAYS worth the wait. At least you have dates and beautiful ones at that.”
Dean answered, “That’s true. I do consider myself pretty lucky, but it is more fun to complain and give them a hard time.”
Blake said, “Did you hear if Darby and Devon arrived okay?”
Anton answered, “Yes. Dominic said they showed about 4:15 and he and Bernard herded them down to the cottage.”
Blake turned and saw Josh enter the room and said, “Hey, Josh. Looking pretty sharp!”
“It’s pretty hard to look bad in a tux, but thanks. You too,” he said timidly.
Dean laughed in agreement to Josh’s comment then added, “Yeah! Is your collar making you nuts?”
This time Anton laughed and said, “Always...I don’t think I’ll ever get used to a tux shirt. Maybe they use too much starch?”
They all laughed as Bernard escorted Mark Rosenthal and his date into the study. Mark had helped Darby find Devon and Libby and also helped out in the rescue. By profession, he was a private investigator, but also a prize-winning archer. When Dean and Blake had come out to help a few weeks before, all three of them had become fast friends. He had met Alyssa at a clinic where she worked as a receptionist. Mark was having a small wound checked out and they had been dating ever since. Blake greeted him with a loud, “Mark...good to see you. We were just complaining about our collars being itchy.”
Mark replied back, “I know, what’s up with that. They’ve been making tuxes forever; you’d think they could make a comfortable one.” The girl beside him added, “Oh Boo Hoo! Try walking around in four inch heels, then tell me about uncomfortable.”
Mark eyed her up and down and said, “But you wear them so well!” She laughed. Mark continued, “Alyssa, the skinny giant is Blake.”
Blake complained, “Hey! Be nice. I can’t help it that you all are short. Nice to meet you, Alyssa.” Alyssa nodded.
“The one with crazy brown hair, that’s Dean.”
“What do you mean crazy hair? I spent twenty minutes with this goop Sally gave me to make it look like this. Crazy hair, my butt!” Alyssa smiled and nodded again.
Mark continued, “The blonde in the butch is one of our hosts, Anton.”
Anton took Alyssa’s hand, kissed it and said, “It’s a pleasure.”
Mark said, “Hey man, get your own date!”
Anton laughed. “I have one. She’s just not here yet.”
Mark eyed him teasingly and said, “Uh huh! We’ll see.” Then he turned to Josh, and his expression changed to surly tough guy. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know you.”
Blake stepped in and answered, “My apologies, Mark, Alyssa, this is Josh Brenner. He’s staying with us while we help him with a problem. In fact, we might need your services.”
Mark said, “Sure. But back to introductions, Josh, nice to meet you. Any friend of Blake and Dean’s is all right with me. So Alyssa, these are the guys I told you about and guys, this is Alyssa Sarducci.”
Alyssa nodded. “Nice to meet you. Mark has told me some wild stories about you all.”
Blake, Dean, and Anton looked at each other in a bit of a panic and it was Blake that said, “Um. Wild stories? Mark that’s not...”
Mark interrupted, “It’s cool. Alyssa is hip to the supernatural.” Still the three men looked at each other unsure. “You don’t know who the Sarduccis are, do you?” The men all looked puzzled. “The Sensational Sarducci Circus?” Mark pressed. “You’ve never heard of them?”
Alyssa grabbed his arm and started to whisper, “Not everyone has heard of us. We’ve only been in America for ten years. Most of our fame was in Europe, Mark.”
He smiled at her as proud as he could be, “I’m sorry. I just think it is so cool.” Turning back to the others he said, “The Sarduccis are famous for their high flying act and fortune tellers. Alyssa, here, was blessed with both talents.”
“You’re embarrassing me, Mark,” she said and then she explained, “Yes, my family started out as a group of gypsies that traveled around entertaining. One thing led to another and a circus was formed. Up until last year, the Sarducci circus had been performing for over fifty years, but one too many accidents and the lack of interest in the circus these days, brought an end to our careers. I’m just a secretary now for a small medical office in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.”
Dean was mesmerized. “Cool.” Blake could tell his mind was working overtime imagining the pretty woman in all kinds of flexible positions when he smacked him on the back of the head and said, “Knock it off, fuzz face.”
“What? I didn’t say anything. And I told you about the fuzz face crap.”
“It wasn’t what you were saying, it was what you were thinking, smut boy.”
“Phhht. Like no one thought it? Stay out of my mind and quit calling me boy, Moron.”
Mark laughed at their bickering and then Alyssa too followed suit. She said to Mark, “I thought you were kidding about the bickering, but now I see what you were talking about.”
Dean said, “So, Alyssa, can you do a back flip in that dress?”
She smirked at Dean and said defiantly, “Yes, but not in these heels.” They all laughed.
Rowan and Sally entered the room and both said in stereo, “What’s so funny?” as they glided over to the arms of their boyfriends. Blake and Dean were stunned silent, which was quite a feat, and both Anton and Josh found this amusing.
Rowan was dressed in a turquoise blue silk satin gown with a sweetheart neckline. The color made her blue eyes look brilliant. Her waist length hair was done up with spirals of golden red curls delicately falling to her neck. A silver ribbon was weaved into her hair like a headband on a Greek goddess. There were silk georgette sleeves to soften the neckline from her very light colored skin to the deep turquoise blue. She looked stunning and Blake was tongue-tied. As she took his arm, he proclaimed quietly just to her, “You look absolutely gorgeous.” It tickled her to see him this enchanted.
Sally was dressed in an emerald green, off the shoulder, velvet gown. It was fitted to perfection, accentuating her hourglass figure as if it had been made just for her. A slit came up to mid thigh on her right leg, which allowed her to walk with ease. The rich, deep green velvet made her gorgeous green eyes look even more hypnotic than usual and also accentuated her auburn hair. Sally’s hair, too, was up and showed off her slender neck, but it was pulled back into a large braided chignon at the
back of her head with little wisps of hair purposely pulled out on either side of her face. Dean’s mouth was wide open and if his jaw could have hit the floor and his eyes pop out of his head like in a cartoon, they would have - at least twice. Sally walked to him, put her index finger under his chin, closed his gaping mouth, and said, “I’ll take that as a compliment,”as she laughed.
“Uh, wwwa ... Uhhh ...Wow! You look amazing!” he said.
Anton took the silence as his cue to do introductions. “Mark and Alyssa, these two beautiful women are Rowan and Sally. Sally and Rowan, this is Mark Rosenthal - the PI that worked with Darby, and his date, Alyssa Sarducci.”
In stereo, Sally and Rowan said, “Very nice to meet you both.”
Dominic, looking very James Bondish, sauntered in to the study and announced, “I think it’s time we head to the tent. Devon and Darby will be coming up to the house very soon and almost everyone is here, but before we go, I just want to say thank you to all of you for coming and, ladies, you look lovely.” The women smiled at him. Dominic then turned to Mark and Alyssa. “You must be Alyssa Sarducci. Thank you so much for coming. We’ve become quite fond of Mark here.” He patted Mark’s shoulder. “Any relation to the Sarducci Circus family?” he said as they left the room. The others followed. As Anton headed through the door, he turned to look at Josh.
“You okay, Josh?” he said.
Josh seemed to be in his own lonely little world and Anton got a tiny glimpse of his thoughts before Josh shut his mind tight. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to intrude - it’s a bad habit. You’re worried about...Lanie, is it?”
Josh nodded.
“And you’re feeling bad to be going to a party when she is out there in danger?”
Josh again nodded and said, “Yeah.”
“Probably wishing you could see her all dressed up and enjoying herself?”
“Definitely. She would have loved to celebrate this occasion with Darby. She spoke very fondly of her.”
Bloodstone Heart Page 20
