CHAPTER 28
A plate with a steaming ham and cheese omelet, freshly diced hash browns, and a piece of watermelon sat in front of me. Any other day, this breakfast would have my mouth watering. But not today. Today, I had no appetite.
Troubled relationships could do that to a person.
Normally, when a relationship went south, I just let it go. I wasn’t used to fighting for people in my life. I could fight for issues and fight for justice and fight to solve other people’s problems. But there was this part of me that still hung on to the idea that I was damaged goods. There was still a part of me that was convinced that I was destined to mess up every relationship, even my relationship with God, for that matter.
I sighed and lifted my coffee mug. The server had somehow skipped over filling my upturned cup again, so I’d gotten my own, something I was getting quite good at. Of course, I’d always been good at doing things for myself. I’d learned early on not to sit around and wait for things to happen; if I wanted something in my life then I was the one who’d have to make the effort to obtain it.
“May I join you?”
I looked up and saw Ajay standing there, looking like a true dignitary with his sash around his waist and white suit on. I pushed myself up straighter in my chair and nodded. “Please do.”
“I generally eat alone, but I thought it might be nice to have some company after our ordeal yesterday.” He settled across from me, raised his cup, and a server instantly appeared.
I scowled at the attentive waitress as she poured the coffee. You could put a girl in a fancy resort, but that definitely didn’t make the girl fancy. I was okay with that, though. I just wanted to be me, warts and all. Apparently, I had a lot of warts.
“You look downcast this morning.” Ajay stirred his coffee. “Our discovery yesterday has you shaken?”
I shrugged. “Maybe a little. Truthfully, I got into a fight with my fiancé.”
“I am sorry to hear that.”
“Thanks. Me, too. But I wasn’t upfront with him about a couple of things, so it’s my fault. I just don’t know how to make it right.”
“Miss St. Claire, true love always conquers all. If he does not see how wonderful you are, then he is not for you, nor is he your true love.”
Love always forgives, always protects, always trusts, always hopes. Love never fails. The Bible verse floated through my mind. Was I even capable of finding that kind of love? I had my doubts.
“I appreciate the advice, Ajay. I do.”
“My wife was my one true love. There will never be anyone else like her. I would do anything to have one more day with her.”
My throat tightened with emotion. “What happened?”
“A tragic car accident.” He shook his head. “I was supposed to be here for her. But I just had to work a little more and then I would join her.” His eyes met mine. “If I had been here, she might still be alive.” He pulled out his necklace, the one with the sun on the end. “She gave this to me.
“I’m sorry, Ajay. You said here. Was her accident in the States?”
“Right here at Allendale. I do not know why she did not hire a driver or take the shuttle, in the very least. Both were at her disposal. But she decided to drive at night down that mountain road. A truck ran her car off the mountain.”
“That’s awful. How long has it been?”
He grimaced. “Three years. I kept trying to get over my loss back in my home country, but I could not. I thought maybe if I came here, I could finally get some closure.”
“Is it working?”
His lips pulled back in a line. “I wish I could say yes, but I cannot. Losing a loved one leaves a hole in your heart. I am not sure I want to fill it.”
“I pray that you’ll find peace.”
A hint of a smile tugged at his lips. “I pray the same for you as well.”
I set my coffee cup back down and stabbed one of my potatoes, not wanting to waste this meal that cost more than I wanted to think about. “What’s on your agenda for today?”
The waitress set a plate of fruit in front of him. I didn’t recall him ordering and wondered if he got the same thing every morning. As she stepped back, I saw a familiar face in the distance. Deanna. She gestured wildly to get my attention. Her face clearly showed she was elated that I was talking with Ajay.
He looked over his shoulder, following my gaze. As soon as he turned, Deanna stopped motioning and leaned against the wall, looking off into the distance. “Everything okay?”
“Just fine. Sorry. I thought I saw someone.” I tried to keep my eyes off of Deanna, but she began gesturing again. “Let’s see. You asked about my agenda? I was actually thinking about going back to that overlook today. I’m desperate to find my ring.”
“Going out in the woods alone like that is not a good idea. Not to be a joy kill.”
“A kill joy.” I corrected with a smile. “And I know it’s not smart, but I’ve got to find it, and the one person who might go with me apparently isn’t speaking to me at the moment.”
“How would you feel if I joined you?”
I blinked. “Really? You want to go out on an ATV?”
He shrugged. “Having some company would be refreshing, even if I understand that you are taken.”
Relief filled me. Good. He didn’t think this friendship was anything more. Now, if only I could convince Riley of that. What a Catch 22. To prove that I was taking our relationship seriously, I had to find my ring. To find my ring, however, I had to go into the woods with a handsome, single man who wasn’t my fiancé.
I mentally shrugged. If Riley spoke to me again, I’d explain everything to him. No keeping secrets. But until he had his “space” then I had no choice but to explain later.
“That sounds great, Ajay.”
Deanna motioned in the background, jumping up and down now. I put my napkin on the table. “Could you excuse me for a moment?”
“Of course.”
I slipped across the room toward Deanna, promptly giving her a scowl. “What are you doing?”
“You’re eating. With him. The man of my dreams.”
“We’re just chatting.”
Her eyes widened. “About what?”
I wasn’t sure if she was hoping I would say “about her” or what she was thinking. I went with the truth. “We’re going for an ATV ride.”
She squealed. “I want to go! Please, let me go!”
“Really?”
She nodded. “It would be like a dream come true.”
“One condition.” I remembered her whole, I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine. Maybe this would be a good time to employ that method of reasoning.
“Anything.”
“I need to meet with a few of your colleagues.”
Her head jerked back. “My colleagues? You mean the other maids?”
I nodded. So much for trying to sound refined. “Yes, the other maids.”
“About what.”
I leaned closer. “It’s a long story … I’ll explain later.”
***
Nobody puts Gabby in the corner. That’s what I kept telling myself, at least.
Thirty minutes later, I had finished picking at my breakfast, changed into my tennis shoes, and taken the shuttle from the resort into the town that cozied up beside the place.
I paused in front of the shop where I had rented the ATV. Down the road, I spotted Buck’s Garage. A familiar figure stepped out the front door. Who was that man? Where had I seen him before?
I snapped my fingers. The valet. Bill. The one who’d spoken with me last night. He looked different without his uniform on. What was he doing in the shop?
I shrugged it off. There was nothing illegal about him being there. Even valets had to have their cars worked on, for goodness sakes. Now that I thought about it, he was the same person I’d seen leaving the shop when I was here before. Maybe he had a friend who worked there.
I pushed open the door to the rental shop an
d spotted Ajay there. He’d traded his “dignitary wear” for jeans and golf shirt again. “Nice look. I meant to tell you that yesterday, but I got distracted by my near death experience.”
He looked down and smiled. “Thank you. I feel underdressed.”
“Look, I was wondering if it would be okay if my friend joined us. She’s been wanting to explore the mountains, and then she heard I was going today.”
He offered a slight bow again. “Of course. That is fine. What is the saying? The more, the merrier.”
I grinned. “Perfect. She should be here any time now.”
We were filling out the paperwork when the door opened again, and Deanna stepped inside. I had to blink twice. Her makeup looked perfect. Her hair had been straightened. Her clothes practically looked new. How had she transformed herself like that in thirty minutes? The woman was a miracle worker.
“Ajay, this is Deanna,” I introduced them.
Deanna reached her hand forward. “It’s a pleasure.”
He did his little bowing thing. “No, the pleasure is mine.” He tilted his head and squinted at Deanna. “Do I know you?”
She shook her head, a bit of a sparkle in her eyes. “I don’t think so. I think I just have one of those faces. I get that a lot.”
He nodded, satisfied with her answer. A few minutes later, everything was complete. I’d rented a metal detector and strapped it to the back of the four-wheeler. I’d also purchased an overpriced book bag down in one of the shops at Allendale and had found some cheap rope at a General Store that I put inside, along with some water, peanuts, and my cell phone.
I cranked my engine. I was pretty sure I remembered the route back to the overlook.
I was going to find my engagement ring, one way or another.
I zoomed to the front of the pack. There was no chatting over the roar of these ATVs, so I didn’t bother to try and be polite. Instead, I climbed and climbed and climbed the mountain. The moisture from last night’s storm made the path a little more slippery than it had been yesterday. A couple of times my wheels slid before finding traction again, making my heart speed with adrenaline.
Finally, the overlook came into view. I motioned toward it, and Ajay nodded behind me. We pulled the ATVs up to a clear patch of land and tugged off our helmets. I glanced back at Deanna as she pulled hers off and couldn’t help but grin when she shook her hair out like one might see on a movie.
I was going to miss that lady when I left the resort in a couple of days. If Riley’s car was ready in time.
And if Riley would still let me ride with him.
There were too many variables in there for my comfort.
I was going to make this right—starting by finding my engagement ring. I walked to the edge of the boulder and looked down. Just as had happened last time, my stomach clenched as the drop soared downward. It would be a long, steep fall to the bottom. “That’s where I lost it. It has to be.”
Ajay peered down behind me. “I must say, after that rain last night, I am not certain you will find it. What is that saying? It will be like a needle in a haystack?”
I couldn’t argue with that. “I agree. But what other choice do I have?”
I glanced at the railing and the gigantic boulder. Shivers raced through me as I remembered Jackie’s lifeless body. Police tape still marked off the area. I was going to have to go out to the left to avoid the crime scene area. My guess was that they’d collected all the evidence they could yesterday before the rains came.
I pulled the metal detector from the back of my vehicle and tossed Ajay the rope from my backpack. He looped it around a tree and tied it securely.
“Just in case,” he explained.
I shoved the metal detector through my book bag. “Just in case,” I explained.
I caught Deanna putting on some lipstick. “Just in case,” she mouthed.
I hid my smile.
Ajay pointed to a path a few feet away. “It is not as steep there. It might be a good location to go down. We will have this rope to help us back up if we need it.”
“Sounds great.” Sounded like Ajay was a person who liked to think things through. As much as I hated to admit it, I needed people around me who helped me to think before jumping. I’d gotten myself into more than one pickle before by being rash. I thought Riley was the one who’d be the ying to my yang, the one who’d help balance me out.
My heart thudded in my chest.
Relationships never seemed to be easy for me. The happily ever after where someone swept me off my feet and I never looked back wasn’t destined to be written as a part of my life story. But I also realized that I wasn’t the type of person who wanted someone who’d kiss my feet and drool over my every word. I liked someone who challenged me, who got my blood boiling at times, who wasn’t afraid to speak his mind around me. Those things made a relationship seem real.
Ajay started down first, insisting that I follow his footsteps. I gripped a tree branch and lowered myself onto a rock. It wasn’t as unsteady as I’d feared it might be. I let out the breath I held.
Deanna brought up the rear, already slightly out of breath with sweat sprinkling across her forehead. That didn’t stop a broad grin from stretching across her face every time she looked at Ajay.
Deanna and Ajay talked back and forth about India and Tandoori chicken and the number of factory jobs the U.S. had outsourced to his country. My mind went to Riley.
Our relationship had definitely had its ups and downs. I’d been attracted to him when he’d first moved into our apartment building, but then Veronica had shown up. Then I started dating a detective named Parker. We’d broken up, and Riley and I continued to build our friendship.
Finally, Riley and I had both been ready to take things to the next level. I’d almost blown it again when my past had pounded at my psyche so badly that I felt destined to fail at every relationship. I thought I’d moved past that issue, but maybe I hadn’t. Maybe there were things that no amount of prayer would change. Maybe they were the thorns in our flesh, so to speak.
I shook my head. I wasn’t sure I believed that, but I wasn’t sure I didn’t believe it either. I just knew that prayer wasn’t some magical potion that made everything right in your life, nor was God a genie who granted your every wish. No, a relationship with God and prayer was more about changing you than it was about changing the circumstances around you.
I reached the bottom and tuned back into the conversation around me just in time to hear Deanna say something about how much she hated calling customer service numbers and speaking to people in India. I glanced back at Ajay and saw him squirm. He’d reached the bottom of the incline and found an area where the ground leveled off for a moment. He squatted and began moving some leaves out of the way.
I needed to do the same, but first I took in a deep breath. I glanced up at the mountains around me. I felt so small here, surrounded by the massive creation of God.
Faith could move mountains, the Bible said. I needed to have more faith in my life to believe that God’s hand was in everything. He knew what the future held. I had to learn to trust Him more … I had to learn to trust Riley more, too, for that matter.
“Are you sure you lost it here?” Ajay stood and squinted against sunlight that snuck in between two trees.
I looked around at the vast wilderness around me and sighed. “It’s the only place I can think of where it might have slipped off.”
We continued to search. Deanna chattered, this time about white water rafting and mountain biking. I pulled out the metal detector and found some coins, some bottle tops, a couple of screws, but no engagement ring.
I kicked some more leaves to the side, feeling like this whole trip was hopeless. My ring was gone. Was this some kind of symbolism of my entire relationship with Riley? I had been crazy to think I could ever find it.
Something unusual caught my eye. I bent down and picked up a … business card?
“What did you find?” Ajay asked.
I read the words there. Derek Waters, Malpractice Attorney. A Glamour Shots version of his smiling mug stared at me.
What was his business card doing down here?
I closed my eyes as the worst-case scenarios began playing out in my mind.
This wasn’t good. It wasn’t good at all.
The only reason Derek’s business card would be here was if … Derek had also been here. If Derek had been here, that meant he had some kind of secret of his own, one that possibly had to do with Jackie’s death.
CHAPTER 29
Two hours later, we’d given up on our search, returned our ATVs, and headed back to the hotel. Ajay had thanked us for our company and then scurried off.
Derek’s business card burned in my pocket. I had to figure out how to best approach this subject and what exactly to do with the evidence. I was walking a tight rope here, and I had to handle this situation carefully, lest I fall to my death in front of a crowd of cheering onlookers.
That’s why I was glad I’d had Deanna do a little favor for me earlier. I was even gladder that it was time for my meeting to begin. Deanna led me upstairs and into one of the closets where the maids kept their supplies. It was bigger than I thought, which was good considering there were already four other women in there.
“Everyone, this is the woman I’ve been telling you about. Gabby St. Claire,” Deanna introduced me. “Because of her, I was able to go hiking today with Mr. Super Hot, which I found out today there’s an Indian word for ‘good morning’ that’s ‘suprahaat.’ Kind of sounds like ‘super hot,’ huh?”
I waved hello, feeling for a moment like I was in a closet AA meeting.
I glanced at the circle of ladies around me. I recognized Shirley, and I was pretty sure the woman who cleaned my room was here too, but there were also three others I didn’t know.
“Thanks for meeting with me. I know you all have jobs to do, so I appreciate your time,” I started. I tried to take a step back, but the space was too tight. I hit the wall instead.
Two carts had been pushed out into the hallway, and the place smelled like lemon and pine … and a little bit of B.O.
Christy Barritt - Squeaky Clean 04 - Dirty Deeds Page 18
