Wild Weekend

by Susanna Carr

  Christine’s breath lodged in her chest. Was he considering staying for more than a few days? “I don’t want to be the one keeping you here,” she said. “I know you don’t like Cedar Valley.”

  “I don’t hate it,” Travis said as he led her to his motorcycle. “I see the good and the bad. It doesn’t offer entertainment or excitement on a silver platter. That doesn’t mean it’s not there. You have to look for it.”

  “That’s true,” Christine said. How often had she and her friends created a scavenger hunt or found something fun to do just out of sheer boredom? “You haven’t seen my Cedar Valley.”

  “I guess I need a guide, Christine.” His eyes sparkled and Christine recalled how he’d offered his services in Vegas. “Show me your Cedar Valley.”

  She pursed her lips as she pretended to think about his request. “It’s going to take more than one night.”

  He raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “Seriously?”

  “Face it, Travis. You’re just not doing Cedar Valley right,” Christine said. “Let me show you the way.”

  * * *

  TRAVIS STOOD ON the rock ledge and listened to Christine as she pointed out landmarks along the mountain range. The thick forest was behind him and the scent of the trees wafted in the air as they had walked on the carpet of brown fir needles. The trail to the ledge had an eerie feel to it, but that had more to do with the ghost story Christine told than the fog nestling low between the spindly trees. They had arrived at the edge of the forest just as the sun was beginning to set. Travis reached for Christine and held her in a loose embrace as they watched the sky turn pink and purple.

  “Isn’t this place gorgeous?” Christine asked in a hushed tone as the colors changed against the blue mountains. “Okay, so it’s not the volcanoes in Indonesia.”

  “It’s beautiful.” It was a majestic sight. He understood why this was Christine’s favorite spot in Cedar Valley. Probably her favorite spot in the world.

  “Jill and I used to rock climb around here when we were younger.”

  He looked at Christine and saw her wistful smile. “Why did you stop?”

  “We always wanted to do more, try different locations, but we never got around to it.” She glanced up at the sky. “We should head back before it gets dark.”

  “Thanks for showing me your Cedar Valley,” Travis said. He had a feeling that not many people knew about this spot.

  “I’d like to show you more,” she said as they followed a path back to the forest. “Maybe someday.”

  “Someday is my least favorite word,” he said. “It sounds so far away and vague.”

  “So are your plans,” she said.

  That was true. His next move wasn’t clear. He wanted to stay with Christine, but she was the one woman whom he shouldn’t be with. Her world was small and she had difficulty finding the courage to break out of her comfort zone. She lived in the same house she grew up in and her friends were the same people she knew from kindergarten.

  That may appeal to some people, but it was a warning sign to him. If he stayed in Cedar Valley, would it be like his childhood? Would he follow the same pattern as his grandmother?

  “My grandmother always used the word someday. Someday she’ll feel better. Someday she wouldn’t be so afraid. But her fears ruled her life—and mine,” he said as he followed Christine through the forest. “When I was out on my own, I decided that I wouldn’t get too comfortable, too set in my ways. Someday wasn’t going to be in my vocabulary.”

  “You achieved your goal,” Christine said as she looked over her shoulder. “You don’t have a home, you’re in constant motion and you didn’t follow the same path as your grandmother.”

  Travis nodded slowly. “True, but I made those choices out of fear. I’ve had a lot of exciting moments in my life, but it hasn’t all been a grand adventure.” There had been times when he’d been weary, lonely, and he’d wondered what he had to show for his life. He wanted to create something lasting, have a circle of friends instead of acquaintances. He wanted someone to worry about him. “I want what you have in Cedar Valley.”

  Christine tripped on a tree root. She immediately regained her balance and turned around. “Are you sure? This town doesn’t have a lot to offer.”

  “It has you.” He felt like all his travels, all his wandering, had brought him to Christine.

  She ducked her head as if his simple statement flustered her. “What are you going to do here?”

  He hadn’t thought that far ahead. He remembered something he had heard about Cedar Valley. “According to Darrell, this is the Pacific Northwest’s premier weekend destination.”

  Christine made a face. “He may have exaggerated.”

  “I can make it better.” He didn’t know if his travel experience would help or if he was setting himself up for a big failure, but he was ready for the challenge. The idea, the future, excited him. But first he had to address one of his biggest failures. “I do have to leave soon to help my friend Aaron.”

  “The one with the emerald?” she asked, a smirk on her face.

  “It’s true! He had an emerald. He found it when we...” Travis winced. “You know, I’d better not tell you that story. It doesn’t make me look very good.”

  She pressed her lips together to refrain from smiling. “There’s a story that makes you look worse than the one where you lost the emerald?”

  “Yes,” he said. “There are a lot of unflattering stories about me. I have had so many injuries and bad luck when I was going after something. But I hope to make up for it when I find the emerald. I lost Aaron’s lucky charm and I have to help him.”

  “I understand,” she said as she continued making her way through the forest. “You need to fix it or you’ll never forgive yourself.”

  “But there is one thing I want to take care of in Cedar Valley before I leave.”

  Christine paused in midstep. “What’s that?”

  “I’m going to clear your name,” he said as a protective instinct welled up inside him. “I’m going to find out what happened to Faye Lamb’s bracelet.”

  Christine turned. “How are you going to do that?”

  He had no idea, but he had to do something. “Just wait and see.”

  She smiled. “You don’t have a plan, do you?”

  “Christine, you should know by now that I never have a plan.”

  15

  “TRAVIS, WE’VE GONE through this a hundred times,” Christine complained the next morning as they sat on the porch swing drinking coffee. She was swaddled in her pristine white bathrobe while Travis only wore jeans. She didn’t want to discuss the theft anymore but she knew Travis would not be distracted. “None of our theories make sense. We have no idea who took the bracelet.”

  “What does your gut instinct tell you?” he asked as he looked out onto the street.

  That we won’t get to the bottom of this case and should leave it to the experts. “I don’t think it was any of my coworkers. It may be that I’m too close to them, but I don’t think they had the opportunity. Who do you think did it?”

  “I agree,” he said. “It had to be Faye or Bonnie.”

  “They have no motive,” she felt compelled to point out again.

  Travis took a sip of his coffee. Christine knew he was deep in thought. The lines in his forehead deepened and he clenched his jaw.

  “What can you tell me about the Lamb family?” he finally asked.

  “Not much. They have been comfortably wealthy since I can remember.” Her family didn’t really socialize with the Lambs. “Todd and Bonnie are at least twenty years older than me, so I don’t really know them.”

  He tilted his head as he continued to watch the empty street. “What’s the gossip about them?”

  Christine took a sip of coffe
e and spluttered. “You want to gossip?”

  “Gossip has its place, especially in small-town living,” he admitted with great reluctance. “Let’s say Laurie sees Harold doing something dishonest. She would want to warn others. Some of the talk is to discuss how a person did something wrong, but Laurie also wants to save people from getting caught in a dishonest deal with Harold.”

  “Not all gossip is correct. Remember the rumor that I won you in strip poker?”

  Travis glanced at her and smiled. “That’s not on your bucket list?”

  She made a face. “That’s not even on my sexy bucket list.”

  “Maybe not now, but I’m sure with very little convincing...”

  Christine gave him a warning look. “Back to the Lamb family.”

  “Right.” He returned his attention to the quiet street. “What gossip have you heard about them?”

  “I haven’t heard anything bad about Faye or Bonnie.” She tried to remember what the townspeople had said about the Lambs. “Faye is generally well liked and admired because of her philanthropy. Most people in town are impressed with Bonnie’s devotion to her mother.”

  “And Todd?” Travis asked.

  “Todd had been in a lot of trouble when he grew up around here. I remember my parents and their friends talking about him. He was caught vandalizing, trespassing, and I think he did some petty stealing.”

  “And what is he like now?”

  “I don’t know. I guess he grew out of it because if there had been any legal trouble, we would have heard about it,” Christine said. “He lives on the other side of the country and he doesn’t come around very often. Only when he needs cash, according to gossip.”

  Travis frowned and looked at Christine. “And Faye is going to give him family heirlooms?”

  “I know. I don’t understand it, either,” she said. “Faye only has complimentary things to say about her son. I think she believes what she wants to believe.”

  “What does Bonnie think?”

  Christine shrugged and took another sip of her coffee. “As far as I can tell, she has no opinion.”

  “No opinion?” he repeated. “If we are judging Faye’s choices, you can bet Bonnie has an opinion. She may not show it when they are in public, but I’m sure she has tried to influence her mother’s decision. What was her expression when they told you Faye’s plans?”

  Christine tilted her head back as she tried to remember that day. “She didn’t have one. She looked tired, that’s all.”

  The harsh lines in Travis’s face softened as his mouth tilted in a lopsided smile. “She did it.”

  Christine gave a husky chuckle. “Because she looked tired?”

  “Sure. She was exhausted trying to convince her mother. She knew she was defeated and she decided that she’d take the bracelet.”

  “That’s speculation,” she warned him. “You have no proof.”

  “Think about it,” he said as he set down his coffee cup and turned to face her, gesturing with his hands as he explained his theory. “Todd goes off and does his own thing while Bonnie stays behind to take care of her mom. She must be furious that Faye is splitting the jewelry down the middle.”

  “Let’s say you’re right and Bonnie wanted the jewelry for herself,” Christine said carefully. “Why would she choose to take it at the bank? Bonnie didn’t have to steal the jewelry in a public place. She could do that without anyone watching in her own home.”

  Travis exhaled sharply. “Okay, that does put a dent in my theory, but she did it. I know it.” He glanced at his watch. “Where is she?”

  Christine looked at the street and then back at Travis. “Are you expecting Bonnie?”

  “I saw her jogging along here yesterday morning.” Travis reached for her coffee cup and set it down before he helped her off the porch swing. “Come on.”

  “What are we doing?” she asked as he led her out the porch door. “Can I at least change? I’m still in my bathrobe.”

  “No time,” he said as he fixed his sight on the street. “We’re going to confront Bonnie.”

  “What?” Her legs locked and she pulled back on Travis’s hand. She wanted to stop him, but he was much stronger than she was. Her bare feet slid along the wet grass. “Are you kidding me?”

  “No,” Travis said as he dragged her to the edge of the sidewalk. He looked down the street to see if Bonnie was coming. “She has the bracelet. We’re going to get it from her.”

  “We have no proof,” Christine whispered fiercely as she tried to pull him back in the direction of the house. “What if we’re wrong?”

  “She’ll be angry,” he predicted calmly as he glanced at his watch again. “She will probably hold a grudge and move her accounts to a different bank.”

  “Oh, is that all?” Christine tossed her hands in the air. “Her family is very powerful here. It would make my life difficult. Our life difficult,” she corrected.

  “But what if we’re right?”

  Christine thrust her fingers in her hair as panic and worry swirled inside her chest. “Yes, what if we’re right and we can’t do anything about it? We tip her off and she gets rid of the bracelet.”

  “That’s why we’re using the element of surprise.”

  She crossed her arms and started to pace around in circles. Her feet were wet and cold, but she didn’t care. “Do you think this is going to work?”

  He looked at her and shrugged. “I say we have a fifty-fifty chance.”

  “Nope. Not good enough.” She shook her head vigorously. “We’re not doing this.”

  Travis cupped his hands on her shoulders and peered into her eyes. “Come on, Christine. The bracelet hasn’t been found. We need to take a risk or it will never be recovered.”

  Christine tried to think of another tactic. Nothing came to mind. She growled with frustration. “I’m not sure about this.”

  Travis looked down the street and dropped his hands from Christine’s shoulders. “There’s Bonnie.”

  Christine saw the older woman in a black baseball cap, hot-pink T-shirt and black workout pants. Her shoes were black with hot-pink shoelaces. Christine curled her toes into the wet grass and fear flowed through her veins. She grabbed Travis’s arm. “Let’s reconsider this.”

  “Don’t worry, Christine,” he said as he watched Bonnie get closer. “I’ll do the talking.”

  “What will I do?” she muttered. “Interpretive dance?”

  “Good morning, Bonnie,” Travis said as the older woman walked past.

  “Morning,” she said breathlessly as her ponytail swayed from side to side. Christine noticed Bonnie didn’t make eye contact. She pumped her arms without missing a beat.

  Travis watched her take a few more steps. “We know you have the bracelet.”

  Christine winced as the panic wrapped tightly around her chest. Bonnie halted and the ponytail fell limp. Her arms went still, but she didn’t drop them to her sides. She slowly turned around. Bonnie stared at them with her mouth sagged open.

  This is bad, this is really bad, Christine thought. She closed her eyes and wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole. I’m so getting fired.

  “How did you know?” Bonnie asked.

  * * *

  TRAVIS PAUSED. HE WAS used to thinking on his feet. That was part of the fun, not knowing what would happen next. But it was different this time. What he said or did would affect Christine. He couldn’t make a mistake. Too much was riding on his response.

  “Do not say lucky guess,” Christine said in a hiss.

  He almost regretted approaching Bonnie when he had nothing to back up his accusation. But she had confessed to it. He had to make sure she didn’t take back those words. Travis decided to sidestep the question. “Why’d you do it, Bonnie? Did you need the mone
y?”

  “No!” The older woman looked hurt and offended that he would suggest that. “I would never sell Mom’s bracelet.”

  “You took the bracelet to keep it safe,” Christine said, her voice rising as she realized the woman’s motive.

  Bonnie glanced at Christine. “Exactly. My mom got it into her head that she wants to give all this jewelry to Todd.” Bonnie shook her head and sighed. “But Todd doesn’t care about the bracelet. He has no emotional connection to it. He’s just going to sell it.”

  “Your mother has to know that’s a possibility,” Travis said.

  “No, she doesn’t. The jewelry that she wants to give Todd has to do with some milestone about him so she thinks they are just as important to him as they are to her. My mom doesn’t wear the jewelry because of its value or its style. They are symbols of my dad’s love.”

  “That bracelet costs thousands of dollars,” Christine pointed out.

  “So what?” Bonnie replied. “Don’t you have mementos? Something that holds a special memory? Some of those pieces are inexpensive, but they are important to my mother. She wouldn’t understand why another person wouldn’t value them.”

  “Do you plan to hide her other jewelry?” Travis asked.

  “None of this was planned!” Bonnie insisted. She crossed her arms and looked away. “I didn’t realize the bracelet was missing until Mom noticed. I went back to our safe-deposit box and saw it on the floor. The clasp was broken.”

  “You’re in that room every week so you’re very familiar with it,” Christine said. “You know we don’t have security cameras where customers open their safe-deposit boxes. This was your chance.”

  Bonnie gave a sharp nod. “I was going to hold it until Todd’s visit was over. You have to believe me. Once he was gone I just thought I would ‘discover’ it in a drawer or something.”

  Travis wasn’t sure if he should believe Bonnie. From what he’d seen and heard, the woman was protective of her mother. But perhaps she had been stealing all along and this was just the first time she’d been caught. The woman managed to smuggle the bracelet out after the bank had been searched.