Chapter Five
Cassidy woke up to the sun shining through the small gap in the curtains. She shielded her eyes until they adjusted then looked at the red numbers on the alarm clock.
Nine A.M.
A solid two hours later than what she’d consider to be sleeping in. On a normal day, she woke up at five-thirty and was out the door by seven to be at her office at seven-thirty sharp. Even during the trip, she was out of bed by seven. Since a young age, her parents had drilled into her that early risers accomplished more, and she’d never broken the habit.
She sat up and stretched her muscles, realized she felt better than she had in weeks. For the first time since her father’s arrest, she’d gotten a much-needed restful night of sleep. Exhaustion played a large part, along with the high-quality mattress—which had been a pleasant surprise.
However, she knew the conversation with Joel last night had also helped. He’d been understanding and supportive, and it helped to unleash her burdens to a virtual stranger. The girls were fabulous listeners, but Joel could listen objectively since he didn’t know her history.
Springing into action, she threw her legs over the bed and dug her hygiene bag from the suitcase, along with a clean pair of clothes. She hopped in the shower, dressed, then went in search of her friends. She knocked on the doors of both rooms the others stayed in, but no one answered.
Hmm. It was late. They wouldn’t have left her to go somewhere, would they have? Her gaze took in her surroundings that she hadn’t seen last night. Across the street, old cars were lined up outside of a general store. From the looks of them, they served as decorations and not usable vehicles. Several stores had false fronts and created scenes of times gone by. Some might consider it gaudy, but Cassidy found it absolutely charming.
If she had time later, she’d love to stop in and explore the various shops.Ha. I’m sure I’ll have nothing but time today. She opened the office door and saw Lark, Rain, and Jessica sitting around a table. An open box of donuts lay in the middle, surrounded by coffee cups and a jug of orange juice.
“Good morning, sleepyhead.” Rain took a bite of a glazed donut.
“Morning. Where’s Bridget?”
“She left an hour ago to ride along to get the SUV.” Jessica handed her a cup of coffee. “This is for you. There are sugar packets and creamer in the bag.”
“Thanks.” She took the cup and added a single container of creamer. The donuts called her name. “Who picked all this up?”
“Joel had them waiting for us.” Lark raised an inquisitive brow. “He said to make sure we save you a cream-filled one.”
“Don’t give me that look.” Taking a donut, she shot Lark a warning scowl. “I asked him last night if there was any place to get some and happened to mention I wanted a cream-filled treat.”
“We were there for all the conversations. Donuts were never mentioned.” Rain’s teasing smile shoutedGotcha.
“I couldn’t sleep so I went to the pool for a swim and ran into him.” She shrugged her shoulders. “No big deal.”
“He’s a nice guy.” Jessica poured orange juice into a clear plastic cup. “Not many people would go out of their way for strangers like he has.”
Cassidy agreed, but she didn’t dare vocalize it. Her friends clearly had romance on the mind, and she wouldn’t give them a reason for any more fodder. Joel was a rare gem in this day—anyone could see that—but she’d be leaving as soon as they settled the vehicle situation. Even if she had an ounce of interest in romance, entertaining notions about Joel was frivolous.
She set her coffee and donut on the table and pulled over a chair for herself. “Did Bridget get hold of the rental company?”
“Yes. They feel horrible and are bending over backward to make it right. Bridget said they’ve waived half of the fee due to the inconvenience, along with emailing vouchers to several hotel chains to use along the rest of the trip.” Lark rolled her napkin into a ball and tossed it into the trash. “I had my hesitations about using a local company instead of a national one, but their customer service has proved exceptional.”
“And talking to Joel this morning, he said a transmission can fail with no warning signs so it could have happened regardless of who we rented from.” Rain polished off her donut, then glanced out the window. “Here comes Bridget.”
Cassidy shifted her gaze outside then quickly averted her eyes when she realized she also searched for Joel. “What are we doing about a vehicle in the meantime?”
“The rental company was still working on that when Bridget left.” Lark nodded toward the door. “Maybe she’ll have an update.”
Bridget walked into the lobby and office area and the door shut behind her. “Do you want the good news or bad news?”
Everyone but Cassidy wanted the bad news first, so she agreed to hear it.
“Randy thinks the SUV experienced a catastrophic failure and will require a rebuild, which will take two days minimum, not counting today.”
Jessica groaned. “What’s the good news?”
“If the problem is what he thinks, he can get the parts by this evening and have his best mechanic start first thing in the morning.” Bridget dragged a chair to join them. “The rental company also arranged a temporary replacement for us to be brought up from Flagstaff. It’s the closest place that had an available vehicle to comfortably fit us all.”
“That’s great.” Jessica glanced around the group. “Does that mean we continue on and pick up ours on the way home, or what?”
