Grace met his steady gaze with one of her own. “I’ll be ready to go bright and early.” They set a time in the morning to leave for the library, and Grace tried not to stare as he slipped out the door and headed for supper.
***
Wyatt spread the map on the same back table he’d used the day before. The smell of books permeated the air, the hush of the space broken only by the soft flutter of turning pages.
Beside him Grace leaned over the map, her shoulder brushing his.
“So I know this is the area we covered last time.” He drew his finger along Lone Creek heading east. “But I’m not sure exactly where we cut over.”
Grace leaned closer, her hair falling over her shoulder. He caught a whiff of her sweet shampoo.
“It’s right here, Cut Away Road,” she said. “And this is the bridge that was out. We backtracked here and took this road down the mountain. Do you feel we went far enough up Lone Creek, or do you think we should continue up into the mountains?”
“What’s the topography like farther up the creek?”
“It’s high land with lots of pine trees. It sounds like the type of terrain you described to me, but I don’t know how far from town you want to go.”
He thought back to the trip he’d taken with his mom. He wasn’t sure where they’d started from exactly, and the trail had seemed cut back and easier, not like the last part of their hike. But his memory was unclear, and a lot could change over that many years.
“To be honest, I’m not sure we went far enough.”
“Well, let’s pick up from there then. We can drive up this road here, cut over to the creek, and start where we left off. If we don’t find the spot we can tackle Pine Creek next. It’s right here. There’s a good path that runs all the way to here. And this area is much like the terrain you describe. You can see the tributaries running into it along the way, but most of those are very small, not likely to be the creek you remember.”
Wyatt stared at the huge map with its miles of mountain range and creeks and tributaries that had in all likelihood changed over the years. The truth was he couldn’t even be positive they’d gone east. It was just an impression he had. There were miles and miles of mountains around Bluebell. What if this was a lost cause? Maybe he’d never find the spot. Never get closure. Never feel okay about what he’d done.
Maybe he needed extensive mental health counseling, or maybe this was just his crutch to bear. But how could he deal? How could he sleep with all the nightmares? How could he maintain his job without sleep? He was so close to his dream job. Hopelessness rose inside him, dark and threatening, like a storm cloud.
Grace touched his arm. “Hey.”
He blinked away his thoughts and focused on her clear blue eyes. On the whisper-soft touch of her hand.
“We’ll find it, Wyatt. You know what you’re looking for, and you’ll know it when you see it.”
“Grace... I can’t even be sure it was east of town. I was just a kid, and I was following my mom.”
“But you have a good sense of direction. Trust that. We’re going to find it.”
“I’ve been here a week already.”
“And look, you’ve ruled out this entire area.” She swept her hand over a small region. “We’re making headway. Don’t lose hope.”
He soaked in the confidence behind her words. He was used to teamwork. His job required it. But he’d always carried this particular burden alone. It felt nice to have someone alongside him. It felt good to have Grace alongside him.
She was studying his reaction. “All right?”
She definitely wasn’t the cheerleader type, though she looked the part. But she’d known just what to say to encourage him, and he appreciated that more than he could say. “All right.”
***
Grace parted ways with Wyatt and headed back to the inn. Now that there was a showing tomorrow, it was all hands on deck. The grass needed mowing and the public areas needed a thorough cleaning, and that was on top of their regular duties.
When Grace walked into the inn, Levi was at the front desk, and she heard the vacuum running upstairs. “How’s it going?”
“Guests are gone for the time being, and we almost have a full house tonight. It’d be nice to get some of the cleaning done while our guests are out.”
“I’m on it.” Grace gathered the cleaning supplies and went to work in the living room, polishing the furniture.
She and Molly had begged Levi to hire a once-a-week cleaning service, but even though they could afford it now, Levi wasn’t quite reformed from his penny-pinching ways. The only thing that kept Grace from arguing the point was that the money they saved would eventually fall into their pockets—and into Grace’s new business.
