When Lauren reached the office she scheduled the boat repair for the next day. Then she sent Jonah a text, letting him know the boat would need to be hauled over to the marina soon, please and thank you.
She was about to pocket her phone when he texted back.That’s a two-person job. I’ll be over in thirty minutes.
Ugh. She didn’t want to be trapped in his truck with him, not even for the thirty minutes it would require to take out the boat and haul it to the marina. And of course he wanted to do itright now.
But he was her boss.Okay, she responded.
The bell over the lobby entry tinkled, and she met Mrs. Ogden from behind the counter. The woman was in her fifties with pale skin creased by time and stark black hair featuring a blue streak. She was not smiling.
“Hi, Mrs. Ogden. Is the toilet plugged again?”Please, no.She kept her smile propped.
“I’m here about Whiskers. He’s not in the cabin and he was there when we left to go fishing.”
Lauren frowned. Whiskers was their thirteen-year-old tabby. “Come to think of it, I didn’t see him when I was in the cabin. Could he be hiding?”
“He does sometimes get anxious in a new place. But my husband and I have been searching for twenty minutes. He’s nowhere in the cabin. He must’ve gotten out when you left.” She delivered the words with the unmistakable tone of accusation.
“I’m sure that’s not the case, but let me help you search for him.” It was a two-story cabin with lots of nooks and crannies. The cat had to be in there somewhere.
There was nothing but silence between them as Lauren followed the woman to the cabin. Mr. Ogden had already given up on the interior search and was hunting around outside. He sent Lauren a withering look.
Twenty minutes later they were canvassing the property along with quite a few of their neighbors. Dread was a hard pit in Lauren’s stomach. Was it possible Whiskers had slid quietly out the door when she’d left? She’d been distracted with her to-do list, but surely she would’ve noticed.
What a terrible day. She couldn’t believe this was happening on top of the booking error she’d made earlier.
When she rounded the laundry building, searching high and low, she almost ran into Mr. Ogden, who was checking the woodpile by the basketball court.
He pulled himself up straight. “If we don’t find him, we’re suing this place. He’s like a child to us. We’ve had him since he was three weeks old!”
The back of her eyes stung, but she’d never cried on the job and wasn’t about to start now. “I’m so sorry, but I truly didn’t see him the whole time I was in your cabin.”
“But you knew he was there and you were careless when you left, and now he’s lost!”
“I’m doing everything I can to—”
“He’s an indoor cat—we don’t let him wander around outside, and if we don’t find him, you’re gonna pay for this!”
“What’s going on here?” Jonah was suddenly there, towering over her with a scowl.
“This woman lost my cat—that’s what’s going on.”
Lauren’s skin flushed under the full weight of Jonah’s stare. “Whiskers is missing. I was in their cabin a while ago, unclogging a commode, but I didn’t see the cat while I was there.”
“He had to have slipped out when she left!” Mr. Ogden’s face was red clear up to his receding hairline. “That’s the only way he could’ve escaped.”
“You’ve searched the cabin thoroughly?” Jonah asked.
“We’ve looked everywhere.” Mr. Ogden glared at Lauren. “This is her fault, and if something happens to him, I’m holding this property responsible.”
“Mind if I have a go at searching the cabin?”
“Have at it.”
Jonah turned to Lauren. “There are some cans of tuna in the lodge pantry. Go get them and set them out around the property. Maybe we can coax him out.”
Lauren nodded, then took off toward the lodge. They’d been searching for at least thirty minutes. What if some animal had gotten Whiskers? What if these people lost their beloved pet because she’d been distracted?
Two huge mistakes in one day. She felt like such a failure. Her whole life she’d been champing at the bit to run a business. To run her own life. Was this what happened when she was in charge? What if she was no good at this job? At life? What if she wasn’t meant for anything more than the trailer park from which she’d come? What if all the people who’d told her she wouldn’t amount to anything had actually been right? Had she been fooling herself all along?
