Page 26 of Bluebell Tides

And then, it occurred to Ruth that maybe Sophie could help her.

Ruth sat up in bed, her heart pounding. She reasoned that if she paid Sophie to do a little more digging into the Caldweck family, the Caldwecks wouldn’t catch on that Ruth was after them. Maybe they’d learn that Sophie was looking into them, and maybe they’d assume it was all because of their awful environmental practices. Maybe Ruth could learn more about them without exposing herself at all—until it was too late for them.

Pleased with her idea, Ruth fell asleep with the slightest of smiles on her face.

Maybe everything would be all right.

She had to believe it, anyway. Otherwise, she wouldn’t find the strength to keep going.

But when Ruth woke up the following morning, everything in her world crashed in on itself. She was poised on the middle step, preparing to charge the rest of the way downstairs and into the breakfast nook, when she heard his voice. “Good morning!” It was Quentin.

Ruth gripped the railing with all her strength, conscious of how easy it would be for her to fall down the stairs, especially now. She couldn’t breathe. What was he doing here? How had he found her? She thought she’d been so careful. Of course he'd found her. She'd published an article with her full name attached to the very place she was staying. What had she been thinking? She'd been so focused on establishing a cover story that she'd handed him a roadmap.

Slowly, she took a step backward, praying that she could make it back to her room before he discovered her. He was only twenty feet away, speaking to whoever was at the front desk.

“Morning,” Sophie answered in that semi-bored way of hers, proof that she hated working at the Eco-Lodge and wanted to be anywhere else. “Can I help you with something?”

“Maybe you can,” Quentin said. He was just as charming as ever, flirtatious in a way that, surely, Sophie wasn’t immune to. Ruth hated how much she wanted to see his face, to see what he looked like in the flesh, so many years after she’d fallen in love with him.

“I’m a Bluebell resident, in fact, but I hardly ever come out this way. I was walking by and spotted this place. I remember it from years ago, but it’s quite a bit different. Has it changed owners?” Quentin asked.

Sophie was quiet for a moment. “Um, not really. It’s still in the Harper family.”

“The Harper family! That’s it,” Quentin said, snapping his fingers. “I had that name in the back of my mind but couldn’t nab it. Did Mr. Harper pass?”

“About three years ago, yeah,” Sophie said.

“Was he your grandfather?” Quentin asked.

Sophie was quiet for a longer moment, as though she wanted to show Quentin that he was wrong to ask so many questions. “He was, yep.”

Hesitantly, Ruth took another step backward. But she also wanted to linger outside her room a bit longer, if only to figure out what Quentin was after and why he was here.

“That’s too bad. I remember liking him.”

“I don’t think he was very well liked,” Sophie said.

Quentin laughed in a way that suggested he was almost nervous. Ruth’s eyes widened.

“Well, I remember respecting him, which is better than liking him,” Quentin said.

“Sure. Can I help you with anything else? Mr.…” Sophie asked.

“Caldweck,” Quentin said. “Quentin Caldweck.”

Sophie didn’t say anything. Ruth was flushed. Sweat poured from the back of her neck.

“I was wondering,” Quentin continued, “if you have any travel writers staying here at the moment? I saw an article about the Eco-Lodge recently, and I thought it was so well-written and wanted to talk to the writer about it.”

“I thought you said you just happened to be walking by,” Sophie said stonily.

Quentin laughed. “I guess I fibbed a little. I actually wanted to⁠—”

“We don’t have any writers here at the moment,” Sophie interrupted him.

Quentin’s voice grew more sinister. “Is it possible that one of your guests is a writer? Maybe you don’t know, but…”

“Anything’s possible, I suppose. But I don’t want to bother any of our guests,” Sophie said. “They come here to rest and relax and eat food. Actually, I need to check on the breakfast. Can I help you with anything else?”