“Thank you so much. I can’t tell you what this means to me.” Jo Marie knew she sounded pitifully appreciative, but she couldn’t help it. She wasn’t ready for this emotional roller coaster.
“Keep me updated, and don’t worry, Rover will be found.”
“Yes, of course,” Jo Marie assured her. “And Olivia, thank you. If there’s anything I can do for you in return, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
“This isn’t about returning favors, Jo Marie,” Olivia said. “It’s about friendship and community.”
Jo Marie was a woman who prided herself on keeping tight control of her emotions, but Olivia’s kindness nearly choked her up.
“I’ll let you know the moment I hear anything,” Olivia promised.
“As will I,” Jo Marie said.
“Everything will work out,” Olivia reassured her. “Rover will find his way home.”
“I pray you’re right.”
They ended the conversation, and although Rover was still missing, Jo Marie felt considerably better. Since moving to the small Puget Sound community of Cedar Cove, Jo Marie had been blessed beyond measure by the friends she’d made.
Peggy Beldon, another B&B owner, had been one of the first to extend a helping hand. Later, she’d met Grace, and through Grace, Olivia and of course Mark.
Her mind circled back to Mark. It hadn’t escaped her notice that he couldn’t seem to get away from her fast enough. As soon as he realized how upset and emotional she became, he hightailed it out of the inn. His reaction had been completely different from that of Grace and Olivia. He was probably sanding the cradle he was building. Sometimes Jo Marie was left to wonder if she would ever figure him out.
Getting to know Mark Taylor was like becoming friends with a porcupine, which went along with his prickly personality. She almost smiled at the analogy, realizing she didn’t know enough about porcupines to realize what their redeeming quality was once you got past the bristles. Nor had she figured out why she found Mark compelling despite everything he did to make himself otherwise.
Thankfully, the rain had stopped, and after spending the last several hours wandering aimlessly around town in a fruitless search, Jo Marie reluctantly returned to the inn. As she walked up the steep hill leading to the inn she hoped and prayed she would find Rover curled up on the front porch, patiently awaiting her return.
When she arrived, her heart plummeted. Rover was nowhere to be seen.
After a dreary day, late that afternoon the rain had tapered off and the sun broke out over Puget Sound as Travis and Amanda walked side by side down the boardwalk that edged the waterfront.
“Our marine biology class was here last week, and we saw a starfish that I swear was about the size of a basketball,” Travis commented, looking over the railing and into the water that gently lapped against the rocks below. “It had wrapped itself around a big rock. I could barely believe my eyes.”
“Was it pink?”
“Pink? No, it was white.”
Amanda had to be careful—she didn’t want to intimidate him by rattling off a bunch of facts about local sea life, although she knew quite a bit. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him starfish weren’t the only species that grew to inordinately large sizes in Puget Sound. Octopuses did as well.
Travis leaned against the railing, focusing his attention across the water to the lighthouse in the far distance. “I didn’t thank you for helping. I appreciate it, Amanda.”
He was actually thanking her.
“You’re welcome.”
“The truth is, Hailey stopping by rattled me, and I might have given you the wrong impression with what I said. I didn’t mean to do that.”
He still hadn’t looked at her. “What do you mean?”
He exhaled as if to say she wasn’t making this any easier by asking all these questions. “Mainly that it wouldn’t be that big a deal to me, for the two of us, you know …” He let the rest fade.
“The two of us …” she pried.
“You know, to be seen together.”
Amanda moved closer to the railing and rested her arms across the top rung. “The truth is, I wouldn’t mind it, either.”
He glanced her way and smiled.
She smiled back.
“I knew who you were long before you were named valedictorian.”
“Oh?” She wasn’t sure how else to respond. Earlier, he’d mentioned her date for the Valentine dance, and that had surprised her.
“You play the flute, right?”
“Yeah.”
“You were in band?”
“When I was a sophomore and junior. You weren’t, though.”
“No, but I play the guitar and was in the music room just before the band came in for practice.”
Amanda searched her memory for any clue she remembered. It came back blank. She didn’t recall ever seeing Travis in the music room. “Were we ever in any classes together?” she asked, but she doubted it.
“Junior high.”
“No way.” Amanda didn’t believe it. She’d gone through twelve years of school in the Cedar Cove system, and she would have remembered Travis if he’d been in any of her classes.
“The end of seventh grade,” he clarified. “My mom and I moved to Cedar Cove the last week of school after she got a job with the shipyard.”
“You remember me from seventh grade?” Unbelievable.
Travis hesitated and then spoke so low she had to strain to hear him, and even then she wasn’t sure she’d heard correctly.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear that.”
His gaze remained focused in the distance. “You were the first girl I ever noticed in Cedar Cove.”
His admission stunned her to the point she was left speechless. It took a couple of seconds before she was able to find her voice. They passed in the halls, but he ran with a completely different crowd than she did. Furthermore, his lunch period didn’t mesh with hers. Still, she was fairly certain that until that very afternoon Travis hadn’t spoken a single word to her. “You’ve basically ignored me,” she challenged.
“Well, duh, you’re the class brain. I’m a jock.”
“So?”
“Be honest. If I’d asked you out, would you have seriously considered going?”
Good question. “I … I don’t know.”
He snorted softly. “At least you’re honest.”
She didn’t want to give him the impression that she considered herself better than him. The only reason she might have hesitated was because she didn’t know what to expect and could be a bit shy sometimes.
“I might now, though, after today.”
His gaze bounced against hers and then returned to look out over the cove. His look had been so quick she didn’t have a chance to read his expression.
She thought she detected a hint of a smile. “See what happens once you conquer the quadratic formula?”
He looked at her, and a frown created thick folds across his forehead. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“You’re going to ask me out, right?”
“Maybe,” he hedged.
“Figuring out that formula gave you a boost of confidence. Would you have even considered it if you hadn’t cracked the code for the math equation?” Amanda was fairly certain she knew the answer.
“Probably not.”
“I rest my case.”
Travis chuckled. “So now you’re a lawyer?”
“Maybe someday,” she said, “but I’m leaving my options open.”
“You sound like an attorney. One thing is sure, you can certainly argue a point.”
“What about you?” she asked. “What are your plans for the future?”
“College football.”
“What about after football?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know yet.”
“What are your interests, your passions?”
Travis looked away and laughed.
“Come on, I’m serious.”
/>
He took his time answering. “I play acoustic guitar. And I like graphic design.”
A surprise. “If you could have any job in the world, what would it be?”
He turned around, leaning his elbows against the railing with his back to the cove. “You promise not to laugh?”
“Cross my heart.”
“I’d like to attend the California Institute of the Arts.”
Travis was such a completely different person than what she’d thought. It shocked her that she had been so blind to him, and probably to countless others as well. She skimmed over the surface, making assumptions about what she saw at first glance. If they hadn’t been thrown together like this, she might never have known the hopes and dreams lying just below the surface.
He seemed to be waiting for her to comment.
“I think that’s wonderful, Travis. I really do.”
He responded with a shy smile, as if her words had pleased him.
“Now I have another question for you,” she said.
“Okay.” He seemed far more relaxed now.
Leaning against the railing, she watched as the Bremerton ferry sluggishly made its way toward the dock on the far side of the cove. “How come you were such a jerk when I first arrived?”
“Me? A jerk?” He slapped his hand across his chest as though shocked by the question.
“Yes, a jerk,” she challenged.
He kicked at a pebble that skittered across the boardwalk. “I guess I should apologize for that.”
“I don’t want an apology, just an explanation.”
He looked down as though he expected something to crawl out from beneath the walkway. “I hated the thought of you tutoring me.”
“No kidding!” Still, that didn’t explain why he’d greeted her as if she had the bubonic plague.
“I didn’t want you to think I was stupid.”
That made no sense. “So you’d rather I thought you were rude and arrogant?”
He exhaled with what seemed like regret. “Put that way, it makes me a first-class idiot, doesn’t it?”
“Sort of,” she murmured, “but I wasn’t exactly the picture of graciousness, either.”
“The thing is,” Travis said a bit defensively, “you could have any guy you wanted.”
Amanda couldn’t keep from laughing. “This is a joke, right?”
He shook his head. “No, it’s true.”
“Despite what you might think, being smart doesn’t exactly endear me to the boys in our class, or any other class, for that matter.”
Travis frowned again. “Are you saying it’s lonely at the top?”
“I’m not sure, but I can definitely tell you no one has shown any great interest in me.”
“Say you could date any guy in history,” Travis insisted.
“But I just told you—”
“Hypothetically,” he insisted. “If you had your choice of anyone in the entire world, who would you want to go out with?”
Now he was really putting her on the spot, and it wasn’t a comfortable place to be. “Anyone in the world?” she asked, pressing for time.
“Sure, why not, and no fair saying Abraham Lincoln or Channing Tatum.”
“Okay, okay.” At just that moment, her cell rang. Grateful for the interruption, Amanda reached inside her purse and retrieved it. Glancing at caller ID, she looked up at Travis. “It’s my mom,” she said, and answered. “Hi, Mom.” She looked over at Travis and smiled.
“How’d the tutoring session go?” her mother asked.
“Great. I’m with Travis now. Mom, would you hold on a minute?” She needed to ask her mother something, and she didn’t necessarily want Travis to hear what it was. “Give me a couple of minutes, okay?” she asked Travis.
“Sure, no problem.”
Amanda walked over toward the gazebo and sat on a bottom seat of the bleachers just outside the structure. She spoke to her mother for a few minutes, and when she’d finished, she placed the cell back inside her purse.
Travis joined her, sitting on the bench beside her. “You get along with your mother?”
“Both my parents are great. What about you?”
Travis shrugged. “It’s just Mom and me. She’s tough, but in a good way. We’ve had our share of differences the last couple of years, but for the most part we’re cool.”
“That’s good.”
“You were about to answer my question,” Travis reminded her. “Anyone you wanted to date—who would it be?”
“Hypothetically, right?”
“Right.”
“This is one of those party-game questions, isn’t it? Like if you could have dinner with someone from the past or present, who would you choose?”
“I guess. You can tell a lot about a person from how they answer.”
“No doubt,” she agreed. “Well, in thinking it over, I believe I’ve made my decision.”
He leaned a bit closer.
“I think it would be you, Travis. I feel like I’ve gotten to know you this afternoon, and I’d like to know you better.”
He shook his head. “I didn’t ask because I was fishing for compliments.”
“Yes, you did,” she countered, “but that’s all right, because I like you. I like your honesty and your vulnerability.”
He frowned as if he wasn’t sure he should believe her. “You’re serious?”
Travis didn’t say anything for a long time, and then he nodded. “I’d like it if we went out, too.”
“Great.”
Frowning, he looked across the gazebo. “Amanda?”
“Yeah.”
“Isn’t that the dog that was barking at us earlier?”
“Where?”
“There.” He pointed to the gazebo, where a small dog rested on his haunches and looked across the area, pinning his gaze on Amanda and Travis.
Chapter Four
As soon as Amanda saw the dog, his eyes seemed to lock onto her. While it might sound a bit theatrical, he seemed to stare straight through her. Amanda wasn’t sure what made her come to her feet. Before she knew it, she was off the bleachers and had bent down on one knee.
Right away the dog trotted over to her. Much friendlier now, he looked up at her and held her gaze for the longest moment. He seemed to be telling her something, but she had no idea what it might be. It was silly to think a dog was trying to give her a message. Silly and nonsensical, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d come to her with a purpose.
“Are you lost?” she asked as she ran her hand down his back. His short hair was thick and groomed, and he looked to be well fed. Clearly he had a good home.
“He isn’t a stray,” Travis said, kneeling down next to her. “My guess is that he belongs to someone at the marina.”
That made sense. The Cedar Cove marina was just down the waterfront, close to the library and Java Joint, where they’d first seen him. Somehow the dog must have gotten locked out. Maybe his owner was on his boat and unaware.
Perhaps the dog was looking to her to take him home. “We should check around to be sure someone isn’t looking for him,” Amanda suggested.
“Good idea.”
Walking side by side, Travis and Amanda headed in that direction. Sure enough, the dog followed, trotting along beside them as if he understood their plan. As they neared the library, Travis gradually slowed his steps.
Amanda looked over at him quizzically.
“Remember that guy?” he asked.
“What guy?”
“The one who came into Java Joint and spoke to us about a lost dog?”
Until that moment, the incident had completely slipped her mind. She’d been irritated with Travis and caught up in her own world and hadn’t paid that close attention. The man had mentioned a lost dog. “Oh my goodness, you’re right.”
“And he said the dog was small, with short brown hair.”
“Mixed breed, probably part terrier,” she added.
“This could be
that dog.”
Travis was right. “Did you know the guy?”
Travis shook his head. “I’ve never seen him before. I don’t remember him mentioning his name.”
“He didn’t, but he gave Connor a card with his phone number, remember?”
“Right.”
By unspoken agreement, they headed back toward Java Joint, checking to make sure the dog followed. Sure enough, he trotted along, directly into the coffeehouse, as if it was his right.
Connor looked up and, seeing them, frowned. “Sorry, guys, no dogs allowed. It’s a state law.”
“We think this is the lost dog,” Travis explained.
“Lost or not, he can’t be inside.” As he spoke, Connor looked pointedly toward the table by the window where Sheriff Troy Davis sat with the newspaper editor, Jack Griffin.
“Do you still have the name and phone number of the man who was in here earlier, looking for a lost dog?”
“I do.” Connor opened the cash register and handed Travis the card. With that in hand, Amanda and Travis stepped outside.
Travis drew his cell phone out of his pocket and used his thumb to punch out the number.
Amanda knelt down on one knee to pet the dog. “I bet you’re a good dog,” she said, running her hand down the full length of his spine. Again, he stared at her with those dark, soulful eyes as though conveying a message meant solely for her. “I wish I knew what you’re trying to tell me,” she whispered.
Travis finished the call. “The man’s name is Mark Taylor, and the dog belongs to a friend of his. He’s on his way to collect him and take him home to his owner.”
“Is he sure this is his friend’s dog?”
“No, but it certainly sounds like him.”
“What’s the dog’s name?” Amanda asked.
“Rover.”
Right away, the dog twisted his head and looked up at Travis. “He seems to know his name. This is the missing dog, all right.”
“He doesn’t look lost to me,” Amanda commented.
Just a few minutes later, a pickup truck rounded the corner and came to a stop in front of Java Joint, pulling into an angled parking slot. No sooner had the engine been turned off when the driver’s-side door opened and the same lanky man they’d met earlier stepped around the front of the vehicle.