Page 26 of Storm Warning
“Well, I have experience running a bed-and-breakfast. I grew up on a small farm in Nebraska. When Dad died, Mom sold the farm to pay the agriculture loans he took out to maintain the farm. I know that sounds so cliché, but it happens. She had just enough money left over to invest in a new business—one she’d always wanted to try. She put a down payment on a home on the outskirts of Omaha. We turned it into a bed-and-breakfast. It was fun for a while, and we got to meet a lot of interesting people. In fact, that’s kind of how I ended up in Zarovia.”
“Zarovia, as in the Eastern European country?”
She laughed. “Yes. An older couple from Zarovia had stayed with us and shared all their stories. They invited Mom and me to come and visit them. What a pipe dream, but they obviously planted a seed. So, when Mom died, I failed to keep the place going and decided I wanted to do something else. I was lost, really.”
“I’m sorry this happened to you, Remi.”
“I’d always pass the Army recruiter office when I went in to grab groceries, and one day he was standing outside and caught me. We talked a bit, and he asked what I wanted to do in life. I told him I wanted to travel the world. I’d never seen anything but Nebraska, but I wanted to see much more, and that’s when he talked me into joining the Army. Said I could see the world. With no one to keep me in Nebraska, I enlisted that day. I eventually served as a military photographer, and I wanted to be a combat photographer, but I ended up taking staged photos for public relations purposes when I’d wanted to be on the front lines. I decided once my time was up, I’d see the world on my own and maybe start a travel blog.”
Those memories were bright in her mind, clear as a bell, as if they happened just yesterday. “So, when I came to Cedar Trails and stayed at the lodge, I don’t know. I started taking photographs. Losing myself in the beauty. The ocean waves reminded me of the amber waves of grain in Nebraska—like in the song. I’ve seen those waves. Mom had a Scripture plaque on the wall at our bed-and-breakfast—‘For I am the LORDyour God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar,’ Isaiah 51:15. It would always make people ask because we weren’t anywhere near the ocean. Those waves of grain were so mesmerizing. Anyway, an opening for a barista came up and I was experienced, so I took that job and made myself useful.”
Those had actually been such good times. She’d been happy at Cedar Trails, pretending that she belonged and that the shadows of the past weren’t chasing her.
“Eventually, Mrs. Monroe decided that she wanted me to run the place. But right now, I feel like I’m failing her. Some guests come to stay at the lodge, but a few come here looking for refuge, sent by others who know it can be a place to hide. There’s no internet or Wi-Fi or cell, and it’s just so remote. Probably the closest thing to a deserted island.”
Guilt surged through her for telling him so much and possibly compromising others hiding at Cedar Trails Lodge.
Her flashlight flickered. Shoot, they were running out of batteries.
“So, someone has found you now,” he said. “How did that happen?”
“I don’t know. But I figured that it was just a matter of time.”
The wind rattled the door, jarring her. When would the storm give them a reprieve? Let them escape the bunker?
“I’m in this with you now, Remi. I’ll see you through it, if you’ll let me.”
Unless she was imagining it, his voice sounded tender, caring in a much deeper way than she would expect from a man she had known for a day. But she craved that connection. Remi reached for his hand and squeezed.
Blustery gusts swooped under the cracks, hitting her in the face. A cold slap in the face—that’s exactly what she’d needed. She had to get out of this immediate proximity to Hawk Beckett. She released his hand and threw off the blanket.
Standing, she stretched her legs and immediately missed the warmth of his nearness. “We should get going soon, even if the storm doesn’t quit.”
“What is it, a mile to the lodge from here?”
“Give or take.” A mile sounded so far at this moment.
“Okay. We can do it. We have to.” He stood too and switched on his flashlight. “One more question, Remi, before we get going.” Frown lines deepened in his face. He knelt to pick up the blanket, then stuffed it in his duffel. “Do you think the attacks on you earlier today were related? Someone doesn’t want you to remember?”
“I wish I knew.”
“You were right to disappear, but now that you’ve been found, what do you want to do next?”
“Go see Dr. Holcomb.”
He sent her a half-grin. “We have to get out of this bunker first.”
She wanted to trust him, but she wasn’t doing him any favors bringing him along into what was looking like a dangerous situation. She’d had time to prepare for this day. She should have expected some kind of physical threat, but she hadn’t understood the level of danger that she was in since she had no idea what had taken place during those lost days.
She would give this guy an out—his chance to be free and clear of her troubles. “Look, Hawk, I appreciate yourhelp today, really, but this isn’t your battle, and you don’t have to help me.”
“Sure I do.”
“Why would you go to all this trouble for me? You don’t even know me. Forget that I don’t even know you.”
He took a step closer and gazed down at her. “You know me, Remi. I’m the guy who’s going to help you get your memories back.”
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