Unveiled Treasures (23 page)

* * * *

“What do you mean gone?” Jessica wanted to know.

He turned to look at her, “Just what I said. She’s packed up and split.”

“Everything?”

“Hard to tell without breaking in her door again, but from what I could see, the place looks closed up.”

“I don’t believe it. She’s not the type to run away. She was just starting to settle in here. What about all the money she’s poured in to fixing up the place?”

“I don’t know, Jess. I just don’t know,” he said, grabbing a bottle of beer out of the fridge.

“You can’t give up on her, Todd. Maybe she went down to Phoenix for the holidays. I know she didn’t leave for good. She would have said goodbye…to me.”

The look he gave her was of pure heart breaking pain. “I hope you’re right. I need to get out of here for a while. I’m going fishing. You know where to find me if you need me. I’ll see you later.”

Jessica nodded as she watched him walk out the door. Her heart went out to him knowing there was nothing she could do to fix  this or help.

* * * *

“Rachel, this book is wonderful. How did you manage to write it so quickly? What happened to taking a month off to live in the woods? I wasn’t expecting anything from you until after the holidays. Speaking of holidays, I have your itinerary set up for the release of
Heart of Glass
.” Dorothy Wingood had a shrewd business mind with a soft heart. Bright blue eyes matched her crisp business suit. Vanity kept her short curly hair dyed platinum blonde. Rachel wouldn’t dare to guess at her age, and Dorothy would die before she revealed it to anyone. Rachel had experienced firsthand how quickly Dorothy could go from sweet to vicious bitch. The petite five foot tall, one hundred pound woman was a formidable opponent when it came to contract negotiations and bargaining.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you, Dot,” Rachel said with a wispy smile as she reached for the paperwork.

“Your book signing tour is short. I worked my magic to get you back home well before Christmas, but the downside is you have to leave at the end of next week. As for this new one, we can get it prepared and ready for summer release next year.”

“I plan to go back, Dot. To the mountains, I mean. I don’t want to live down here anymore.”

“Honey, you can live anywhere you want, just keep bringing me material like this,” she said, and laughed.

“I’ll be in touch, Dot. Brutus is waiting outside.”

“Say hello to him for me. Oh, I need you to do one more thing for me. I need you to tell me who broke your heart. I want to personally kick him in the ass.”

“Is it that obvious?”

“It is to those who love you, honey. Since your mama passed on, I have tried to step in when you needed me. I won’t press. You have my numbers when you are ready to talk. You know you can reach me anytime. By the way, I like the haircut. Very sexy.”

“Thanks, Dot. I’ll see you.” She smiled as she closed the door and made her way to the parking lot and Brutus. “Let’s go pay Dad a visit.”

Brutus and Rachel fought their way through midday traffic. Thirty minutes later, they arrived in the graveled parking lot of her father’s workplace. Brutus jumped out of the truck and headed for the office. Rachel had to jog just to catch up to him.

“Hi, stranger,” she said as they walked into the shop.

Daniel Hardy spun around in his desk chair and looked over the rim of his glasses at her. “Well, what brings you down to my neck of the woods?”

Rachel walked around the counter to his desk and hugged him tightly. “I have one hell of a story to tell you. Any plans for dinner tonight?” she asked, smiling.

“Nope, not tonight. Was just going to sit home and watch the ballgame. Is everything alright?” His face was full of concern.

“Almost everything is alright.” She sighed. “I’ll fill you in at dinner tonight. I’ll meet you at the house. Can I leave Brutus here with you? I want to go to the spa. I’m dying for a massage.”

“Sure, he can use that rug in the corner over there like he always does. You cut your hair.”

“Yes I did. It’s part of the story,” she said her blue eyes sparkling as she flashed him a smile.

“I like it. It draws more attention to your eyes.”

“Thanks, Dad. I don’t think you’ve ever complimented me on my hair before.”

He shrugged his shoulders and grinned at her. Brutus came over to the desk and licked Daniel in an excited welcome. He then headed towards the rug and curled up in his corner.

“Did you bring him to work with you before?” Rachel asked.

Daniel’s blue eyes flashed and the hint of smile told her without him saying a word. “I liked to have the company. Besides, he got bored at the house all alone.”

“Well, you two can catch up on old times while I go get mauled and stretched.”

* * * *

Rachel relaxed while she had the kinks worked out of her back and legs. After being pummeled and kneaded for ninety minutes, she felt much better. Indulging in a manicure and facial, she felt decadent. Looking into the full length mirror on the wall of the dressing room, she noticed she looked better than she had in a long time.

Having dinner with her father was the best way to end an enjoyable day. He listened intently while she told him the whole story. His eyes narrowed in anger when she told him about Jake’s involvement.

“I never trusted that son of a bitch. He never worked a day in his life. I couldn’t understand what you saw in him to begin with, but it’s not my place to tell you who to see,” he said when she finished narrating her tale.

“There’s more, Dad. I’m in love with someone who doesn’t love me back,” she said tearfully.

“Then he’s not worthy of you,” he said matter-of-factly.

“You’re just saying that because you’re my dad.”

“Yes and no. I want the best for you, Rachel. Always have, but it wouldn’t matter if you were a stranger from off the street. If the man doesn’t love you back, then he’s not worth it.”

His straightforward logic had her laughing and smiling again before their meal was over.

“How long are you planning on staying?” he asked as they were leaving the restaurant.

“I was going to stay for Thanksgiving, if that’s alright with you.”

“Are you running away again?”

She stopped walking and stared at him, blue eyes intently stared into their twin. “Yes and no,” she said, smiling at him. “I finished my manuscript. I delivered it to Dorothy and I wanted to spend the holidays with you. So to answer the first part, no. Does that mean I get out of Oak Creek for a few days and away from Sheriff Todd Bradley, then yes, I guess I did.”

“Sheriff, huh?”

“Dad, he really is a good man, I’ve fallen head over heels for him. I really think you would like him, too.”

“Well, if you got your driveway fixed, maybe I’d come up and see him for myself.”

“The driveway is fixed. So is the roof, the cabinets, the floors and I have two of the rooms painted. You would hardly recognize the place.”

“Come on, let’s go home. I didn’t want to say anything inside the restaurant, but I have the bone from my steak wrapped in a napkin in my pocket for Brutus.”

She looked at her father and began to laugh. “You are as bad as I am when it comes to spoiling that dog.”

During the drive home, Daniel turned and looked at Rachel. “I’ve got something I’ve been meaning to tell you for a while now. I was hoping she would be here and we could tell you together.”

The words “she” and “we” caught Rachel’s attention. “Who would she be, Dad?”

“Do you remember your mother’s friend, Judi?” he asked without taking his eyes off of the road.

“Yes, I remember Judi. What’s going on? Are you trying to tell me that you and Judi are seeing each other? Like dating and, and… stuff?”

Daniel let out a little huff of a laugh. “Rachel, you are a grown woman. I don’t need to explain it to you, do I?”

“I um, I’m a little shocked. How long has this been going on and why haven’t you said anything to me about this before?”

“We started emailing each other back and forth a few months ago. I took her out for dinner on her birthday and we have been seeing each other since then.”

“When was her birthday?”

“In September. I’ve asked her to move in with me. She’ll be moving all her things after the first of the month.”

“You’ve been dating this woman since September and you failed to mention her? Dad! It’s November!”

“Rachel, I’m sixty-two years old. Your mother and I were married for over thirty years. Nothing is going to change what was, but I don’t want to continue alone anymore. I have real feelings for Judi and I had hoped you would be happy for me.”

“I’m sorry, Dad. I am happy for you. I don’t want you to be alone and Mom wouldn’t either. You just have to give me a minute to swallow all this. Have you talked to Darren, Marie or Angie yet?”

He nodded his head. “I talk with Darren every Sunday morning. Marie called a few weeks ago and I left a message for Angie to call me back. I haven’t heard from her yet though.”

“Well, I-I-I don’t know what to say. Will she be joining us for Thanksgiving dinner?”

“I invited her over but I think she’ll be going to her daughter’s house instead. I didn’t know you were coming down.”

“Yeah, it was kind of unexpected on my part, too. I hate to do this to you on top of everything else, but I just got my itinerary for the new book tour. My plane flies out next Friday night.”

“How long do you need me to watch Brutus this time?” he asked.

Even in the darkened car, she could see from the way the corners of his eyes were crinkled up that he was smiling. “I’m on the road for two weeks.”

“Not a problem. Judi will have to wait to bring the cats over, that’s all.”

“Cats? You are going to let her bring cats…in the house?” she asked incredulously.

“Don’t give me a hard time about this. I’m not real happy about the idea myself, but if Judi comes with two cats, well then, I guess we’ll have two cats in the house.”

Rachel turned to gaze out the car window and fell silent for a few minutes. She turned to look back at her father when they pulled up in his driveway. “Sorry, Dad, I won’t tease you about it anymore.”

“Don’t get all pouty on me, girl. You’ve always been so sensitive. I’m really surprised your skin hasn’t toughened up by now. Tell me, do you still let every review and critique get to you?”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You are treading on very murky ground there, Mister.”

“Uh-huh. I thought so.” He smirked as he opened the front door.

Brutus raced into the living room to greet them both. He kept turning around in circles and sniffing intently at Daniel’s coat pocket.

Rachel laughed at the dog’s antics. “You’d better give it to him. He’s not going to give you a moment’s peace if you don’t.”

Daniel and Brutus went outside into the backyard and Daniel gave him the bone. Brutus gently took it from his hand and dashed off to go and lay down underneath the orange tree to greedily feast on his new treat.

“I’ll find it buried in the back corner of the yard in a couple days,” Daniel said as he lit a cigarette and watched the dog devour the tasty morsel.

“Tomorrow, I’m going to the store and get all the food for Thursday’s dinner. We’re going to have lots of leftovers. I’m not sure it is possible to make Thanksgiving dinner for less than six people.”

“Rachel, go home. You don’t have to make Thanksgiving dinner for the two of us. I can go with Judi to her daughter’s house. You don’t belong down here anymore. I can see it in your eyes when you talk about the place, when you talk about him. Go back and make him realize what a mistake he made by losing you. If he doesn’t realize it, then you’re better off without him.”

“When did you get so smart?” she asked, sniffing back tears she didn’t know had formed.

“When your mother and I raised four children; three of them being daughters. Come on inside the house. You can get a good night’s sleep and head back in the morning.”

“Actually, Dad, I think I’m going to drive back tonight. I need to see this thing through to the end. If I wait until morning, I may not do it at all.”

Chapter 16

Rachel drove home alone as the darkness closed in. The headlights of her truck cut through the black to shine down on the road in front of her. “Oh my lord, am I doing the right thing?” She waited for some kind of sign, when nothing happened, she sighed. Rounding the next curve in the road, she saw a highway sign that read:
Sedona turnoff two miles
. She laughed out loud. “That would be a sign. Wouldn’t it?”

* * * *

Todd sat on his deck gazing at the same ink black sky.
What have I done? I’ve lost her by being an idiot. Did you really deserve her anyway? She’s financially way out of your league.
Rachel was gone without saying a word to anyone. He had checked. Josie hadn’t seen her in a few weeks. Jeff and Tony were done with their projects and hadn’t been out to see her for over three weeks now. Sam was still waiting for her order and hadn’t seen her in weeks. Jessica was the last person to see her and that had been over three weeks ago as well.