I Hope You Find Me (26 page)

“Howdy.” I said back to him, with a chuckle.
He always knew how to make others laugh. It was one of the things I
used to love about him.

“Come on in. Want a snack?” I asked the
men.

They huddled around the kitchen island and I
sat on the counter by the sink, my glass in my hand and smiled at
the banter back and forth between the men, with the occasional quip
from Kris. The group had obviously gotten close over the last
several weeks, though it seemed Kris was considerably more guarded
than the rest of them.

“Hey kiddo, why don’t you take your
sweatshirt off, it’s not going to rain in the kitchen.” Skip said
to Kris.

She sighed, and slowly began unzipping her
hoodie, and after she pushed it off her head I could see her thick,
mousy brown hair, cut just above her shoulders, and another long,
pink scar on her neck. I chewed on my lip, trying not to stare at
the injuries. She slumped over a bowl of green olives and began
slurping the pimentos out, one by one, never looking up at me. I
glanced at Jacks, who shrugged his shoulders and tossed a handful
of granola into his mouth.

The mood had darkened a bit so I brought up
dinner. “What do you say we eat at the Rec building with the group
tonight? They have grills, and an entertainment system.”

Winchester said, “Sure”.

Jacks nodded yes, while still chewing his
food.

“I think that sounds like a great idea,
Riley.” A familiar voice said calmly from the front door.

Zoey barked, jumped off the couch and trotted
into the kitchen. She sat down at my feet and did one of her fake
sneezes.

I stared at Matt coolly, before forcing a
smile. “Hello Matt. Where did you disappear off to?” I asked as
casually as I could manage.

Winchester turned on his stool, with a bowl
of pretzels in his hand, holding it out to Matt. “Hungry?” He asked
him.

I glared at the back of Winchester’s head,
and made no offer to get Matt a glass of water as he walked to the
kitchen.

“A little bit, actually.” Matt looked at me
while he spoke. “So, dinner in the Rec room tonight, huh?” He
smiled broadly but his dark eyes had an icy edge to them.

“It was just an idea. We’ll see what the
other’s say.” I looked down at my feet, where Zoey was sitting, her
haunches trembling. I scratched her side with my foot and she
looked up at me, her brown eyes anxious, but her tail swished
gently on the varnished wood floor, letting me know she was
okay.

“I think it’s a fantastic idea, what do you
guys think?” Matt leaned against the kitchen island, next to Kris,
causing her to jump a little.

“I think it’s up to our hosts to decide.”
Skip said, taking a sip of his water glass.

“Our
hosts
?” Matt laughed, and again,
Kris jumped. I looked between the two of them, and wondered what
had happened that made Kris so afraid of him.

I felt the color rise to my cheeks, but I
kept my voice calm. “How about we meet at the Rec room around 4:00.
That gives you time to gather up the rest of the group, Matt. I’ll
go let Connor and Fin know.”

“Oh, I’m not sure they’ll make it. They sound
like they’re having a great time down there.” He looked over his
shoulder, in the direction of Fin’s cabin. “Maybe I should head
over, join the party.” He looked at me again with the same piercing
stare and fake smile. His short, brown hair had grown out long
enough for the edges to brush against his ears.

I swallowed hard and slid off the counter at
the same time Jacks stood from his stool. “If you do, let us know
how that goes.” Jacks said, without looking up at Matt.

He walked around the island and gave me a
quick hug before ushering Skip and Winchester out of the kitchen,
and nodding at Matt to follow him.

“Come on Matt, let’s go find your friends,
and get some things together for dinner.”

I mouthed a ‘thank you’ at him while he
waited for Matt to stroll onto the front porch ahead of him. He
nodded a smile at me and stepped outside, closing the door behind
him.

“Matt is such an
asshole
.” Kris said
flatly.

I blinked at her with surprise - it was the
longest sentence she had said to me all day. When she looked up at
me, I stared at her with my mouth wide open, and we both burst out
laughing.

***

I left Kris in the cabin to shower and change
while I trudged over to Fin’s place alone. The front door of the
cabin was still open but it was eerily quiet inside. I stepped up
to the doorway, and slowly leaned my head inside. The smell of
alcohol filled the living room and something else...a sugary, burnt
smell.

I walked inside, stepping over Fin’s boots
that had been left in front of the couch, and stood in the center
of the room, listening to the silence. As I turned towards the
staircase to check upstairs, a metallic sound exploded from the
kitchen, making me jump.

“Damn it!” Fin’s voice boomed.

“Don’t move, Fin! Just, stay still!” Connor
shouted.

I approached the island barrier of the
kitchen carefully and went up on my toes, peering over the
unusually messy counter top. Fin was on the ground, on all fours,
and Connor was kneeling beside him. They both had their heads
tucked inside the cupboard under the sink. Several baking pans were
scattered on the ground and two of them appeared to have the
remnants of burnt cupcakes inside them still. Flour was
everywhere...the counters, the sink, the floor...and all over both
men.

Fin slammed the large skillet inside the
cupboard again, making me flinch.

“You won’t catch it that way,
ye
dope!
” Connor yelled again, his Irish accent strong.

I felt a giggle rising up my throat and I
clamped a hand over my mouth. Fin wiggled around under the sink
some more, and slid the pan over to the wall, banging it up against
the wood. Connor jerked his head out and held his left ear.

“Ah, you
bleedin’ gimp!
” He hollered.
“You trying to make me deaf?!”

I couldn’t control my giggles anymore and a
choking sound escaped from my lips. I gave up trying to hold it in
and leaned onto the counter, laughing out loud while tears began
filling my eyes.

Connor tried to turn around and slipped
sideways in the flour, spinning on his rear and ending up on his
back, one arm holding onto the cupboard door, the other flailing
about in the powdery mess on the floor. Fin banged his head on the
underside of the sink and came out cursing, and also slid in the
flour. Both of them stared at me like I was an alien creature for a
minute and I dropped my head down into my arms and howled with
laughter.

Half of Fin’s face was completely covered
with baking flour and Connor’s dark hair was white with it.
Eventually, Fin cleared his throat and used his long legs to push
against the island and leaned against the counters by the open
cupboard. “What’s so funny?” He said, his voice several octaves
higher than usual. When he blinked, white flakes drifted from his
eyelashes down his cheeks, like he was crying snow. He wiped at his
face casually.

“What, ya never seen a man bake before?” He
asked.

The tears from my eyes finally spilled out
and ran down my face. “This is baking?” I asked, choking my words
out in between bursts of laughter as I waved my hand around the
room. “I think the flour has won.”

Fin blinked, dusting his cheeks with more of
the fine powder.

Connor pointed like a little boy at Fin and
said, “It’s his fault!”

I laughed harder.

“You’re the one that let it go!” Fin snapped
back.

They began to argue back and forth, while I
continued to laugh. Connor seemed to be insulting Fin with words I
had never heard him use before in a very strong Irish accent. When
he called Fin a ‘gimp’ again Fin’s eyes widened and he swung at
Connor with a towel.

As Connor struggled to get up from the slick
floor, a large brown lizard with dark stripes bolted from the open
cupboard and dashed across the room, leaving a zigzag trail in the
flour with his feet and tail. I walked around the counter and put
my foot down, stopping it from running into the living room. When I
bent to look under the lip of the island, the lizard was pressed
into the small space between the wood and the floor, having wedged
itself into the crack as far as it could.

“Huh. A little alligator lizard caused all
this trouble?” I said quietly. The tail was missing - the stump was
red and raw. Without moving, I quietly asked Fin for a glass. He
crawled across the floor and poked his head out from the other side
of the island counter. He pushed a tall glass in my direction.

I smiled, laying the glass near the lizards
head, “It's okay little buddy. Let’s go outside.” I nudged its hind
legs in the direction of the glass until it scuttled inside. When I
stood up, I topped the container off with my palm and squinted at
him. “I think it’s alright, but it lost its tail.”

“It’s lucky that’s all it lost.” Fin
grumbled. “Look what it did to my kitchen!”

“You’re the gimp that threw an open bag of
flour at it!” Connor said with a chuckle.

I looked at Fin, and bit down on my lower lip
to keep from giggling again.

“Damn thing ran across the counter, knocking
shit over!” He glared at me, and then Connor before continuing with
a slight slur. “I burned the damn cupcakes while we ran all over
this kitchen trying to catch it.”

“Well, you’re safe now, boys.” I said, before
I walked out the front door. I gently slid the lizard out of the
glass into the dirt under the porch. It sat still for a moment, and
then ran off when I nudged its back leg again.

I returned the glass to the kitchen. “What a
mess.”

I smiled at Fin, who was using a rag on the
counters. Connor was shaking his hair out over the sink, making
white clouds dance around his head in a flurry.

“Exactly how much did you drink before
deciding to make cupcakes?”

“Not enough.” Fin answered.

“Right.” I laughed.

Connor took the broom and started sweeping,
stopping every few seconds to pick up a pan or utensil. I sat on a
stool and rested my elbows on the counter to watch.

“So, did your friend get boring already?” Fin
asked.

“Now that you mention it, I did have a reason
for coming over.” I paused to push the tipped over mixing bowls
across the counter to him.

Connor stopped sweeping and leaned into the
sink. “Yeah?” He asked. His eyes were glossed over.

“Um. I helped everyone get settled into
rooms. So you’ll have new neighbors.” I paused to gauge their
expressions before Fin cut me off.

“Yeah, we know, it was like rush hour out
there.” He said sarcastically.

“You have new roommates now?” Connor asked
me, as he pulled his flour-dusted t-shirt over his head. The curves
of his chest beckoned to me and I found my gaze travelling across
his upper body and down his navel, following the thin trail of
dark, downy hair that led inside his jeans. Fin walked between us
and dumped a handful of dishes into the sink, breaking my gaze.

“Yeah, I have a new roommate.” I cleared my
throat, and tried to clear my mind.

I figured he would find out by the end of the
day that Jacks wasn’t staying with me, but I wasn’t going to stop
him from making assumptions since he seemed more willing to do that
than have a conversation with me.

“Anyway,” I struggled to focus on Connor’s
face, and not his bare chest. “A few of us thought it would be nice
to have dinner together later.” I stood up, and brushed flour from
my hands. “The rec room, at 4:00...if you’re up for it.” I smiled
and walked away, closing the front door behind me.

Once outside, I let the fake smile plastered
to my face fade and shoved my hands into my pockets as I walked
back to my cabin. My chest felt heavy, despite the deep mountain
air I tried to fill my lungs with. It hurt to see Connor drinking
and baking with Fin...without me. I knew he was mad, but deciding
to move out without discussing it with me first made me…sad. I
walked slowly, and pushed my hair out of my face with irritation as
the wind twirled it up and around in the air. I kicked at a stone
and watched it bounce down the trail, and forced a smile as Zoey
rushed after it with abandon.

If only Connor had waited, and let me explain
who Jacks was to me before he took off to get drunk. I wanted to
tell him what Jacks had meant to me in the
past
. I hoped
that no matter how upset Fin and Connor were, they would go up to
the main grounds for dinner later.

I kind of missed them.

CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN

It felt good to dress up for dinner. Not that
I had any dresses. But I showered, blew my hair almost dry and
dabbed on a bit of Kris’s mascara. After putting on a cute tank top
and clean skinny jeans...well, I felt womanly, more feminine.
Definitely more presentable then I was to the group first thing
that morning.

There were leaves in my hair when I washed
it, which meant I had been walking around all day with foliage on
my head. And no one thought it pertinent to tell me. I had also
skinned a knee and scraped up my right arm, though I didn’t
remember exactly how, but I guessed it must have been from crawling
and running through the woods.

Kris sat on the edge of my bed while she
watched me get ready. I smiled at her in the bedroom vanity mirror
and she smiled faintly back.

“Is Kris short for something?” I asked while
I twisted large sections of my hair.

“Yeah...Kristina. But no one’s called me that
in years.” She picked at the chipped dark polish on her nails. “Did
you have kids?” She asked suddenly.

I looked at her in the mirror. “I did.” I
turned around to study her face. “I can’t imagine going through
this, at your age. You’re very brave, you know.” I paused, and
sighed heavily, fighting the urge to tear up. She shrugged, and
pulled her knees up to her chest.