Authors: Lori Crawford
Chapter 21
Hutch smiled to the best of his ability while he listened to Mr. Boward brag of his prowess on a checkerboard. He’d heard all of these stories a million times before. On those occasions, he’d been more than happy to indulge his father’s best friend. Tonight, however, not so much.
He hadn’t seen Carissa since they’d danced earlier. Somehow she’d managed to disappear. He replayed their dance over and over in his head. Despite what she’d said, had he moved too fast when he’d let her know how hard she made him?
She was a conservative kind of girl. She would never be happy with a little bit of hot sex without a more permanent commitment. He’d known that for years. In fact, that was why he’d run from her the first time and taken up with Tabitha. What a mistake that had turned out to be. If he were truthful, the postcard he’d received announcing Tabitha’s marriage had been a huge blessing.
“Jimmy probably doesn’t have much time to play in the big city.” Hearing his name, combined with Trudy squeezing his arm, jolted him out of his thoughts.
He shook his head. “No. I’m afraid not.”
“All work, no play? Not healthy, boy.”
“No, sir. I will have to change my ways.”
“Good, young fella. Good.” Mr. Broward opened his car door. How had they managed to get so deep into the parking lot without Hutch noticing? He took a look at the quickly emptying spaces all around them. Wonderful. Now that the party was over, he’d be free to find Carissa. “’Night, Jim. ’Night, Miss Trudy. Again, you look lovely.”
The older man kissed her hand then climbed behind the wheel of his car. Hutch and Trudy stood back and waved while he drove off. She hugged his arm again.
“I think the ball was a rousing success.” She sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder. “It’s about time something this weekend went right.”
From where he stood, it couldn’t have been more wrong. Carissa wasn’t by his side. It couldn’t get more off than that. Trudy shivered against him. He hoped she wasn’t angling to get his jacket. He just wasn’t feeling all that gentlemanly at the moment. She straightened up.
“I’ve just had the most wonderful idea. Let’s head up to the house. I’ll make some hot chocolate. You build a fire. We’ll get comfortable while we go over the day.”
Hutch looked back at the rink’s entrance. No one else was coming out the door. The parking lot was empty save for the catering crew and a couple still-chatting women and their bored-looking husbands. Maybe Carissa had gone back to the house. He looked at it where it perched on top of a decent sized hill. Lights were always on so he couldn’t tell if she were there or not. He needed to get up there to check.
“Throw in a sandwich and you’ve got a deal.”
Trudy put his arm around her shoulders and held on to his hand when they began the short trek. He couldn’t remember her ever being this touchy feely before. Warning flags started going up.
“Yeah. I don’t think either of us ate a thing all night. Too nervous. I just kept thinking something horrendous was going to happen, you know?”
Until he knew otherwise, as far as he was concerned, something had.
“But everything ended up being so perfect. Everyone looked to be having a splendid time. They all were so gorgeous. Did you see Mavis? She lost her baby weight. She looks amazing. And Shawna…”
Hutch tuned her out. If he weren’t so focused on finding Carissa, he’d have been impressed that Trudy managed to chatter the whole way without taking a breath despite the steep terrain of the hill they were climbing.
When they reached the front door, he reclaimed his arm from around her shoulders under the pretense of opening the door for her.
“Thanks,” she said and preceded him inside. “You’re always such a gentleman. I think it is such a shame our generation has turned out such brutes. It’s just…Jolene?”
He was starting to tune her out again when she stopped short. In word and deed. But for just one moment. Trudy crossed the reception area to where another woman they’d grown up with was just waking up.
“Jolene. I thought you’d left hours ago. What are you doing up here?”
The woman sat up on the couch and looked around. She appeared a bit disoriented. She rubbed her eyes and smoothed the hem of her faded dress over her knees.
“Oh, Trudy. Jack was supposed to pick me up at nine-thirty. I got a little chilly waiting outside. I hope it was okay for me to come in here for a bit.”
Trudy sat next to the woman and put an arm around her. “Of course it’s okay. But you know it’s almost one, right?”
Jolene jumped up in a near panic. She leaned to look out the window.
“Oh dear. He’ll be so upset if I missed him. So upset.” Jolene bit her lip with worry.
“It’s okay.” Trudy glanced at him. “Why don’t we give you a ride home? It won’t take a moment.”
Hutch raised his missing eyebrows. There was nothing he hated more in the world than having other people volunteer him for stuff before even checking with him to see if it was okay or not.
Jolene wrung her hands. “No, no. I don’t want to be a burden.”
“It’s no burden,” Trudy insisted. “We can run you home, no problem.” She looked to him with pleading eyes. Urging him to back her up. He was on the verge of disappointing her just on principle when Jolene turned her hopeful gaze on him.
“Let me get my keys,” he found himself saying instead. He remembered her husband, too. The best thing would be to get the woman home. Fast. Jack was a mean drunk of a man who’d grown up in the next town over. No telling what he’d do to her if she stayed out all night. Never mind that it had been his fault. Hutch and his parents had tried for years to get her to leave Jack. Since she wouldn’t, all they could do was mitigate whatever damage they could. If that meant getting her home so the guy wouldn’t miss her, so be it.
Hutch left the women in the reception area. He took the stairs two at a time on his way to the family wing. His tuxedo pants were loose enough that his car keys bounced around against his leg, reminding him of his fib. Still, he’d needed an excuse to look for Carissa and the opportunity had presented itself. He wasn’t going to feel bad for taking it.
Hutch hurried to Sarah’s room, hoping to find Carissa inside. The room was dark. He flipped on the light. She wasn’t there. With a frown, he loosened his tie and the top buttons on his shirt. Could she be in his room? He knew that was a seriously long shot, but still worth a try.
Even though he’d known how long the odds were, he was disappointed when he reached his room and found it empty, too.
“Jimmy?” Trudy’s voice carried up the stairs from the family kitchen.
Hutch sighed. The faster he took care of the Jolene situation, the faster he’d get back to the puzzle of Carissa’s whereabouts. Del. He hadn’t seen the man in a while either. Was Carissa hanging out with him? Again? Despite the fact he’d come to like Del, he couldn’t help but feel a little stab of jealousy at the thought Carissa might be laughing it up with him right now.
“We should go, Jimmy,” Trudy called again.
Hutch tossed his tie on the dresser then headed back to the reception area. He checked Sarah’s room one more time. Just in case Carissa was sleeping and he’d somehow managed to miss her amongst all that pink and purple. Still, nothing. Her suitcase was in the corner so she hadn’t packed up and left. He took that as a good sign. He even detoured by the den where he and Trudy had caught Carissa and Del by the fire. That room was empty, too.
“Jimmy. There you are. We were beginning to think you forgot about us,” Trudy greeted him when he returned to the reception area.
He pulled his keys from his pocket.
“Of course not. Ready?”
Hutch hustled the women out the door and into his car. The sooner they left, the sooner he could return to find Carissa.
With that in mind, he covered the miles to Koala Springs in record time. Jolene hopped out of the car with profuse thanks and hurried inside the small house. Through the window, Hutch could see Jack passed out in his recliner. An almost empty bottle of scotch was still clenched in his fist.
He watched Jolene creep by the man. She seemed to hold her breath until she’d gotten by him. She waved at them through the big plate glass window then disappeared into what he guessed was the bedroom. He shook his head and sat back down behind the wheel.
“That’s so sad,” Trudy remarked while Hutch navigated the long driveway back to the road.
“I’m surprised she’s stayed with him all these years. Wasn’t she valedictorian of her class?”
“Yeah. She dropped out of college her freshman year to marry him. Once the babies started coming, she was trapped.” Trudy sighed. “I don’t understand why women choose men like that. Jack’s always been bad news.”
Hutch shrugged and rested his left arm against the door. He had no idea what to say. He’d already lost interest in the subject and his wound was starting to throb. His mind drifted back to Carissa. “Hmph.”
“He’s nothing like you. You’re so kind and considerate.” There was a tone in her voice that had him looking at her. Trudy’s face was illuminated just a bit by the lights in the dash, but not enough for him to really see her to figure out where she was going with this. When she put her hand on his thigh, he had no more need to figure.
“Umm, Trudy. What are you doing?” He tipped his knee in, but it wasn’t enough to escape her reach.
“How long have we known one another, Jimmy?” She stroked the inside of his thigh. Each stroke brought her hand higher, leaving no doubt to her ultimate destination.
“Stop it.” He took his hand off the wheel to stop hers from rising any higher. He tried to steer with his other, but his grip was still a bit weak. They took the curve in the road a bit wide.
She smiled. “Looks like someone’s feeling a little conflicted.” She turned in her seat so her other hand could pick up where the first had left off. He needed to end this. Before things got too out of control.
Hutch hit the brakes a lot harder than necessary. They skidded to a halt along the road’s shoulder. He pressed as close to the door as possible to evade her reach.
“Trudy, I think we should talk about this.”
“Talk, talk, talk. I’ve been talking for years and look where it’s gotten me. Working my ass off for a spectacular Founder’s Day weekend just to have you bring another woman up here. Again! If it actually meant something for you to bring a girl home, it would be one thing. But it doesn’t. It never does.”
She freed her hand from his grasp and began massaging his shoulder. “That’s why I know we’re so right for each other. Haven’t you ever wondered why none of your relationships ever last after you bring them here?”
Hutch frowned. Was that true? He tried to think back to every girl he’d brought home over the years. Of course they’d all broken up at some point. But was it really due to his bringing them home? He couldn’t remember. That brought him to another point. If he didn’t remember, how the heck did Trudy?
“I’m sorry if I’ve somehow given you the wrong impression.” Even though he wanted nothing more than to open the passenger door and give her the boot, he owed it to his parents to be civil. They did depend on her quite a bit to run the Bed and Breakfast. Besides, he and Trudy had grown up together. For the most part, he did respect her even though she’d driven him nuts with her crazy schedules. “That was not my intention. I…”
A knock on the driver’s side window startled them both. A bright light illuminated the interior before settling on Trudy’s hand which was still on his thigh. Great. This night was just getting better and better. Hutch rolled down the glass. Through squinted eyes, he could just make out the man’s uniform.
“Yes, Officer?”
“You wouldn’t be inebriated would you, Mr. Hutchington?” The man leaned down and looked through the car’s interior. Hutch tried to place him, but couldn’t. The way the man stood left him no opportunity to read his name badge. Assuming there was enough light to do so.
“No, sir. I have not been drinking.”
“You expect me to believe you didn’t have one single drink at that big fancy party tonight?”
“It’s the truth, so yes, I do.” This was the part of being a member of the Founder’s Family Hutch hated. People could tell him all about his business when he hadn’t the first clue about who the person was.
“We were too busy talking and making sure everyone else had a good time to do much drinking ourselves. You know how it goes, Hank,” Trudy leaned down and looked at the officer. She didn’t remove her hand from Hutch’s thigh, though. “In fact, I don’t think either of us even had time to eat. But it was still a lovely party.”
“I suppose you didn’t get much opportunity to spend alone, did you?”
Hutch frowned. What a strange question. “No. We were never alone. Until now that is.” Hutch couldn’t figure where the guy was going with this to save his life.
The officer sighed and shook his head. He stood and pulled his ticket book from his pocket. He wrote out a ticket.
“So you two would come out here? I don’t get it. You’ve got all those rooms available at the Bed and Breakfast. Or was it just the thrill of getting caught?” He handed the ticket to Hutch. “I need you to sign here. The number is on the back. You can call to get your court date.”