A loud knock at the door woke Lana from a fretful nap. She jumped up and peeked out the window. It was Mr. Johnson delivering the wood. She grabbed her coat lying across the bar and put it on while she opened the door. A blast of cold air hit her, and she immediately buttoned her coat. The wood came at a great time, she could see dark clouds in the distance, the northwest.
That meant the cold Northerner had arrived, the first strong cold front of the season.
"Hi, I'm Lana and thank you so much for the wood, especially with such short notice. Do you mind putting the wood on the back porch?" She said while extending her hand.
He ignored her extended hand as he looked at his truck. "Sure miss, does the truck load look like a fair amount?" He asked while looking at his truck.
She glanced at his old white beat-up 1972 Ford truck with a lot of rust and dents. It looked as though it had been bombed in Beirut. His Johnson Tree Service sign was a magnet stuck to the driver's door, hanging lopsided. The wood was thrown all around in the truck, and a lot of wood was piled up in the middle. She wondered why the wood didn't fall through the rusted-out sides.
It wasn't obvious how much wood lay in the bed of the truck, but she didn't care as long as it would last a couple of days. She nodded her head, indicating it looked okay to her. Since he didn't look at her, she had to say it out loud, "It looks like enough."
Without looking directly at her, he tried to peek inside the house, bobbing his head around hers. It made her feel uncomfortable. She stepped outside and closed the door. "If you don't mind you can put it all on the back porch. I'll be glad to show you where it goes."
As they walked toward the back of the house, she noticed someone on the passenger side of the truck, digging around in the glove box. There was an obvious nervousness between the two them, so she rambled. "I do appreciate that you brought me some wood the last minute. I'm sure you have more important things to do than get out in this miserable weather. I bet you stay busy this time of the year?"
This older man had a gray beard, and she couldn't tell if he had hair on his head because he wore a furry hat that covered his head and ears. The hat was dirty and mildewed. She also noticed a lot of gray hair sticking out of his nose. When he smiled his teeth were brown and nasty. His eyelids were so wrinkled they lapped over his eyelashes like a blanket covering his eyes. From what she could tell his eyes were blue, but he kept looking down toward the ground and wouldn't look her in the eyes but a couple of times. Worst of all, he smelled like a men's locker room. The smell almost gagged her—he probably had not taken a bath in weeks.
As they walked past Mike's truck, Mr. Johnson casually asked, "Hey… is that Dodge truck for sale? I saw it when I drove up and wondered if you might be willing to sell it?"
She didn't blame him for liking the truck. It was a classic, and he kept it in mint condition.
The inside had plaid seats and dark gray carpeting with a dark gray bed liner. "Actually it's not mine, but I'll let the owner know you're interested. I don't think it's for sale, but I'll give him your message."
A gust of wind nearly knocked Lana over, and she was glad for the protection of the back porch to shield her. She quickly showed him the wood bin while pulling her windblown hair away from her eyes.
He nodded he understood where she wanted the wood. All the while he was trying to peek in the back window. "Are you alone out here? I notice nobody's at the other houses. A pretty young thing like you don't need to be left alone."
"I'm not alone, I'm here with my family and they're walking on the beach looking for sea shells." It was the quickest thing she could think of on the spur of the moment. "If you don't have any questions, I have to get back to cooking because my family will be back any minute. I'll have my husband help you when he gets here."
"That's okay, my son is in the truck, and he'll help. That's how he earns extra money, and we'll be done in no time. Ma'am we get paid up-front."
"Of course, I'll get you the cash." Thank God she had to walk around the house rather than go in the back door. This gave her a chance to get away, yet she kept looking over her shoulder.
She quickly ran in, got the cash and ran outside to hand the money to the old man.
His son looked like a character from Friday the 13th. He was already unloading the truck as she quickly walked to the front of the house. Once she was safely inside she made sure she locked the door. They worked hard toting the wood to the back porch bin. Mr. Johnson backed his truck close to the back porch. She guessed he didn't pull all the way back because he might get stuck in the sand. She prayed that wouldn't happen because then she would feel obligated to invite them in the house.
As time passed, she got worried. Thirty minutes passed, and they still had not left, but the truck bed looked empty. The back porch bin overflowed with wood. Her heart raced with worry.
She decided if they didn't leave in a couple of minutes she would call 911. She continued looking out the window and still no sign of anyone. When she walked to get her phone, she heard a car coming down the road. Thank God Mike came home. Relief overwhelmed her.
When she looked outside, she was disappointed it wasn't Mike, but happy with whom she saw. Talk about a cop being at the right place at the right time. A patrol car drove up next to Mike's truck. There were two cops and both got out of the patrol car. They looked in and around both trucks on their way to the front door. She opened the door to greet them, relieved to see them.
They both immediately saw how white her face looked. "Hi ma'am, I hope we didn't startle you," an officer said as he tipped his hat. The other officer also tipped his hat. "My name is Kevin, and this is David, and we are here to see Mike. I see his truck is here." Both men had on starched navy blue uniforms, with hats that reminded her of Canadian Mounties.
"I'm sorry you missed him, but could you please step in for a moment?"
They looked at each other with confusion.
As they walked in she was wringing her hands. "I am so glad you're here, earlier today I called to have wood delivered, and this man and his son brought some wood. It looks as though they emptied their truck, but I don't see them and they've been here over an hour. Could you check it out for me?"
"Sure we can, and where was the last place you saw them?" Officer Kevin immediately started to look around the house. He never removed his hat, and Lana thought maybe he wanted to mask his height. He might be five-seven with short light brown hair and hazel eyes. He probably didn't weight more than one-hundred-forty pounds, with a small frame. But his deep voice made up for his size; he sounded like Lou Rawls. David was opposite, tall and thin, and he too had short light brown hair. His voice was much softer than Kevin's and sounded average. His eyes were puppy dog brown.
"I saw them on the back porch because that is where they put the wood, but now I can't see them at all," she said with a trembling voice.
Neither officer would leave without relieving her fear. They knew Mike would have their heads if they didn't take care of his tenant. Plus they had their suspicions that Mike had a thing for this lady. Kevin decided if Mike didn't have a thing for this pretty woman he needed his head examined. "I'll be back in a minute. David will search the house, and ma'am, you stay with David."
"Thank you so much."
Officer David walked around inside the house, turned on every light and checked the
closets, rooms and back porch. Everything looked undisturbed. Kevin was gone a long time when they finally saw him come up the path from the beach.
They met him at the front door. "I found the dad walking along the beach. He said he saw an old friend walking his dog, so they walked over to his house for a beer. They were sorry they scared you."
She didn't believe it but felt like a fool being afraid. It seemed odd they would just leave their truck. Not only that, no one lingered around except the guy in the red coat, and he lived the opposite direction from the beach. While the officers were still there, they heard the old Ford truck leave. Officer David stuck his head outside and made the peace sign to Kevin. She knew what he meant—two left in the truck.
She was a little agitated they just wrote it off as though she was a scaredy cat, so she reverted to their reason for coming. "Mike is not here and I don't know when I'll see him again.
I'm just renting this place for a few days. Would you like me to give him a message?"
"We came by to give him our condolences, here's my card. Could you have him call when he comes by or when you hear from him?" Kevin answered. They didn't want to dismiss her concerns, but they couldn't do anything else except beef-up their patrol.
"I sure will and that's so nice of you."
"Meantime, we'll come by often. If you need me, my cell number is on the back. Please don't hesitate to call."
That did make her feel better knowing they would watch over her.
"Have a good evening." They tipped their hats and left.
*****
Darkness set in, and Lana double-checked all the doors and windows. She brought in
enough firewood, so she didn't have to go outside during the night. As the wind blew, it's howling sounded spooky, like wolves outside scratching. Sleet mixed with sand tapped on the window every time there was a strong gust of wind. The darkness made it sound even scarier.
This was a sign for her to leave. She packed a change of clothes and left a light on in the kitchen. After what happened earlier and now Mother Nature's warning, she decided to stay in town. She didn't know if the men with the wood had criminal intentions, but since she's all alone she would feel safer leaving. She grabbed the key to the house and literally ran to her car. She remembered a hotel across the bridge and didn't imagine there would be a problem with a vacancy.
When she saw the lights of the city, she relaxed. There were a lot of little water coves along the drive into Plymouth, and it would be easy to drive off the road get stuck in the sand, especially at night. She grimaced at the thought of being stranded. She felt in her purse for her cell phone and was relieved it was secure in its usual spot.
She pulled up at the well-lit Hilton hotel. The main lobby was empty, and over to the right, behind the courtesy desk, a short hall led to the bar. She could hear glasses clanking and a couple of men talking. The noise echoed in the empty lobby. The three of them were probably the only customers in the hotel, given the looks of the near empty parking lot. This hotel had five stories, so she thought she might have a magnificent view of the ocean from the top. The attendant handed her the keycard and said, "Room 503, and Ms. Andrews the kitchen closes at eight o'clock. Is there anything else you need? Do you want a porter?"
"No, thank you."
The room was decorated in a cheerful blue with a large king-sized bed. The wallpaper had a two toned blue stripe with a solid light blue bedspread trimmed in dark blue. The best part of the room was the warmth. She smiled and wondered if she should be mad at Mike for not fixing the furniture or more mad for not calling. She would have to sleep on that one.