Page 66 of The Beachside Rental

He turned around and drove back to the beach house.This was only going to make his comeback with a new series all the more complicated.

How had Gwen gotten the wrong idea?He replayed his memories of their interactions.He couldn’t think of any instance of giving her the wrong idea—at least not intentionally.He just didn’t look at her that way.

But then he recalled Gwen saying that this thing she had for him had been going on for years.And he’d been totally oblivious.He’d just assumed that her fun, flirty way was the way she was with everyone.And now it was all stuck in his head.

When he reached the beach house, instead of going to his door, he turned and went to Jenna’s door.He didn’t know if he would tell her about what just went down with Gwen.He didn’t know how to explain it to himself much less her.

He just needed to hear Jenna’s voice and bask in her warm smile.There was something about being around her that grounded him and made him feel like everything was going to be all right.

He rapped his knuckles on the door and waited.After a little bit, he knocked again.Again, there was no response.

He turned and headed back to his place.Gus raised his head from where he was sleeping on the couch.The dog whined as he yawned.Then he put his head back down and went back to sleep.

Simon shook his head as he made his way over to the couch.With Gus stretched out, there was no room for him, so he sat down in a nearby armchair.He picked up his laptop from the coffee table and opened it.

The login screen didn’t automatically come up like normal.He pressed a couple of buttons to see if he could wake it up, but that didn’t work either.

He recalled dropping it when Gwen had shown up at his door.A knot began to form in the pit of his stomach.Surely that hadn’t fried his computer.Please say it isn’t so.

He pressed the power button.Nothing happened.As he thought about his new book being on the computer, his pulse increased.He pressed on the power button again.This time he held it down, waiting for something to happen.

And then at last the lights on the keyboard lit up.He breathed a sigh of relief.It just needed a full reboot.That was fine.He would wait.

And wait he did because the computer in its infinite wisdom decided it was in need of a software upgrade.He set aside the laptop and went into the kitchen to get some iced tea.

When he got back, his computer still had the spinning donut as it worked on updating the software.He opened up his phone and looked at the tabloid articles about himself.

It appeared it had come from only one tabloid:The Gossiper.The other publications were regurgitated information.So, that was interesting.Whoever had sold the story and pictures only sold it to one place.He couldn’t help but wonder how much they’d gotten for invading his privacy.He couldn’t imagine his story was worth much, but maybe he was being modest, considering his books were bestsellers, and his movies were blockbusters.He didn’t know.He just wished people would leave him alone to write his stories.That was all he wanted to do—well, not quite.He also wanted to spend time with Jenna—a lot more time.

He set aside his phone.He turned his attention back to his laptop.He breathed easier when he saw the login screen.Everything looked right.

He logged in.He opened the word processing software that he’d been using since he’d started his publishing career.Usually, when he opened the software, the last documents he’d been working on would open on the screen.That wasn’t the case this time.

He went to the hard drive to open the file, but it wasn’t there.How could that be?His body tensed as he continued to search the laptop for his book file.He looked in this folder and that folder, but it still wasn’t there.

He didn’t store his files on cloud storage.He didn’t trust his files being out of his control.

He let out a frustrated groan.He lost everything he’d worked on that day.Gus lifted his head and looked at him.

“It’s okay, Gus.”It wasn’t, but there was nothing Gus could do to help him.

Frustration coursed through him as he realized that he’d lost hours of work.He’d never be able to re-create the scenes the way he had them.Some people say that rewriting chapters makes them stronger.He wasn’t sure that he believed it.

At least, he still had the opening chapters of the book.They were safely stored on his flash drive.He backed up his files at the end of each day.

His gaze moved to the coffee table, where he’d had his flash drive along with his notebook.The only thing was that he didn’t see his flash drive.It had to be there.

He set aside his laptop and stood.He lifted his notebook.The flash drive wasn’t under it.He got down on his knees and looked under the coffee table.It wasn’t there either.

He searched under the furniture in the living room and then the kitchen.It wasn’t in any of those places.How was that possible?

Then he thought that it might be in his pants pocket.He didn’t normally keep it there, but he hadn’t been feeling like himself since the accident.

He took the stairs two at a time and rushed into his bedroom.He grabbed the clothes he was wearing the day before.He checked the pockets.There was no flash drive.

He searched his bedroom.He went back downstairs.Gus got to his feet and followed Simon around, as though he sensed something was wrong.

After checking everywhere he could think of, he collapsed into the armchair.He was certain the flash drive didn’t sprout legs and walk away on his own.