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“Same here. I can’t believe it knocked the power out.”
“Oh, that happens with almost every good storm we have coming through. Should be back in a couple of hours. Until then, everything around here shuts down. Might as well enjoy the peace and quiet. And a good cup of coffee.” He puts an empty mug in front of me.
“How did you boil the water without electricity?” I ask, glancing at the stove.
“Gas.” Mr. Pierce is a man of few words. I noticed that about him. Outside of the man-to-man speech, he’s been fairly monosyllabic.
“I see.”
Elana’s father continues to pour hot water over the coffee grounds. “What’s the plan this morning?”
“The plan was to be halfway to Atlanta by now.” Another glance at my watch confirms just how late I am. As much as I want to get to know Elana’s family, if I want any shot at saving her job, I need to get on the road. “If you don’t mind, I’ll take that coffee to go and see if there’s any chance I’ll make it down there in time.”
“What about my daughter?”
I glance toward the staircase behind me. “Let her sleep. I’ll swing by on my way back to pick her up.”
Mr. Pierce nods and pours the coffee while I regret leaving my thermal travel mug at home.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Elana comes barreling down the stairs, wearing an adorable pair of panda pajamas.
“I’m heading out. Gonna see if I can make it to Atlanta in time to catch Mrs. Witmore. I’ll swing by on the way home.”
“I heard you from upstairs.” Elana puts her hands on her hips and stares me down.
“Why did you ask then?” I take my coffee and reach for the keys in my pocket.
“Because that’s ridiculous. We’re a team. Give me five minutes.” Elana turns on her heel and races back upstairs. “Dad, fix me a coffee to go.”
“She’s not kidding,” her father says, giving me a look I can only interpret as him feeling sorry for the earful I’m about to get in the car.
“I cannot believe you tried to leave without me. Without saying goodbye.” Elana says as we walk into the hotel. She made the same point several times while we sped south. I thought we’d put the topic to rest when we reached the hotel, but no such luck.
“I told your father to tell you bye, and I planned on picking you up on the way back.” I’m getting tired of repeating myself.
“Right.” Elana steps up to the front desk. “Please let Mrs. Witmore know Elana Pierce and Ryan Matthews from Wilmington are here to see her.”
Her tone and posture are so confident, the young man working the front desk doesn’t even blink. He types away at his computer, types again, and then looks up. “I’m sorry. Mrs. Witmore checked out an hour ago. Was she expecting you?”
“She was. We ran into traffic.” Elana turns and looks at me, the last flash of hope gone from her eyes.
I take her arm and lead her to a seating area in the middle of the lobby and pull her down on the small couch to sit next to me.
“What are we going to do?” The desperation is coming off her in waves.
I can feel them crashing over me, and the full impact of what happened a few minutes ago hits me. We missed her. I knew the chances were slim to make it before Mrs. Witmore checked out, but part of me had hung on to hope.
“We’re going to come up with a new plan. I’m not giving up.” I say it to convince myself as much as Elana.
“Is there anything left to do?” Elana sits next to me with slumped shoulders. All the life and exuberance has gone out of her eyes.
“There is. There has to be. Give me a minute to think.”
“She’ll be on her way back to California later today. We missed our window,” Elana says.
Window. California. The words are trickling in one by one, and a plan starts to form in the back of my head.
“Here’s what we’re going to do,” I say, putting my hands on Elana’s shoulders and turning her to face me. “You’re going to take the car and drive back to Wilmington. You’re going to cover for me and pretend everything’s business as usual.”
