Chapter 11 - Zoe
By the time I make it back to the hotel, the tiredness has set into my bones but my mind is buzzing. I still can’t believe I’m working with Ethan.
I drop my purse on the small desk near the entrance to the room and sink down on the chair. I close my eyes and enjoy a few moments of silence.
Immediately, my brain starts replaying the day. I see Ethan as he glanced at me sideways in the truck, and the thrill it sent through my whole body. I can feel his hand on my waist and my body pressed against his when I fell. The look in his eyes was nothing short of electrifying.
Shaking my head, I get up and sigh. I stretch my arms above my head and glance around the tiny hotel room that I’m going to call home for the next two to three months. I glance at the picture of Audrey that I’ve propped on my nightstand, and take a deep breath.
I should forget about Saturday. It was one night, and it meant nothing.
We seem to have an unspoken understanding about that, which simultaneously fills me with relief and a stinging sensation in the center of my chest. It was me who walked away without giving him my number, and it was me who pretended not to know him, so I shouldn’t be upset that he’s respected my wishes.
I stand still, staring at nothing, until a knock on the door makes me jump.
“Hi,” says a young woman when I open the door. She’s wearing a hotel uniform and holding a stack of towels. She smiles hesitantly. “Mara sent me over to make sure you had everything you need and to give you these,” she says, presenting me with a stack of thick, fluffy towels. I take them from her and smile. I met Mara, the young hotel owner, when I arrived yesterday. She had kind eyes and a warm smile, and this woman seems no different.
“Thanks,” I respond, turning to put the towels down next to my purse on the desk. I turn around and see the young woman turning to leave. “Wait!”
I rummage through my purse and find a couple dollar bills. I hand them to her and she frowns.
“What’s this for?”
“It’s a tip. For the towels.”
She laughs. “You city people are so funny sometimes,” she says, grinning at me. “Don’t worry about the dollar. You’re here for, what, a couple months? You really gonna give me a dollar every time I knock on your door?”
“I hadn’t really thought that far,” I admit, staring at the crumpled bills in my hand. I hope I haven’t offended her.
She shakes her head. “You had dinner yet? I was just about to head down to Harold’s. You can use that money to buy me a drink. I’m guessing you don’t know anyone in town yet.”
“No,” I say. “I don’t.” Well, except for a certain Mr. Ethan Clarke, who I know a bit better than I should.
Her eyes flash and a smile appears on her lips. “Well I can introduce you to the main troublemakers,” she says, grinning. “None of them bite, unless you want them to.”
I’m about to refuse, to say that I’ll eat in my room, but something stops me. It might be nice to spend an evening away from my thoughts. I might actually make a friend while I’m here. I nod. “Deal,” I say.
“Good. I’m Katie, by the way,” she says, extending her hand.
“Zoe,” I reply as we shake hands. I like her smile, and I can’t help but grin back.
“Heard you were in town to investigate the fire,” she says, narrowing her eyes ever so slightly. Her question feels a bit too probing, so I try to skirt it.
“Not really. I’m working with the National Parks to minimize the risk of wildfires. I developed a set of procedures back in Seattle and they sent me here. The fire at the hotel construction site was a major incident, so I’m trying to work with the Rangers to help prevent it from happening again.”
Katie laughs, and I’m not sure why. She throws her head back and lets out a full-bellied laugh, finally shaking her head. “Don’t think it’ll happen again, you can be fairly sure about that.”
“How do you know?”
Her eyes glimmer again, and she tucks a stray strand of dark hair behind her ear. “Wouldn’t be any reason to!” I’m about to ask her more, but she nods down the hallway. “Come on, get ready and meet me in the lobby in ten minutes. I’ll tell you everything you need to know.”
She winks at me and turns down the hallway. I stare after her for a few moments before closing the door. This job doesn’t seem as straightforward as I first thought.
I get ready slowly, frowning as I mull over her words. The Rangers said the same thing in the staff meeting–that there was little chance of it happening again. How can everyone be so sure?
Unless they know who did it, and why it was done. Katie said there wouldn’t be any reason to start the fire again. Between that and Ethan saying it was started to stop the developers from digging up the forest, maybe the fire was started with somewhat noble intentions.
I step outside. The door to my hotel room closes behind me and I take a deep breath, heading down the long hallway towards the front of the building.
Katie is waiting for me, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. She smiles when I appear in the lobby and nods her head towards the door.
“Come on,” she says. “Harold’s has the best burgers in town.”
“Good,” I answer with a grin. “I’m starving.”
We walk in silence as dusk falls over the town. The sun has disappeared behind the mountains, sending brilliant reds and pinks across the sky. I inhale, staring at the vast landscape.
“It’s so beautiful around here,” I breathe. Katie smiles, inhaling deeply through her nose.
“I love the smell of the air here. I spent some time in New York City when I thought I wanted to leave this town, and the smells used to make me retch. Literally! Coming back home was the best thing I ever did.”
“Don’t go to Seattle, then,” I laugh. “The smog in the city will choke you to death.”
Katie makes a noise and we walk on in silence.
“So what were you doing in New York?” I ask after a pause.
Katie inhales deeply and sighs before answering. “I was restless, I guess,” she finally says. She glances up at the peaks in front of us and shakes her head. “Then I clicked my heels together and said ‘there’s no place like home’,” she grins. “This town has a way of getting under your skin.”
“I can see that,” I say, glancing at the sunset again. My heart flutters and I take a deep breath. Audrey would love it here. My thoughts flick back to my conversation with her this morning, and worry snakes into my heart. I hope she’s okay. I hope the kids at school aren’t bothering her.
I watch as Katie kicks a pebble off the sidewalk, and I try to think of something to say. The seconds tick by in silence as we walk towards the other end of town, and after a little while it feels like I’ve waited too long to respond.
Finally, the curiosity that’s been gnawing at me becomes too much to bear. With a deep breath, I change the subject and ask the question that’s been on my mind since she dropped off those towels at my door.
“So what happened with the fire?”
Katie glances over at me and laughs. Her eyes spark again as she nudges me with her elbow. “Zoe, you have no idea what you’ve just stepped into. This is a multi-generational feud. Love, drama, cheating, crime, fraud, arson. It’s got it all. Even an arranged marriage!” She sweeps her arm as she speaks, across the vista of mountains and forest and sunset sky in front of us. “And it all starts with a family called the Clarkes, who lived up on that mountain over there.” Katie points to the tallest mountain in view, over to the left. The very top of it is flat, but it has a sheer cliff face that seems to fall for hundreds of feet, crashing into the forest below.
My heart skips a beat and I frown. The Clarkes? As in… Ethan Clarke?
I try to smile at the same time and feel my face contort into a weird expression. I just don’t know how to react right now. Katie laughs again and I can’t help but relax a little. I shake my head and smile at her.
“You’ve met Ethan Clarke already, I would guess. He’s a Park Ranger.”
I nod, trying to keep my face steady. “Yeah, we’ll be working together.”
“He has two brothers, Aiden and Dominic. Dominic is married to Mara, who you’ve met. They own the hotel.”
I nod. “Right.”
She starts firing names and families and places at me, and I try to keep up. Her laugh is easy, and as we get to Harold’s she hooks her arm into mine. I feel myself relax, and I smile at her. It’s nice to meet someone friendly.
I mean, Ethan is friendly, but it’s nice to talk to someone that I haven’t slept with.
“Don’t worry, Zoe,” she says with a laugh. “The Clarke Brothers look a lot scarier than they are. If you’re not careful, you’ll fall in love with one of them.”
I stiffen and Zoe laughs again. “You and every other woman in town,” she continues, mercifully ignoring the very obvious tension in my body. She points to a building up ahead.
“There’s Harold’s,” she says. “Buy me that drink and I’ll tell you a story.”