Valerie moved like lightning. She angled her body so she could tumble into the back of the sedan, and went for it. She landed mostly upside down but righted herself enough to be lying on her back in a fetal position on the sedan’s carpet between the front passenger and back seats.
Was this a good idea?
Probably not, she conceded since now she couldn’t move. Oh well, perhaps the bear would move on and not come in through the open driver’s door. Did bears even like to eat people? Valerie had never really been an Animal Planet junkie and now she was wishing she had been. Should she try to run for the road?
Oh sure, genius, and then what?
There was more snuffling, this time right outside the passenger door. Then there was a terrible sound, something horribly organic that conjured gross, frightening images in her head. Valerie felt her bladder want to let go. She clenched her muscles and closed her eyes and waited for whatever was going to happen next.
Silence.
More silence.
“Hi!”
The voice came from right inside the car and Valerie, already twanging with tightly pulled nerves screamed and lashed out. Her hand hit something, as with a burst of athleticism, courtesy of her new friend adrenaline, Valerie righted herself and attacked the noise all in one confused motion. She ended up hitting her head on the roof of the car and sliding back down into her hiding place.
A voice, male and quite well modulated, spoke to her from the front driver’s seat.
“Hey! Take it easy!”
Valerie felt a wave of relief, followed by a new wave of fear hitting her. So she’d swapped a bear for a hillbilly yokel.
“What are you doing in my car?” Valerie yelled. “I have a gun by the way. And! There’s a bear out there!”
Uh huh? Well done genius! Now what’s going to happen when he realizes you don’t?
And then a head rose around the headrest. Topped with dark blonde curly hair, a face rose in the space between the headrest and the roof. Golden eyes regarded her above a smile that had clearly been made to break hearts. Her creole grandmother, Sophie (Fifi for short) would have said it was, “The smile of an angel touched by the devil.” Valerie had never known what she meant until now.
“Okay,” the man said slowly. “I’m not gonna hurt you.”
Valerie was silent. Her blue eyes kept returning to that hypnotic golden stare and then looking away hurriedly.
“My name is Kyle, Kyle Pierce,” he said. “You look like you need some help.”
“I’m fine, really,” she said folding her arms across her chest. “I like hanging out in the back of my car like this. Did I mention the bear?”
“With the nose in a ditch?” he said, ignoring the question.
“Look, I don’t know you,” Valerie said, “We’re out here in God-knows-where, and you could be a psychopath for all I know.”
“I’m really not going to hurt you,” Kyle said.
“Yeah, you and the bear,” Valerie said chancing a brief look out the window.
Kyle sighed and backed out of the car. From outside he said, “Will you come out now? The bear is gone.”
He was dressed in jeans and a flannel blue and white shirt. He was broad shouldered and tall. She looked at him and bit her lip.
“Oh, you’re gonna get in so much trouble with this one,” she said to herself, but she opened the back door and climbed out.
Kyle smiled at her and said, “Right, so I’m Kyle and you are?”
“Valerie Rousseau,” she said. What harm could there be in telling him her name? At least when he chopped her to bits he would be able to say who she had been.
“Pleased to meet you,” Kyle said. He shook her unresisting hand and then turned to the car. “Well there’s no driving it out of that.”
“Tell me something I don’t know,” she said a little testily. “Look, I’ll just call a tow or something. Must be a number on the papers for the rental.”
“No need,” Kyle said, “We get this more often than you might think out here. I’ll just pull you out with my truck.”
Valerie smiled weakly. He has a truck.
“Oh, you really don’t have to worry,” she said, “I’ll be just fine. I’ll call someone… or not. How can there be no signal?”
“This is Sun Valley, sweetheart,” Kyle said jovially, “There’s no signal out here. Hell, we’re lucky we have power.” And he laughed.
Valerie smiled weakly. She really was in the middle of nowhere. So with a great amount of trepidation she let Kyle help her pull the car out of the ditch. By then the shadows were lengthening and the world was turning golden as time slipped away. How long had it taken her to get out here? It was already late afternoon. Valerie realized that her hotel was all the way back in town.
But then the dying sunlight lit Kyle up with a heavenly glow and he shone with a beautiful halo that she couldn’t pull her eyes away from.
“Well there we go,” he said when the little rental was on the road again. “Still think I’m out to kill you or something? Or have you realized that my intensions are honorable?”
Valerie had to admit that the vibe she was getting from him was anything but creepy, and her granny Fifi always said to trust your gut with people. “It can see their hearts, honey child.”
Perhaps it was New York that was making her so mistrustful of people, so eager to think the worst of them. Valerie decided that when this job was done, she was actually going home. Not just thinking about it, but really going to do it this time, and neither Mr. Petersen nor Mr. Snow would be able to dissuade her. Not this time. This time it was a matter of life and death. She needed her roots, her people and she needed to feel grounded again.
Kyle was staring at her when she resurfaced.
“Where did you go?” he asked her peering into her blue eyes.
“I went home,” Valerie said before she could stop herself.
“And where would that be?” he asked. He was leaning casually on the rental. She had the keys, all she had to do was get in the car, put them in the ignition and drive off. But she couldn’t, because she wanted to stay here in the heavenly light and look at Kyle.
“New Orleans, but I work in New York,” Valerie said.
“Now that sounds like a story,” Kyle said. “Let me take you to an early dinner. I know this absolutely fabulous place down by the river. It’s the most beautiful place in the world, you’ll love it.”
“How do you know?” Valerie asked.
“You’re from New Orleans, so you like good food, good music and great ambiance, and this place has all three.” Kyle was smiling again. “Where you staying by the way?”
“Grandma’s Inn,” she said.
He shook his head, “Wow, that’s all the way back in town. What are you doing out here?”
“It’s a long story, but the short version is that my boss is thinking of investing out here, so he sends me to get the ley of the land,” she said knowing it wasn’t the whole truth. Valerie had discovered that locals could get really upset if they heard that her company was moving in, so she generally kept the shop talk to a minimum outside of those she had to speak to. “Anyway I got lost,” she ended somewhat lamely.
“So let me take you to dinner, and afterwards I’ll make sure you get to Grandma’s,” Kyle said. “I’m the best GPS you’ll get in this part of the world.”
Valerie considered her options. Drive on back into town alone and possibly get lost or…
The “or” sounded way better.
“Okay,” she said.
They left the rental on the side of the road, Kyle assuring her that it would be perfectly safe, and he drove them off through the trees.