He waved away the offer. “No need. I’m happy I was able to help.”
A twinge of disappointment tingled through her, but she did her best to brush it off. Did he think she would misuse his number if she had it? She supposed he was right not to trust her too much. She had broken into his family’s cabin, after all.
“Ready?” he said.
“I’ll follow your lead.”
He inclined his head with a withdrawn little smile.
CHAPTER FOUR
GOLDIE FOLLOWED ADRIAN’S REAR LIGHTS as closely as she dared, not wanting to lose sight of him for an instant. A peculiar, fluttery burning hadn’t stopped in her stomach since their conversation outside his cabin.
Who kept something like that stocked and furnished for the possibility they would stop by and use it on the occasional weekend? Most people Goldie knew could barely afford rent for themselves, let alone a secluded cabin. From the state of his family’s cabin, the cut of his clothes, and the style of his car, she’d guess Adrian Bear was loaded.
She considered slowing down, purposefully getting stuck behind a meandering semi-truck for the sole purpose of forcing him to call her so she would have his number in her phone, but thought better of it. He was a steady driver, easy to follow. Besides, she didn’t want to seem any more helpless than she already did. She wasn’t completely incompetent.
Her phone began to chime with a number she didn’t recognize. Her heart gave a little flip. With trembling fingers, she swiped against the screen.
“Hello?”
The answering voice was deeply pleasant and charmingly familiar. “Goldie? It’s Adrian. I never asked you specifically where you needed to end up.”
She bit her lip. He intended to see her all the way there? Her signal was back again, and she very well could have found her aunt’s house on her own from here, but she wasn’t about to admit as much.
True, she didn’t want to seem incompetent, but she had to admit, she wanted the excuse to see him a final time. She hadn’t been kidding when she said she wanted to do something to make it up to him. And according to one of her students, her cookies were comparable to eternal happiness. Or maybe she could make him some pull-apart monkey bread, the kind drizzled with caramel sauce.
She recalled the address from her aunt’s email. “321 Columnar Street.”
That was what she would do. She had his number now. Once she got settled in at her aunt’s house, she’d see about taking him something as a thank you gesture.
Adrian led the way through the small town that reminded her so much of Baldwin it wasn’t funny. There were only a handful of stoplights along Main Street where traffic was probably at its thickest. An Albertsons and small Walmart nestled together alongside a shoe store. Several token fast-food restaurants lined the corners, and then the buildings thinned again, making way for homes.
Each home was small, many with an old bungalow style. Single and squat, with pointed windows and brick porches. One house had a tower on its side and Goldie longed to knock on the door just for a glimpse of the interior. Because that wouldn’t be creepy at all. She wondered if her aunt lived in one of these antique homes.
Adrian’s blinker signaled at the street labeled Columnar, and Goldie’s pulse hitched up that much higher. This was worse than going to her class reunion, at which she hadn’t lasted longer than twenty minutes. What was so hard about putting herself out there to meet someone new? Especially someone who knew things about her own life that she didn’t?
His Hummer slowed, its brake lights reddening as it came to a stop. He’d left enough room for her to pull her little Toyota behind him. She took in the small house with blue siding they’d stopped in front of. The yard was well-kept, though small. The flowerbeds were tended and bursting with peonies.
Adrian exited his vehicle with both confidence and coolness at once and strutted his way to her window.
“Is this it?” he asked, once she’d rolled it down.
Her nerves were beginning to tap dance. “I’ll find out. Thanks again, for everything.”
She cut the ignition and waved to a couple of neighborhood kids who slowed on their bikes to gawk at her. Any minute now, Adrian would bid her goodbye and be off. Undoubtedly, he had other—better—things to do. Instead, he hung back, leaning against his car.
“I’ll just make sure you’re good here,” he said. “Then I’ll be on my way.”
She swallowed her nervousness and climbed the walk to the three-wide steps leading onto the porch, which was enclosed by an iron railing. She hesitated, chockfull of uncertainty, but the numbers by the door matched what her aunt had told her. 321 Columnar Street.
Goldie had the sudden impulse to turn around. Dash to her little truck, and keep on driving. But she couldn’t run away from this. There would always be questions. Who was her aunt, really? Why had she waited so long before contacting her?
Why had she allowed her mom to keep her a secret from Goldie?
Steeling her courage, Goldie hammered the knocker five loud, hard times. She waited, dwelling in the moment, in the intense anticipation and listening for the sound of footsteps within. She peered through the tall windows on either side of the door, but the glass was iced, designed to let light in and keep snoopers out.
That was unfortunate. She so wanted to snoop.
Goldie wasn’t sure how many minutes passed before she tried knocking again. Footsteps came this time, not from inside, but from behind her.
“No one here?” Adrian asked.
She chewed her lip. Fear was beginning to overtake her. Her mother’s cynical voice clanged in her head. What had she gotten herself into? She’d taken off of work, followed the breadcrumbs, only to find there was no candy cottage at the end of the road. The last thing she wanted to do was to call her mom and admit she’d been right, that Goldie should have ignored the letter and stayed in Wisconsin.
“I guess not. I’ll try again later.”
Even though she couldn’t see his eyes through his reflective sunglasses, she could feel him watching her. His forehead furrowed. “What are you going to do, just wait here?”
She shrugged. There were worse things. “I guess so.”
He ran a hand behind his neck. “Look, I’ve got to get going.”
She fought the sting of disappointment. Honestly, what did she expect him to do? They were strangers.
Goldie hoped her smile was passable. “Please, don’t neglect your day on my account. I’m really grateful for your help, Adrian. I’m sure my aunt will be back soon. I’ll just wait here. Or I might bebop over to that strip mall we passed. I love a good mall.”
He didn’t immediately reply. She could sense him thinking things over. Suddenly, she wished he would leave. She felt like such an idiot. First, from getting lost on the mountain. Then breaking into his cabin only to have him find her sleeping there. Now to have no verifiable evidence that what she’d claimed was even true. For all he knew she was a huge, compulsive liar and had made up the address on a whim.
Her throat tightened. “I’ll be fine. You go ahead. Thanks for everything you’ve done.” She had a portfolio filled with her students’ papers that she needed to grade before she returned. She could probably just camp out on the porch and pull those out.