CHAPTER EIGHT

 

 

May 13, 2015

5 P.M.

McCall, Idaho

 

The dinner that night had been fantastic, sitting at a table against the window looking out over the lake. The chairs were solid wood with comfortable cloth padding and the wooden table was covered in a tan tablecloth with a single candle to one side.

Lott felt a lot better after a nap and a shower and clearly Julia did as well. She seemed to be almost beaming and enjoying every detail around them.

Both of them had tried the pan-fried trout on the recommendation of their waitress, a young college woman with short brown hair working the summer between semesters.

Lott couldn’t believe how the trout just melted on his fork and in his mouth. He could never remember eating any fish that fresh before, and the buttered potatoes were perfect as well, accented by steamed spears of asparagus.

After they shared a piece of key lime pie, they headed out and down toward the dock in front of the lodge. The sun was already behind the mountains and the air had turned cool, but neither of them seemed to care as they walked along the narrow shoreline as the small waves lapped at the coarse sand.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, then turned back.

“You up for a movie to relax?” Lott asked. “I saw they had some old classics to rent at the front desk.”

He didn’t feel like sleeping after the nap just a short time before, but he knew they needed to rest. Who knew what tomorrow was going to bring. With luck, nothing but finding Julia’s old friend alive and well.

Julia shook her head. “Actually, I was thinking about a drive. Let’s cruise around this area a little bit, go past William’s estate, get the lay of this small town just in case.”

Lott stopped and looked down into the green eyes of the woman he cared about. She clearly was focused and worried.

“A good idea,” he said, nodding. “Then we come back and relax with a movie.”

She smiled. “Deal.”

Two hours later, they were watching a classic Fred MacMurray movie in Julia’s room. She fell asleep on her bed about halfway through and Lott shut the movie off, told her to get ready for bed, and headed for his room.

He really wanted to just curl up with her, but the time would come for that. After they found her friend.