Page 22 of Just My Luck

“My friend Buzzy is working at the Urgent Care today.” She gave him the address. “I texted her that Eddie is on his way. She’s going to call me as soon as you show up, and also with any updates. If I don’t hear from her in ten minutes⁠—”

“Eddie is safe with me. You don’t have to worry.”

He held her gaze; the expression in them calmed her instantly. It was the look of someone who possessed relentless determination, someone able to bend people and events to their will. Normally, she might bristle at such a concept, but right now, for Eddie’s sake, she appreciated it.

10

Eddie got three stitches at the Kona Urgent Care. Zara’s friend Buzzy, a smiling woman with coppery skin imprinted with intricate tattoos, suggested that Lincoln get checked out too.

He declined the offer for two reasons. One, if she ran Jim Brennan’s medical history, she might discover that he didn’t actually exist. Two, he’d had enough brain scans to last a lifetime. After everything that had happened in the jungle, he’d checked himself into a neurology center for the most thorough examination known to mankind.

“I’m just here for Eddie. I’m good,” he assured her.

“If it’s a question of health insurance, we operate on a sliding scale here and I know a few billing tricks. Don’t tell my boss.” She gave him an exaggerated secret wink.

Since he’d never thought about health insurance in his life, he just said, “Don’t risk your job for me. I’m a gardener. Falling branches are a job hazard.”

He stayed in the waiting room sipping on coffee while Eddie got his stitches. As he texted Zara an update, he overheard snippets of the nurses’ conversation. Something about “outstanding balance” and “Aloha Care.”

Did Zara have an unpaid debt at the Urgent Care? He wouldn’t be surprised, the way Eddie kept putting himself in harm’s way. Before the jacaranda tree incident, he’d personally witnessed Eddie chasing a mouse and cutting his hand on garden shears. He wished he could google Aloha Care, but his burner phone didn’t have internet capability.

Three stitches? Zara texted. His record is six, so not too bad. How’s he handling it?

He’s in with Buzzy now. She says hello and that you should hit a banyan soon. I have no idea what that means. Some kind of tree revenge?

Snort emoji. Banyans is a very famous local surf beach. We’re surf buds. You’re not from around here, are you?

Oops. If he’d had a smart phone, he could have googled that before putting his foot in his mouth.

He deflected. Is it that obvious?

I hope you didn’t move here for the job. Raoul came tearing through here. I’m pretty sure you’re fired. So sorry.

That could be a problem, but maybe not. It was becoming clear that the CHUM was not on the premises of the Royal Leilani Resort. Time for him to move to Plan B, which he still needed to flesh out.

It involved finding Rory Baker, and possibly Mathilda Wheeler. Tonight, he’d go back to his suite at the Seaside Paradise and check in with his investigators.

It’s fine, he texted Zara. The pay is laughable.

Really? The Royal Leilani is known for paying more than most resorts around here. That’s why I’m so keen to stay on.

God, really? When they’d told him what the pay was, he’d nearly laughed in their faces. It seemed absurd that anyone could live on such an amount. He underlined and added exclamation points to his mental note about giving all his staff a raise.

If he ever got out of this mess, obviously. If he couldn’t find the CHUM, his financial future would be pretty bleak.

I’m going to need a drink after all this is over, Zara texted. Want to come over? No late nights because I have to work tomorrow. But I’d like to thank you with Thai takeout and a glass of wine. My go-to comfort meal.

Irresistible invitation, he decided. It wasn’t as if he had much waiting for him at the Seaside Paradise aside from his laptop. Besides, he was curious to see what Zara’s place was like. He’d never known anyone like her in his life. Was there anyone else like her? She had such a free-spirited quality to her, and yet she was so dedicated to her siblings. The contradiction fascinated him. Not to mention that she was magnetically beautiful, with the kind of aura that drew his attention and didn’t let it go.

He noticed that same dynamic when he was sitting on her couch a few hours later while she uncorked a bottle of wine. It was such a pleasure to watch her that moments ticked past and he realized he was still doing it. She’d kicked her shoes off onto the disorderly pile of footwear just inside the door, and was now barefoot. She’d changed from her concierge uniform into a pair of board shorts that hugged her hips. Her halter top tied behind the neck and waist, and showed off her sleek, tanned back. With her hair loose from its tight knot, it flowed in long curls over her shoulders.

She looked like a mermaid, if a mermaid knew how to work a corkscrew like a professional sommelier.

“Bartender,” she explained as she handed him a glass of Chardonnay. “Paid my way through college.”

“Where was that?” And why was a college graduate working as a hotel concierge?

“California. Santa Barbara campus,” she added when he waited for more details.