Running Northwest (41 page)

“So stud, what’s going on
?
” she asked looking at Derrick as he gazed off into nowhere.

“What? Nothing’s going on,” he said quietly, eyes still blankly staring

“Baby, don’t lie I know something is up. How did things go up at Thomas’ cottage? Did something happen out there?” Erin asked

“No, nothing happened up there. Thomas and Daniel had a weird day up in Cannon Beach. Not so much Daniel but more Thomas I suppose” Derrick said quietly.

Sometimes people have a go-to person in their life, the person they can talk to about anything and everything. It took time to develop those kinds of relationships and build that kind of implicit trust. Thomas had
that with
Derrick, and Derrick had
it with
Thomas. However, since Derrick and Erin’s relationship had progressed, he had learned to open to her about many things. Derrick would talk to Erin about business of differing kinds, Thomas and his son and all the other issues that came along in life. He still held back about certain aspects of his life prior to her, and she knew that and believed that eventually in time those stories may also come out…when he was ready. She never pushed about that stuff and Derrick loved her for that, it made him comfortable. One thing Erin was good at was giving an honest and realistic opinions she was not one for being subtle unless she had to be.

“So, tell me about it Hun, tell me what you know and what you’re worried about. I can see it all over your face that you are holding things in, so let them out stud. It isn’t going anywhere but right here, you know that” Erin said with an honest but concerned smile.

Derrick looked at her, smiled, and was amazed at how lucky he was. He took a swig of his beer, grabbed on to her hand rubbing it gently with his thumb and began telling her all about the day Thomas and Daniel had. He carefully repeated everything Thomas and his son had told him. Every word, mannerism and inflection that Derrick could remember from the father and son were included.

Thirty minutes later Derrick was finished explaining the situation and relaying all that he could remember. Erin sat looking at him but was very quiet and was obviously deep in thought. Derrick loved watching his fiancée think and could see the wheels turning in that brain of hers.

“So what do you think?” Derrick finally asked.

“Remember that reporter guy that was here a while back poking around about you guys” Erin asked.

“Mr. Terreto” Derrick asked

“Yeah that’s him, have you heard anything from him since you and Thomas dealt with him?” she asked.

“No, not since that day in Portland when he and I…chatted, he sent Thomas all the negatives and information he had on us and that was it. We had an agreement and we all followed through on our sides. I heard he and his family took a vacation to Florida for three weeks and went to a certain theme park near Orlando. It seems they won a contest or so I’ve been told,” Derrick said with a sly grin.

Erin knew without knowing facts that there were more aspects to Thomas and her fiancée’s business dealings. She also knew in some ways their morals were considered by some to be somewhat challenged. They both had their dark parts to their lives and Erin understood that and never brought it up or asked. She knew it was generally an infrequent thing that they did anything too horribly bad.

“Won a trip to Disney world huh…well that was nice for them” Erin said with a knowing smile and adding “Anyway my gut is telling me something, and I could be way off but it just feels right. We both know outside of Sarah that Stephanie was the only other woman Thomas truly loved. And we also know that some of those feelings
have obviously never gone away.
He does have a picture of them together in his room after all
,
”

“Yes I would more than agree with that
,
” Derrick said
.

“When is the last time you talked to Stephanie in any way, shape or form, you told me but I can’t remember,” Erin asked.

“Oh wow it was a while back, Hun, it was either email or a voicemail message,” He answered

“Did she say anything that…I don’t know sounded or seemed especially odd?”

“No not that I can remember, it was more or less a just a “hey how are you doing” type thing”. Derrick said then adding “So what are you thinking, what’s your take on all this?”

“Well baby, my gut is telling me that the lady that Thomas held the door for at Santos Café is the same one that he saw watching him on the beach. My gut is also telling me that it is your old friend Stephanie. And it’s just dumb luck Tom didn’t realize it was her, the whole almost interaction they had was probably an accident. I bet it scared the hell out of her to be honest,” Erin said staring at Derrick as she said it.

Derrick had been wondering about this for a while now in his own mind. Since everything had happened with Mr. Terreto, he had wondered if or when Stephanie would show up here on the Oregon Coast and if she was in fact behind Terreto. It seemed in logical to him that in some way she was and would show up eventually. Thomas and Stephanie had not spoken in years and Derrick did not think she would just show up at his door. He had been torn as to what to do about it and had not talked to Thomas about his theory, and he felt bad in a way for that. After talking with Thomas that night the pieces fit together and had it not been for the severity of the storm, he would drive up to Cannon Beach and had a look around for this mystery woman.

“I had been wondering about that same thing Hun. I think you’re right and I am 90% sure it was Stephanie after talking to Thomas today.
The problem is
I don’t k
now what to do about it if it is
Stephanie.
I don’t even know how, let alone if, I should tell Thomas,” he said then adding, “I just wish I knew why she is here and why she’s sneaking around.”

“Well we have no idea what’s going with her life in Michigan but I’m sure you could find out with a few phone calls.
But
baby
it’s been over five
years since she and Tom
spoke, people change
a lot in five years.
Both him
and you have changed for the better since you left that state, so maybe she did also. Assuming it is
her she’s here for a reason
,
it
may not be for some evil reason. The woman in me is telling me she’s being careful to not cause an issue and a problem. It’s possible she may not try and contact Thomas at all while she’s here and do it later if she decides to.” Erin said.

“So you’re saying she just here doing some recon work basically” Derrick asked.

“See this is why I think you’re so smart
, you say silly man things,
” Erin said sarcastically with a smile.

“Stephanie is I’m quite sure well aware of how much she hurt Thomas all those years ago. Assuming Mr. Terreto was passing her informatio
n she has an idea about Thomas’
life out here. I would be willing to bet she does not want to hurt him again or mess up his life needlessly. If she knows the whole or even part of Daniel story and knows Thomas at all, she should be smart enough to know how protective he will over is son”. Erin said.

Derrick crossed his arms and thought about this, it made sense in a weird way. As much as he did not want to admit that Stephanie would not hurt Thomas again, perhaps Erin was right and she would not. It would explain the sneaking around, albeit poorly but Stephanie was not good at being sneaky, at least not on Thomas and Derrick’s level.

He
sighed deeply and said “well it’s something to think about for sure. Let’s sleep on it tonight and we can talk about this again in the morning. It sounds like it’s getting worse outside
.
”

“Yeah it does, did you invite Daniel and Thomas over if the storm gets too bad for them on the beach,” she asked.

“Yes I did, I told Thomas if it got to bad just to pack up the boy and the dogs and text me on the way and that they are more than welcome,” he answered.

“Good, I worry about them. Well baby lets go to bed and I have a few ideas we can talk about tomorrow,” Erin said.

.
             
.
             
.

The storm was still raging outside Thomas’ home on the beach. The surf hit the sand with hellish frenzies one after another. The sounds of the howling wind mixed with the driving rain and long rolling thunder as lighting streaked across and down from the sky. Around 1 am, Thomas woke up with a heavy feeling on his legs and looked down to see his old dog Harley lying on his legs shaking and wide awake. The old dog looked up at him with scared, sad eyes. Thomas sat up and reached down to pet her head which calmed her down.

“Why don’t you come with me to check on the kid and Layla okay” Thomas said smiling as he rubbed her floppy ears.

As he was getting off the bed, a large flash erupted outside the slider in his room blinding him for a second and then a large crash of thunder shook the house. Thomas heard Daniel feet hit the floor in his room and in seconds the small boy was thru his bedroom door and heading in his father’s bedroom. Layla was right behind his son with her tail between her legs.

“Oh my God Dad did you hear that, I’m freaked out is everything okay
?
” the boy said breathing hard and fast.

“Yeah I think so that was big one, I think a tree on the beach got hit by lightning it lit up my room.” Thomas said.

“Okay well is it cool if we stay in here with you and Harley and sleep, I’m scared Dad?” the boy asked quietly. Thomas could see his skinny little hands shaking.

“Of course it is buddy, you two make yourself comfy I just want to check outside for a minute okay?” Thomas asked.

“Okay, be careful,” Daniel said.

Thomas got up and walked to the slider. He opened it slowly and as soon as the seal broke, the fierce wind began blowing in. He got it open enough to stick his head out and looked towards the trees on the beach. Then he looked down the side of the house facing the water. He was worried if the lightning hit the house and about a fire but everything appeared to be fine, at least it seemed that way. He would have to check a little better in the morning. He could only imagine the damage this storm was doing up and down the coast. He closed the door, went and sat back on the bed with his son, the two dogs and pulled the sheet over them.

“You want the TV on for a bit, assuming the cable didn’t go out?” Thomas asked his son.

“Sure for a bit Dad give it a shot. We should probably check the news and see what’s going on” the boy said.

Thomas turned the TV on and turned the local news on who was running special reports of the storm. As Thomas expected the news was not good and the damage was bad. However, since the storm was still in full force they would not know how bad it was until morning. “The drive to the shop in the morning should be interesting I think” Thomas said out loud as he looked over at Daniel who was glued to the TV.

“Well I hope it will be over by then” Daniel answered.

“It should be. A
re you coming with me or
do
you want to go and hang out with Erin while I go to work for a while?”
Thomas said.

“I don’t know we will see I guess; I’ll probably go to Aunt Erin’s and Uncle Derricks. She was planning on taking me to the book store I think” Daniel said.

Thomas laughed, his son loved the little bookshop in town and the owners loved having him there. They thought he was very curious about things and loved to introduce him to new subject to learn about. “Okay well it’s up to you buddy just let me know in the morning. Why don’t we shut this off and get some sleep okay, I have a feeling we are both going to have a busy day tomorrow” Thomas said.

“Okay Dad, goodnight love you” the boy said as he gave his dad a hug and curled up under the blankets next to his father.

Layla,
who was on the other side of the boy, rested her head on his side. Thomas gave her quick head rub then Harley again, rolled over, and tried to fall asleep. As his mind wandered off to sleep, Thomas knew tomorrow was going to bring a lot, not just because of the storm. He would also have to deal with the situation with his girlfriend Tracie, at least if she was still his girlfriend. He had not seen her in a few days and had not spoken to her but things had to be squared away between the two of them somehow. He knew it would not be easy and most likely would go very badly.

Before his eyes closed for the last time that night, they caught the picture of him and Stephanie from Florida. Without even realizing it, he smiled slightly as he fell into a deep sleep.

By 9 am the following morning, it was still raining on the Oregon Coast and the wind was still howling steady and strong off the ocean. However, the worst of the storm was over for the most part but there was two more days of forecasted rain still on the way. Up and down the coast, people began picking up the pieces of the wreckage the storm left in its wake. Some areas such as the Washington Coast were spared anything major as far as damage, but suffered heavy flooding of streams and rivers as the storm went inland.