Саманта Сильвер - Busy As A Beaver

“Hopefully,” I said. “There are no guarantees.”

“Right.”

With that, Naba turned and waddled back towards the lodge, diving into the water to access the entrance I knew would be hidden underneath.

I smiled and turned, heading back towards home. At least my spell would keep the beavers safe.

Chapter 12

I got home just as the sun began to set. I let my mind wander to what I was going to make for dinner—I kind of felt like pasta, maybe a fettucine and broccoli alfredo?—until I saw Jason sitting on the couch, looking through his notes, and I froze.

“Hey, how was your day?” he asked, getting up off the couch as soon as he saw me.

“Eh, it was ok,” I replied. “Sophie and I went to Portland, but I’m not sure how much we learned. How about yours?” I was almost scared of the answer.

Jason shrugged. “Sort of the same. I was just going to sit here and finish my article, but the words flowed pretty easily and I had it done by ten. I went up to Portland to speak to Michael Carlton’s old boss and coworkers, but I’m not sure I learned anything amazing from them.”

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, it was like a huge weight had lifted off my shoulders. Jason wasn’t hiding anything from me at all. He had probably just been preoccupied, which was why he hadn’t replied to my text. After all, he had just admitted to me straightaway that he’d gone to the city.

I couldn’t wait to tell Sophie she was all wrong about him. Petty? Definitely. But I wanted her to know that I trusted Jason, and that he was a trustworthy man.

“So what did you find out?” I asked as I made my way to the kitchen, grabbing a deep pot in which to cook the pasta.

“Not a whole lot. Michael Carlton retired three years ago after a career that was basically spent entirely within the Portland school district.”

“He was an accountant, right? So he wouldn’t have had anything to do with Gloria directly?”

“That’s right, as far as I could tell. I mean, he worked in the office building above the Oregon State Credit Union right downtown; I spoke to one of his coworkers from a few years back and he basically never went into schools individually. There was no reason for him to have had to.”

“Right, and Gloria worked at a school that was more out in the suburbs,” I frowned.

“Exactly. As far as I can tell, even though they both had the same employer, there was no reason for her to have ever gone to that office building.”

“What else was in that building?” I asked. “Other than school board employees, I mean.”

“It’s basically the administrative center,” Jason replied. “So not only was there everyone involved in financial services, but also IT, human resources, and the senior administrative staff.”

I frowned. Sure enough, none of that really sounded like any reason a regular teacher would have had to visit that building.

“What about you? What did you find?”

“Sophie and I went to Michael’s house, and we found out that he had a coffee date with a friend, but it turned out that the guy—Chuck—had only moved to Portland a few months earlier. He met Michael while playing golf and the two of them hit it off, but he didn’t seem to know very much about Michael or his life. So, overall, it was kind of a bust.”

“That’s too bad,” Jason frowned. “I was hoping at least one of us would have found a connection between Gloria and Michael, but it doesn’t sound like that’s the case.”

“The worst part is, I just don’t know where we go from here. I mean, I kind of feel like we’ve exhausted a whole bunch of avenues, and until we figure something out with the information we have, we’re not going to get anywhere.”

Jason nodded. “I agree.” Before he had a chance to continue, however, his phone began to ring. “It’s my boss; I have to take this.”

Jason answered the phone and started talking. My mind drifted while I stirred the pasta in the pot and began making the alfredo sauce. The sound of Charlotte’s car pulling into the driveway reached my ears, and I smiled. She was right on time for dinner.

And on that note, so was Bee, who began wrapping herself around my legs the instant I pulled the Parmesan cheese out from the fridge.

“I have to go,” Jason said as he hung up the phone. “There’s a problem with the printer, and seeing as we’re supposed to have this week’s issue out tomorrow, I have to go down and give them a hand. I’ll be back later.”

“Sounds good,” I replied. “I’ll keep you a bowl of pasta.”

Jason gave me a quick peck as he grabbed his jacket and was out the door, with Charlotte coming in just as he was leaving.

“Someone’s in a rush,” she commented, raising her eyebrows slightly. “Big news in town that we’re missing out on?”

I shook my head. “No, nothing like that. Just a newspaper emergency with the printer.”

“That’s good,” Charlotte said. “Although I imagine if anything bad had happened, you would have been right behind him.”

I was going to argue, then realized Charlotte was absolutely correct. “Well, on a different note, you’re right on time for dinner,” I replied, motioning to the almost-ready food piling up around me.

“It smells nice, that’s for sure,” Charlotte said as she hung up her jacket. I doled out bowls of pasta and the two of us sat down at the dining table, not saying anything for a few minutes as we simply ate the food.

“I have something to tell you,” Charlotte said eventually, putting down her fork.

“Oh yeah?” I said, raising my eyebrows.

“I’ve been offered a job.”

“Really? Congratulations,” I said, a grin spreading across my face. “That’s wonderful!” I had absolutely no doubt that Charlotte was going to get a position as a doctor when she graduated. After all, she was hands down the smartest person I knew, and she worked incredibly hard. If there was anybody I wanted to look after me when I was sick, it was Charlotte. Still, the fact that it had happened was absolutely wonderful.

“It’s in San Francisco.”

I paused. It was no wonder Charlotte had smiled when she told me the news. She looked down into her lap like she was embarrassed.

“So? What’s wrong with that?”

Charlotte looked up at me. “It means I’m going to have to move away from here.”

“And go have an adventure in California? This is wonderful news, Charlotte.”

“You’re not mad?”

My mouth dropped open. “Mad? Are you joking? I mean, yeah, of course I’m going to miss the hell out of you. And you have to promise to call me every single day. And you have to send me pictures on Snapchat, and I want to know everything about California. But seriously, if this is what you want, then it’s awesome news.”

Charlotte laughed. “Oh God, I’m so relieved. I was so worried that you’d be upset with me leaving, since I mean, we’ve lived together our whole lives. I didn’t want to let you down, but this is a super exciting opportunity at a teaching hospital, which also opens up some doors in the future if I want to teach classes.”

“What kind of sister would I be if I didn’t encourage you to follow your dreams? Of course I’m going to miss you. But it’s a big world out there, and we all need to find our place in it. Mine is in Willow Bay; going to medical school in Seattle proved that to me. And if your place is in San Francisco, well, at least technology makes it super easy for us to stay in touch these days.”

Tears welled up in Charlotte’s eyes, and I stood up from my chair and made my way over to her, enveloping her in a huge hug. Sometimes, with Charlotte being so smart and all, it was easy to forget that I was actually the older sister.