Virginia McCullough - Something To Treasure

What had he expected, anyway? That she’d pick up on the first ring? Kym had only met this woman that day at the conference. Kym didn’t know he was still in Chicago. Even he’d expected to be settled into Two Moon Bay by now. But finding the right tour and dive boats had taken longer than he’d planned. Meanwhile, the search for housing went on. Too bad he couldn’t hire Kym herself. She’d made a successful transition from being a Key West booster to an independent PR consultant in Kansas.

Grabbing his jacket, he headed out of the hotel and down Clark Street toward the hot dog place a block away where he’d find Carrie and Melody. His little girl spotted him as he entered the restaurant, but not before he’d had a chance to take in the vision of his child with her dark hair in two long braids. She was swinging her sneakered feet from the molded plastic bench of the booth. A basket of fries sat in front of her, along with a squeeze bottle of ketchup.

“Hi, Daddy.” She raised her hand and waved. “We’re having hot dogs. Want one?” She scooted over to make room for him and patted the seat the way he did when he wanted her to sit next to him.

He gave her a one-arm shoulder hug and kissed the top of her head, but moved his upper body just in time to avoid the smear of ketchup getting ready to transfer from her mouth to his jacket. “As a matter of fact, baby, that’s why I’m here. Melody sent me a text saying you were stopping for lunch.” He made a show of studying the counter. “Do you think they have any hot dogs left?”

She craned her neck to look behind him. “I think so—better hurry.”

His phone chimed the familiar melody of the old Jimmy Buffet song about a lovely cruise. He kept it on his phone because Carrie knew all the words. Her favorite line was about the sailors having water in their shoes.

Sure enough, Dawn Larsen’s name appeared on the screen. Holding up one finger to Melody to indicate he needed to take the call, Jerrod stepped outside.

“Hello, Ms. Larsen. Thanks for returning my call.”

“Dawn, please.”

A light, pleasant, voice—he was grateful. “Well, by any name you come highly recommended. My pal Kym Nation is your newest fan.”

“I feel the same way about her, and she thinks the world of you.” She paused. “I understand your plans for shipwreck diving excursions are well underway. So, you’ve already moved into your dock space in Two Moon Bay?”

He pressed his finger over his other ear to block out the street noise. “Not quite. Only one of my two boats is up in Two Moon Bay. I’m still in Chicago, where I’ve been outfitting the tour boat. My crew is bringing her up in a few days. Admittedly, my time line is short.” No sense trying to make excuses for it, either, he thought. “You see, I made the decision to open a Great Lakes location only a couple of months ago. That means I’m still a stranger in the area. But I got in under the wire and bought some ad space in some of your local tourist papers. It’s a start, but obviously, I need a lot more.”

“I’d be happy to listen to your plans and see how I might be able to help you. I’m curious about your business, of course.”

Businesslike, professional, Jerrod thought, and he had a hunch Dawn meant what she said. “If you have time, I could come to your hotel and meet you for a cup of coffee. I realize you’re busy at the conference, so I’ll understand if that’s not possible. Kym had high praise for the talk you gave about one of your successful campaigns.”

“It was great fun,” Dawn said, “but between you and me, Kym inspired everyone, too. She just finished a speech about the need for professional reinvention when life intervenes. I think we learn more from each other’s stories than we do from flowcharts and ten-point strategies.”

True, Jerrod agreed. He was up for hearing someone else’s stories. He’d become sick and tired of his own.

“I’m going on and on a bit here,” Dawn said with a lilt in her voice, “so I’ll get to the point. The conference ends tomorrow at one, and I’ll have a little time before I need to catch my train. Any chance you can come around that time? We could talk before I grab a cab and head to Union Station.”

“Sounds doable,” he said, trying to hold back his sudden and inexplicable eagerness to sit down and talk to her. “Why don’t I meet you in the lobby by the registration desk around one fifteen or so? I’ll check your website, so I’ll know what you look like.”

“That’s good...uh, I was going to say I’ll be the woman with the rolling suitcase, but since this is a hotel, that’s not particularly helpful,” she said, her tone breezy. “I’ll be the one with the short strawberry blonde hair. And I won’t be wearing high heels.”

“I will check the shoes of everyone in the lobby until I find you, Dawn.” Where had that little one-liner come from? He didn’t know, but he instantly felt lighter, almost buoyant. But then he winced against the screech of a bus braking up at the stoplight on the corner not far away. “The traffic noise is bad. I better go. See you tomorrow.”

“Looking forward to it, Jerrod.”

The call ended, and he went back inside, conscious of his better mood. First, because of Carrie. There she was, cheerful and happy in a beat-up old plastic booth dipping fries in ketchup and still swinging her legs. And Dawn had amused him, too, with her melodic laugh and lack of pretention.

When he slid into the booth, Melody pushed his basket of food in front of him. “Here, we ordered for you. Better eat while it’s still hot.”

“Hey, cutie,” he said to Carrie. “Could be I found someone who can help me get some passengers for the trips to shipwrecks I was telling you about.”

“I saw the pictures of those boats,” Carrie told Melody. “They’re really old, just like in Key West, and they broke into lots of pieces.”

“They don’t get too many visitors, either, or so I hear.” Melody turned down the corners of her mouth. “They must be lonely out there in the cold lake all by themselves.”

Carrie shrugged and dipped another fry in the ketchup. “Could be.”

Apparently, lonely shipwrecks weren’t as alluring as lunch.

“So, you found a PR person?” Melody asked.

“A possibility. We’ll see. She was referred by someone I knew years ago. I’m meeting her at her hotel tomorrow. Best of all, she lives in Two Moon Bay.”

Melody’s eyes opened in surprise. “Cool. I hope it works out.”

“Me, too.” He didn’t want to be dramatic, but the success of his new direction and the safe and secure life he wanted to create for Carrie could depend on getting this venture off the ground.

Chapter Two

ONCE SHE AND JERROD had settled into a couple of chairs in a quiet corner of the lobby, Dawn pulled out her notebook and pen. “I’m ready to work,” she said.

“Is that really a pen? And actual paper, too?” Jerrod asked. “How old school of you.”

She tapped the end of the pen against her temple. “Maybe so, but this is where it all begins. The computer folders and files and spreadsheets are launched in phase two.” She grinned. “I just made that up.”

Suddenly, she wished she’d accepted Jerrod’s offer of coffee. She could have used something to distract her from the man himself. She’d found him online, of course, and Jerrod had looked very good in his website photo. But it didn’t do him justice. Not even close. She guessed him to be around her age, maybe closer to forty, as opposed to her thirty-six. His almost-black hair showed no hint of gray to match his penetrating, but solemn gray eyes. Because of the nature of his business, she expected a guy with weathered, rugged looks. His open, unlined face had immediately thrown her at first. The tall, lean man in a fisherman’s knit sweater and jeans would have looked at home in a courtroom or maybe a classroom.