Page 56 of Luke

Ten

After the most exciting shower of her life in the past decade, Lizzie went back to the lodge, changed her clothes and checked in on Kaitlyn a little before nine. Her niece was still asleep and actually looked like the angel she'd once been.

She watched Kaitlyn sleep for a few minutes, wishing she could find a way to give her niece the same sense of peace and happiness when she was awake.

Time, she told herself. It was all she had to work with.

Gently closing the door, she went downstairs to the kitchen. Shari introduced her to Val, the auditioning chef, who could hopefully take over when Shari went on maternity leave. Lizzie didn't want to interrupt, so she made herself a bowl of oatmeal and took it into her office.

She fired up her computer, answered emails while she ate, and when she was done, she made her way out to the front desk where Tina was checking in a family of four, excited to get started on their holiday weekend in the mountains.

It was going to be a busy few days, and she was thrilled with that. She wanted Luke to see the resort in full swing.

Kaitlyn got up around ten, unwillingly helped Shari with breakfast cleanup in the kitchen for an hour, then said she was going to the pool. She had nothing to say to anyone and seemed in an intensely bad mood, so Lizzie couldn't bring herself to talk about Kelly's birthday. She should probably just heed Luke's advice and let the day go without mention. Judging by Kaitlyn's demeanor, she was already very aware of the significance of the day.

So she focused on work for the next few hours, keeping busy with new arrivals and signing up guests for the various weekend activities.

As busy as she was, she had to admit she also kept looking for Luke, but she had no idea what he was up to, and she didn't have time to find out.

Maybe he was sleeping, she thought a little after one when she found time to grab a salad. She was happily tired from their sleepless night, and wouldn't have minded a little nap, but there was no time for that.

After her lunch, she decided to look for Kaitlyn to see if she could get her interested in one of the group activities later in the day. Several more young teenagers had checked in earlier in the day with their families, all girls, which Lizzie was happy about, and they were going to do an afternoon trail ride with Tom. Maybe she could find a way to talk Kaitlyn into joining the group. While her niece had made it clear she preferred to be left on her own, Lizzie didn't think it was a good day for solitude and too much thinking.

When she got to the pool, she saw the Harrison boys and their sister Julie, as well as a few other guests, but no Kaitlyn. She walked over to talk to them.

"Hi there. Have you guys seen Kaitlyn?"

Julie shook her head, but the boys exchanged a quick look before saying no.

Her gaze narrowed on the younger one's slightly guilty face. "What aren't you telling me?" she asked.

"She didn't want us to tell you," Will replied.

"Which is exactly why you're going to tell me. Or we can go talk to your parents if you want."

"You are the worst liar," Rex told his younger brother with disgust.

"She said she was going for a hike," Will said. "She wanted to know where the trail started for the falls, so we showed her."

Unease ran through her at that comment. Kaitlyn had shown absolutely no interest whatsoever in going to the falls the entire time they'd been at the resort. In fact, she'd refused to venture into the woods at all.

"By herself?" she asked.

"I didn’t see anyone with her," Will said.

"Did she ask you guys to go with her?"

"Nope," Rex answered.

"When was this?"

"An hour or so ago."

"Okay, thanks. If you see her, can you tell her to find me?"

"Sure," Will said.

She walked back to the lodge, a bad, scary feeling building up inside of her. She was so preoccupied she ran straight into Luke when she entered the lobby.

---