Page 6 of The Dangers of Daydreaming

I nodded, still smiling. “Take your time rounding everyone up and getting your luggage. I’ll wait just over there.” I pointed to the chairs beside the rental car counter.

“Absolute perfection, thank you, Finn.”

I almost expected her to pat my cheek, but she just toddled off, pulling the man—Hank— with her again. He gave me a salute as he was dragged away. I returned it with a grin. If the rest of the family were anything like the parents, they would be a fun group.

Duty done for the moment, I sauntered to the rental car station, my stomach growling. The donuts were on the van's front seat, and I probably shouldn’t have skipped breakfast at Gram’s—had they even had breakfast? Or had Pops fallen before—

My stomach churned with a different feeling entirely, and I pushed those thoughts aside.

As I sat, I vaguely noticed that the red-haired woman was at the rental counter. Bummer that she wasn’t in my group for the week. I was not against a little flirting on the job. Had she ended up in another tour group? Did she live in the area?

I couldn’t keep my gaze from darting over to her as I slouched into the metal chair, waiting for her to turn so I could get a full look at her face. An email notification made my phone ping, and I pulled it out, opening the app and skimming the messages. A handful in my company email confirmed different tours and entrance fees we’d booked for the next week and a half. But the latest was from my college: an alumni email. That made me snort with entertainment. I quickly swiped it into the trash, not even reading the subject.

“Um, maybe it’s under a different name… try, sorry, one sec…”

The red-haired woman was riffling through her carry-on for something. I would have remembered her if we’d met before, but somehow she seemed like a piece of deja vu in a person. My brow furrowed. Where could I possibly know her from?

“No, sorry, I don’t see anyone under that name,” the rental worker was saying now. I knew him. Simon. Good guy.

The woman blew out a frustrated breath, tapping away on her phone, then holding it to her ear. “I swear I saw a confirmation number somewhere, but now I can’t even find the email, and— Dang it. She didn’t answer.” She lowered the phone. Then, in a voice full of resignation, she said. “What's the cost to rent a car?”

Simon looked something up on his computer. “Unfortunately, we don’t have any more in the size you’re looking for. We’ll have some returns tomorrow, or we can get you a larger size.”

“Okay. Um…” She looked around, eyes catching on mine for a moment as she scanned the area. I shifted my attention back to the luggage carousel, so she wouldn’t think I’d been staring. I had been, but that would come across as pretty creepy. Bags started to unload onto the metal loop, and I watched as Mrs. Hastings—Gemma—grabbed a toddler who was trying to climb onto the moving machine. I chuckled at the little guy’s annoyed expression and swinging legs. Apparently, Gemma was pretty strong for such a little lady.

“Where would I go to find out if my hotel has a shuttle?” I heard the woman ask Simon. “Maybe I’ll just take a shuttle and figure out the rental car situation tomorrow or Monday.”

“Do you know who you’re booked with?”

“The Holiday Inn.”

“Awesome, they’re right over there.”

“Thanks.” She passed in front of me, going to the counter on my right side, about six seats down. I watched her go, looking creepy again, I’m sure. She almost looked like… But no, that would be too big a coincidence.

My phone pinged with a notification. Gram? My heart lurched with the anticipation of news.

But it was another email from the university.

Jeez, two in one day? I swiped it away.

“No, that can’t be possible—this hotel is right here on my travel itinerary.”

“I’m so sorry, Miss, but we don’t have you down as being booked with us. We don’t have any vacancies for tonight, but I could direct you to another hotel?”

“No… no, it’s fine, I’m going to try to get ahold of my work. Maybe it’s somehow under another name or—” The redhead blew out another frustrated breath. I grimaced on her behalf. Sounds like whomever set up her travel plans had screwed up big time. That wasn’t a huge surprise—plans never seemed to work out perfectly. Maybe I could help… I knew the inn wasn’t fully booked tonight. I saw from the corner of my eye as she left the counter, walking slowly toward the luggage pickup.

The toddler from before was sneaking around the luggage carousel. My gaze flicked back to Gemma. No one in the Hastings group seemed to have seen him playing jailbreak, so I stood, preparing to be a human roadblock if he tried to run out the doors into the busy pickup lane outside. Eyes on the kid, I sidestepped my way closer to the exit.

And then the little guy bolted. But instead of heading toward the exit like I’d thought he would, he ran for the escalators they’d come down ten minutes before. And at that exact moment, the redhead stepped into his fleeing path. The boy collided with her carry-on, sending it skidding backwards, him on top like it was a surfboard and he was its rider.

The collision grabbed the attention of the Hastings family and several of them rushed forward, surrounding the boy and woman. I made my way toward them to see that everyone was alright.

A lady, presumably the boy’s mom, had scooped him up and was holding him while he attempted to squirm from her arms. “Luke! That’s very dangerous, you need to stay by Mom or Grandma—say sorry to the nice lady. No, hey, stop kicking, just—”

I wanted to help but wasn’t sure how, so I just shoved my hands in my pockets, standing on the outskirts of the group in case anyone needed me.

Gemma was picking up the redhead’s bag. “I am so sorry, Miss—”

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