Page 67 of The Alien Reindeer's Bounty
Odessa swallowed her first instinct to say she was sorry; what good would that do? Instead, she said, “How about a cup of coffee? Or tea,” she added. Caffeine might be the last thing the agitated woman needed.
Bridgett nodded and Odessa took her back into the employee break room. The room offered a kitchenette. Nothing fancy but it had a full-sized fridge, microwave, toaster oven, coffee, and an electric kettle. She filled the kettle in the sink and set it to boiling.
“Chamomile, green tea, or peppermint?” Odessa set out mugs, spoons and a container of sugar packets.
“Peppermint,” the older woman said. “You must think I’m crazy,” she said while Odessa poured hot water into mugs.
“I think I’d be out of my mind if Ruby—” She couldn’t finish her thought. It was too terrible. Bonnie had been missing for two weeks while Odessa had been canoodling with her boyfriend, happily forgetting about her friend. She was selfish and, honestly, a terrible friend.
Hadn’t that been an issue with Mads, too? She blithely ignored his hellish home life because she was too busy with her teenage crush. He gave her permission to forgive herself because she had been a kid. She didn’t know enough of the world to look for shadows and secrets—
And here she was thinking about her boyfriend again and not the crying woman sitting directly in front of her. Good job, Odessa.
“They’re not even looking for her anymore. Did you know that? Said she ran off with some man, but she could be up there in the mountains, hurt, starving. The sheriff wants to wait until the spring thaw.” Bridgett’s voice hitched and her eyes watered. “I’ve been searching the trails.”
“It’s too cold for that. You’ll get frostbite,” Odessa said. She wanted to add that Bonnie needed her mother to be strong, but how much stronger could the woman be? She was a one-woman search and rescue team.
“I don’t care! My baby is up there and I’m going to find her.”
“Do you have the right gear? Those boots look like they’ve seen better days and Bonnie needs you to keep all your toes. No frostbite.” Odessa handed her a paper napkin.
Bridgett dabbed at her eyes. “I don’t know. I just went. I didn’t stop to think.”
The remote hiking trails closed during the winter due to dangerous conditions, but Odessa suspected that if she cited state park regulations, Bridgett would ignore her. “I’m not going to tell you not to search, because I know you won’t listen.” Bridgett snorted, her face still wet from tears. “But I am asking you to be smart about it. Good boots, thick socks, and a phone that gets service on the mountain. Water. Food. All of that. Have someone with you.”
Bridgett nodded. “I’m sorry for dumping this all on you. I don’t blame you. Not really. I just can’t think right now.” Her hands trembled in her lap.
“I wish I had talked her out of going to the bar that night.”
“No, that was her choice.”
“You’re right. We should be upset at the creep that took Bonnie.” Blaming themselves wouldn’t help anyone. Odessa covered Bridgett’s hands with her own. “How’s the tea?”
Bridgett scrunched her nose. “I’d rather have a shot of vodka, but it’ll do.”
Odessa held Bridgett’s hand until the woman gave a gentle squeeze.
* * *
“When canwe go ice skating again?” Ruby clutched a pair of old pink flower-powered ice skates to her chest. The blades needed to be sharpened.
“So, you had fun after all?” Odessa teased. When her parents found out that Ruby went ice skating and didn’t hate it, they dug out Odessa’s old skates. If Ruby loved the sport, she’d get a new pair of her own. For now, hand-me-downs worked fine.
“I guess. I liked it when you fell on your butt.” Ruby cackled.
“It’s not nice to laugh at other people’s pain.”
“But you fell! On your butt. Mom, it was so funny. I’d put it on the internet if I had a phone,” Ruby said, like that was a good thing.
“Yeah, you promising to humiliate your mother on the internet is not going to convince me to buy you a fancy phone,” Odessa said. Since when did seven-year-olds need the latest phone with all the whizbang features? Ruby didn’t even have a plain phone. Oddly, the more she campaigned to get a smartphone, the more Odessa felt a need to get her goblin a boring old dumb phone just to learn boundaries and responsibilities. Did Ruby even need a phone? The internet said the average age for a smartphone was ten.
Nope. Not going to make any big decisions tonight and certainly not going to let herself be manipulated into putting a new smartphone under the Christmas tree.
The car shuddered and the steering wheel shook.
Oh no. Not again.
Odessa pulled over to the side of the road, muttering a string of words she strictly forbade Ruby from ever repeating.
