CHAPTER7
ELIJAH
My heart thumpshard against my rib cage as I come face to face with the enormous bear. I whip the small canister out of my back pocket. Roaring with my own fury, I scream at the top of my lungs as I shoot the bear spray in the creature’s face. It lets out a pained cry as it paws at its eyes, no longer able to see us.
“Run!” I holler at the top of my lungs, trying to sound as big and menacing as possible. I’m no small guy, but I look like an ant standing next to the grizzly. “Everyone out!”
But no one moves as the bear moans and cries as it stumbles backward. The world seems to hang there a while, frozen in time, not a single sound anywhere. No one so much as coughs or sneezes or even rushes for the door. They all sort of freeze. My throat is hoarse and burns from shouting and my heart thuds in my chest. The bear takes off through the door and disappears into the night.
All of my suppressed emotions catch up with me now that the danger has passed and cold sweat drips down my back. Slowly, people start standing up from behind the desk, peeking over its edge and making sure the critter is actually gone for good.
“I don’t think it’s coming back, everyone,” I say, trying to break the uneasy silence in the room. “You’re free to head to your rooms while we get to the bottom of the lights being out.”
A wave of cheering breaks out, catching me off guard. Everyone behind the desk is clapping and hooting and whistling, all eyes focused on me.
Sheriff makes his way through the crowd and claps me on the shoulder. “Nice work son. That was really something. Thought I was gonna have to shoot the dang thing.” He shakes his head.
“Thanks, Sheriff.”
“I’m going to get these people back into their rooms. Meanwhile, why don’t you all figure out what the hell is going on with the lights,” he says.
“Will do.” I give him a nod.
I turn to Penelope but she only stares at the door. Her mouth is slightly open. Her eyes are distant. It’s as though she thinks the bear might burst back in at any second.
I move closer and put a protective arm around her, giving her a gentle squeeze. “We’re okay, he won’t be coming back this way anytime soon.”
“That was insane. I can’t believe it. So much for walking through the woods at night. There are bears. I mean, of course, there are bears but you don’t normally see them. I just can’t believe… I just…” She stops talking and her eyes fixate on the front desk.
“What? Not another bear is it? Because I’m fresh out of the bear spray.” I chuckle, but she doesn’t join in the laughter.
“No, it isn’t that at all. It’s just that I could’ve sworn I locked the door to the back office when I left. Now it’s open. No one else should have a key.” She tilts her head and takes a step toward the backroom.
I follow, shining the light from my phone at the door. When we get closer, I take a quick peek inside the office. The room is vacant and undisturbed. This whole bear thing must really have Penelope spooked.
“See, nothing in here. But I do have a theory. I think you must have been in a hurry to see me and just forgot to close it when you clocked out.” I raise an eyebrow at her then curl my fingers around her wrist and give her a tug toward me in the empty room.
Her face brightens. Her eyebrows lift and her mouth pulls up at the corners in response to my touch. All at once, Penelope looks more like herself. “You were amazing back there. Thank you for saving the day like that. We’re all really lucky you are here. How did you know what to do anyway? Do you always carry bear mace around with you? Why did you have that but not a flashlight? Did they train you for this at the academy?”
“You have to know how to handle wildlife when you're a Deputy in Scarlet Springs County. That bear isn’t even top ten of the grizzliest creatures I’ve come across. You’d be surprised.”
“I already am. Everything about this day, seeing you again, the fact that you’ve morphed into some superhuman muscle machine… it’s all been a surprise. A wonderful, unexpected surprise. And somehow you’ve managed to show up right on time.”
“You are such a sweetheart.” I pull her in tight. I love the way she feels pressed against my chest. Holding her is somehow even better than I’d imagined it would be.
There are a million things I want to say to her, but nothing that can’t wait for later. Right now, there’s only one thing I can think about. The previously ominous darkness sets a romantic background for a kiss. I tell her that it hides us from the onlookers still planted behind the lobby desk. I don’t think it’s true, I can feel their eyes on us, but I don’t care.
I bring my face down and lock my lips on hers. I kiss her with a decade of built-up anticipation and our bodies meld together. The sweet scent of her perfume overtakes me as we stand there, our tongues tangled, making the most of this moment together.
But a buzz and flicker of the emergency lights has her breaking our kiss and pulling out of my embrace. She looks up at me. “I guess I need to call an electrician still. Guess I should probably warn them that there’s a bear on the loose too.” She shakes her head. “This day is unbelievable.”
I chuckle. “I doubt the bear stuck around.”
“That’s a good thing because I should probably go check the breaker, I suppose. Make sure it’s nothing obvious before I call in every electrician in Scarlet Springs in the middle of the night.” She pulls her shoulders back and keeps her head high, but the wobble in her voice gives her away.
“Stay here, I’ll pop out there and do it.” I pull out the flashlight on my phone. “I’ll be right back.”
“Hey, no. You’ve done enough saving for one day. I can handle this on my own.” Penelope leans away from me and rises slightly up on her tiptoes.
“Don’t be ridiculous. A bear just wandered through the front door. Confronting a bear isn’t enough for you? You’re some sort of adrenaline junkie now? You need to stay inside.” I let out a chuckle, but the way Penelope’s head snaps over to mine tells me that she doesn’t find this funny.
“Elijah, if we’re going to do this, you know, me and you… I can’t be told what I need to do.” She crosses her arms.
“What? In this situation? Listen, I’m never going to worry about who you spend time with, what you wear, or what you do. But in this one situation, I’m not letting you outside. It isn’t safe. You’re being unreasonable. I bet you don’t even want to go outside. You’re just proving some kind of weird point.” I move between Penelope and the front door. She isn’t thinking rationally and I’m afraid she might run outside without so much as a flashlight.
“Let me? You’re not going tolet me?!” Her voice is shrill and I swallow hard.
“That’s not what I meant, I—”
“Step aside Elijah. I’m going to check the breaker. And please, do not follow me.”