Upstate Uproar Read Free

everyone the wedding was off was hard enough, but telling
the Las Vegas PD who Jake’s dentist was so they could get his
dental records was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do in
my life.” She took a ragged breath. “Then, finding out there wasn’t
enough left of the teeth for the forensic dentist to identify the
body, that was torture.”
    Vivian patted Wendy’s shoulder. “It might not
have been him, Wendy. Stay positive.”
    Wendy shrugged. “But who else would it have
been? And why were they in Jake’s car?”
    “I’m so sorry you had to go through this,”
Kate said, slowing down as they approached town.
    Wendy sniffled. “Right as I walked out the
door for the airport on the way to New Orleans, Jake gave me a kiss
and told me he needed to talk to me about something when we got
back from our bachelor and bachelorette weekend. He was pretty
serious and I thought maybe he wanted to talk about finances, but
I’ve been wondering about this ever since he disappeared. What did
he want to tell me? What?”
    They were quiet while Wendy stared out the
windshield, still crying. Kate drove past the Olympic complex and
Wendy gave Kate directions to the bed and breakfast.
    Kate stopped at a red light beside a police
car. “Uh, girls, drinks down. I don’t want to be the pregnant lady
in jail.”
    This made Wendy laugh, and she looked toward
the lake. “Look, a rainbow. You can see both ends.”
    “It’s the most vivid rainbow I’ve ever seen,”
Vivian said. Every color was clearly defined against the next and
almost seemed to glow and the yellow, orange and red of the trees
made the scene all the more beautiful.
    “The air is cleaner here,” Lucy said, putting
away her Solo cup. “And look, there are two rainbows.”
    Vivian rolled down her window and snapped a
couple of pictures. “The kids will love this. And it’s got to be a
good sign for this trip, don’t you think?”
    Wendy, too, snapped a picture. “I’ll take
just about anything as a good sign right now. I need Jake to come
home.”
    Kate squeezed Wendy’s shoulder. “He
will.”
    A stop sign and a few turns later, Kate
pulled onto the dirt drive of Turlington Farms Bed and Breakfast.
The humble, two story nineteenth-century farmhouse stood proudly in
a grassy field, its cedar shakes long coated in a pleasant butter
yellow hue. The house was trimmed in white and capped with a steep
pitched roof and brick chimney. High in the gabled end of the
attic, a narrow, arched window punctuated the siding. Lean-to
porches flanked both sides of the house, and double-hung windows
marched around the facade in a simple pattern.
    A man in jeans and a red and black plaid
shirt stepped out of the house and walked toward the car. He looked
in his late 30s, in good shape, with unruly brown hair and a
goatee. Once the car was stopped, he flashed a smile and opened
Kate’s door. “Welcome, I’m Brandon Holt, proprietor, wood chopper,
sometimes cook, always handyman.”
    Kate got out of the SUV. “The cook part of
that sounds really good right now.”
    Brandon helped Vivian out of the back seat,
which was no easy feat with all the groceries in the floorboard. A
Dos Equis bottle fell to the ground and rolled between his work
boots. He laughed and picked it up. “I see you girls have had some
refreshments, but come inside and we’ll get you some more. You’re
here just in time for our afternoon wine and cheese.”
    “I’ll drink to that,” Lucy said and popped
open the back hatch.
    Brandon helped the girls get unloaded as they
made introductions. “My wife, Tracy, is inside and will get you
fixed up while I take your luggage to your rooms.”
    The girls walked up the steps to the porch
and the painted deck creaked under their feet. White rocking chairs
and a small wooden bench promised a restful and much needed getaway
spot. Vivian pulled open the screen door and they stepped inside.
The living and dining were on either side of the foyer and