Christmas at Fireside Cabins - Jenny Hale Page 0,58
crazy just sitting here.”
“Okay,” Piper said. “Good luck and be careful.”
Getting into Eleanor’s car again, Lila went straight to the coffee shop, grabbing the key and letting herself in. “Theo!” she called, every cell in her body on high alert. “Theo?” she said again. There was nothing but her echo. She locked herself in and kept the lights off, rushing back to his office. Shutting the door and locking it, she clicked on the light. She sat down in his chair, noticing that his desk was tidier than it had been yesterday. She flipped through a small stack of papers on the corner next to a cup full of pens—nothing too interesting; mostly the stubs of bills that had been sent off: electric, water, coffee supplies. She set them down, leaning back in the chair, convincing herself that she had a right to go through his files again.
A rap at the front door of the shop sent her bolting to her feet. Her heart banging around in her chest, she grabbed the doorknob to unlock it but then froze. How would she explain being in here? Quietly, she twisted the lock and opened the office door a tiny crack to check who was outside. A man she didn’t recognize was cupping his hands and peering into the shop.
When he turned toward the parking lot, Lila bolted from the office, steadying herself as she went to the main door.
“May I help you?” she asked through the glass.
The man swiveled around to face her, holding up an envelope. “I have some papers to deliver to Theo Perry,” he said.
Theo Perry?
A warm sensation spread through Lila as she realized that was exactly the name Theo had said. She remembered his quiet voice as he’d told her, “My last name is Perry. Theo Perry.” He hadn’t thought she could hear him, and she wasn’t entirely awake, but she was cognizant enough that his words had roused her into alertness. And Perry had been the name on that envelope in his office. P. Perry—who was that?
“I just need someone to sign for them.”
She opened the door. “I can do that.”
“Great.” He handed her the digital screen and a pen.
She signed her name.
“Thanks so much,” the courier said, handing over the envelope.
As he walked away, Lila hurried back inside, locking the door again and rushing through the dark dining area to the office, shutting herself back in. She sat down in Theo’s chair once more, holding the manila envelope in her hands.
“So, Theo Perry,” she said. “What do we have here?” She fanned the envelope in the air.
Just then her cell phone rang, sending her heart up to her throat. It was Piper.
“Any luck?” Piper said when Lila answered.
“I’m holding an envelope of his that was just delivered to the coffee shop,” she said, her voice low even though no one was there but her.
“You’re in the coffee shop?” Piper asked.
“Yeah,” she replied. “I wondered if I could find anything to figure out where he is. I did find out his name.”
“What is it?” Piper asked.
“Theo Perry,” Lila replied.
Piper gasped. “Oh my God!” she squealed, forcing Lila to pull the phone away from her head to save her eardrum. “Hang on a minute.” Her words were followed by the soft thud of the phone leaving Piper’s hand. A second later there was the rustling sound of her returning.
“What is it? You’re killin’ me here.”
“Theo Perry? That’s his name?”
“That’s definitely it,” she told her friend. “But I don’t know who Theo Perry is.”
“Given the article, it’s pretty amazing that he spoke to us as much as he did.”
Lila smiled to herself, all the moments she’d shared with Theo suddenly becoming even more intimate. She’d pushed and pushed, but actually, he’d shared more with her than he probably had with anybody.
“If it’s the same guy, Theo Perry is the missing son of Smash Perry, the millionaire guitarist for the band Rockford and Smash.”
“I know who that is! Guitar lessons…” Lila said to herself with a smile. Then she sobered. “Smash Perry’s son is missing?”
“It’s a very strange story,” Piper said. “Nobody’s really saying much, but there have been rumors that about three years ago, Smash and his son Theo had a falling out at one of the bars downtown, and the next day Theo was gone. His father didn’t report him missing for five or six months. People speculated that Smash had done something to him, since he’d had a few run-ins with the police in his lifetime.