Rainforest Retreat by Elana Johnson

Author:Elana Johnson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: AEJ Creative Works

Maizee didn’t return to work that day, and Lawrence didn’t text. Worry ate at her skin, gnawed at her stomach until she was sure she wouldn’t be able to go in tomorrow either.

Maybe Lawrence had truly had some business with Winn.

Maybe neither of them knew she hadn’t come back to work.

Maybe Lawrence was simply waiting for her to make the first move again.

So many maybe’s, and Maizee didn’t want to think about any of them. So she pulled into the theater in town, bought herself a solo ticket to whatever was playing next, and then treated herself to the largest bucket of buttered popcorn available.

The movie didn’t do much to distract her, but she did take the leftover popcorn home and turn it into something even more delectable—caramel buttered theater popcorn—with some butter, brown sugar, and marshmallows.

She changed into a pair of yoga pants and a Back to the Future T-shirt she’d bought at one of those funny online boutiques. As she stirred the caramel over the popcorn, Roger sat obediently at the no-dogs line, just outside of the kitchen. He didn’t even bark, and as Maizee chewed through warm, gooey, buttery popcorn, she tried to say, “This isn’t for dogs, bud.”

Afternoon would soon fade to evening, and she stood over the kitchen sink, looking out her back window as she ate another handful of popcorn. What was she going to do? Why hadn’t Lawrence texted?

In the end, Roger’s patience won out, and she gave him a single puff of popcorn. Then she pulled her hair up into a rough ponytail, leashed the pup, and stuffed a handful of dog treats in her pocket. “Let’s go for a walk, boy,” she told him, and he nearly pulled her to the ground in his enthusiasm to leave the house. Maybe he’d gotten a sugar rush already.

She’d reached the end of the block when a sleek, navy-as-midnight Mercedes-Benz rounded the corner at a crawl. A moment later, the driver braked hard, bringing the car to a stop. Maizee had stopped too, and her first thought was about what she was wearing.

Lawrence got out of the car before she could so much as release her hair from its hideous ponytail. “Hey,” he said easily as if he saw her in such dire conditions every day. “You left work early?”

“You’re just now finding out?” she asked. “I left at ten o’clock this morning.”

Lawrence slowed in his approach toward her. “Why’s that?”

Maizee glanced up and down the street, uncomfortable out in the open now when she wasn’t before. The addition of Lawrence to her sleepy neighborhood changed everything, and Maizee wasn’t sure if she liked that or not.

He closed the distance between them and took one of her hands in his. “You look fantastic.”

“I’m wearing a shirt that says ‘Save the Clock Tower.’” She scoffed, ridiculous tears pressing up and behind her eyes.

“I like Back to the Future,” he said with a slow smile. “Why’d you leave early today?”

“Winthrop Porter arrived,” she said, snapping the P’s in his name.

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