Star Struck by Kathi Oram Peterson

Author:Kathi Oram Peterson
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-68047-994-2
Publisher: Covenant Communications, Inc.
Published: 2016-01-18T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

“Some of the trails on these mountains can take a while. Time probably got away from him is all.” Luke glanced at his watch. Noon. Three hours was a long time without checking in. “Did you try calling his cell?”

Not even looking at Luke, Felicia drew a deep breath and said to Mercedes, “Of course I did. I’m not stupid. He didn’t answer.”

Cell phones could sometimes be unreliable in the mountains. Luke thought of Mercedes’s death threat, how things had been moved in her home, and the Peeping Tom from last night. He glanced at her. Her face had grown ashen.

“He had a map, and he may have wanted to get away from the cabin for a while,” Felicia said out loud, though she seemed to be talking to herself.

“You usually sleep until ten. How do you know what time he left?” Mercedes sounded surprised.

“Well, I, we . . . I was up.” Frustration, embarrassment, and anger smeared Felicia’s painted face.

Even though Luke had fully intended to drop Mercedes off and go home, he couldn’t now. Not with Sawyer gone. Without the buffer of her father, Mercedes might be overwhelmed by her mother. Plus, he was starting to get concerned about Sawyer. Not alarmed but concerned.

“Have you eaten?” Luke asked as he tried to herd the women into the cabin.

Felicia bristled. “If it’s any of your business, I had coffee and toast this morning.”

“I made her a tuna sandwich for lunch, but she couldn’t eat she was so worried,” Ruth said.

“I’ve told you before, I hate tuna fish.” Felicia pointed her lacquered nail at Ruth. “And I wasn’t worried then, but I am now.”

“Really?” Mercedes seemed surprised. “You’re worried about Dad?”

“Don’t use that tone with me, young lady.” Felicia scowled at her daughter. “I may not like your father, but I don’t want him harmed or lost in these hillbilly mountains you seem to love so much. There’s no telling what sort of people he could have met. I saw Deliverance. That was enough to keep me out of the forest. Why you like to come up here and hide from civilization is beyond me.” Felicia glowered at Mercedes like everything wrong in her life had been her fault.

A flicker of dread lit Mercedes’s eyes, and once again the stirring of needing to protect her, of being here for her, came to life within him. Would he always be a sucker to help this woman? He knew he would. He felt an attraction for her he couldn’t explain.

Jessie had been following behind everyone, but now she piped up. “I’ve seen you before.” She was looking at Felicia. “You starred in the late, late movie a few weeks ago.”

Felicia stared at Jessie like she’d suddenly sprouted out of the ground, though she seemed delighted to have been recognized. “Which movie was it? I’ve been in forty.”

Jessie nearly dropped Lizzie. “Forty! You’re more famous than Mercedes.”

Felicia tilted her head back, gave Mercedes a smirk, and laughed. The woman’s worry over Sawyer took a backseat as she focused on Jessie.

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