Like a scene out of a Christmas card, there were horses in a corral with blankets on their backs, feeding on hay.
There were a few other buildings, one she thought could be a barn, stable, or something similar.
Past the area where the horses were, there was a pond and a line of what looked to be cabins. They were spaced with a bit of land and trees between them giving plenty of privacy. She itched to explore those.
Once again, the larger home caught her attention. A short distance from the house was a smaller cabin. It was adorable. She noted several pick-up trucks and a sport utility vehicle parked beside the house.
It was time to meet the owners, get the introductions over and done so she could collapse into a bed. It was early evening there and even earlier in California, so technically, Gabriela shouldn’t be as tired as she was. She still had to report back to the office to inform them of her arrival, write up her first impressions and call Mila to tell her about the craptastick day she’d had.
She pulled up in front of the home and walked up the wide steps to a huge porch that spanned the entire front of the dwelling. There were welcoming rockers, although not so much when it was so cold.
Although the front door had etched glass on both sides, she could not see in through the colorful stained glass.
She pushed the doorbell and heard a deep bell sound inside.
A tall thin blonde woman, who looked to have stepped out of a ranching woman’s magazine, opened the door. Her shoulder length hair was tucked behind her right ear, the other side swung forward as she leaned to greet her. Friendly hazel eyes met hers. “You must be Gabriela. I hope you didn’t have any trouble finding the place.”
“None at all Mrs. Hawkins.”
“Please call me Natalie. Welcome to Lucky Break.” She looked over her shoulder. “Come in, I’ll introduce you around.”
They entered a spacious kitchen-living combo. Surrounding the table were three men, each had some sort of dessert on a plate and a cup of coffee either in hand or next to the plate. Conversation stopped when she and Natalie walked in.
Two large brown dogs lay on the floor, both picked up their heads and studied her.
“Well hello there.” A tall man, who Gabriela figured to be Natalie’s husband, got up and came to greet her. He stuck out his hand. “Rick Hawkins.”
“Nice to meet you.” She looked past the man and her eyes rounded at seeing not only Officer Greg Williams, but also the man, Henry, who’d been naked on the street in Missoula.
“Hello,” Henry said.
“Fancy seeing you here,” Officer Greg Williams said.
“Uh,” Gabriela replied.
“Greg brought Henry over since he refused to do anything until he spoke to our son. He’s a police detective,” Natalie explained.
Gabriela looked to the table. “Henry is a police detective?” She couldn’t keep her voice from lifting a few octaves.
Greg laughed. “That would be a good one.”
“No, my son is,” Natalie replied while guiding her to the table. “Have a seat, I’ll get you some coffee.”
“Where’s Jeremy?” Greg asked between bites of pie.
“He had to go to the other side of town. Should be here any minute,” Natalie said and placed a cup of coffee and slice of cake in front of Gabriela.
Gabriela wanted to cry. The day was only getting more bizarre. Not only had she made a fool of herself at the airport, called the police after spotting a naked man out in broad daylight, but now here she was sitting in a kitchen, at a table with not only the naked man, but the police officer and her new hosts. Thank God for cake.
“Are you okay?” Henry asked.
“Just a bit tired. It’s been an interesting day,” Gabriela explained. “Certainly, didn’t expect to be seeing you both here,” she told Henry and Williams. “Strange trip so far.”
When the Hawkins’ look to Greg, he shrugged. “Gabriela was the one who spotted naked Henry and called us.”
Both nodded but didn’t say anything.
Footsteps sounded and everyone looked to the doorway behind her.
“Hey Jeremy,” Henry said with a wide grin. “Greg brought me here. Today is the day I’m supposed to be sleeping outside naked.”
Natalie rolled her eyes.
Rick put down his cup and blew out a breath. “Here we go.”
Greg shook his head. “I hate to do this to you bro, but with the new baby, Patty would kill me if I brought him to our house.”
There was a deep groan from the man behind her. Gabriela would wait to be introduced, then hopefully get Natalie to take her to her cabin.
“The writer I told you about is here. Come meet her, Jeremy.” Natalie motioned to Gabriela, who’d just taken a sip of coffee.
Gabriela turned and the coffee went down the wrong pipe. She gasped and coughed, and then began hacking like a dog with a bone stuck in its throat. Tears appeared and someone pounded her on the back.
Meanwhile the hunk from the airport switched between frowning and lifting his eyebrows as if waiting to see if he would have to intervene and resuscitate her.
Yep, the day seriously sucked balls.
By the time she’d been able to breathe normally and once again attempt to drink the rest of the coffee, the hunk was nowhere to be seen.
“Let’s get you settled. You look dead on your feet,” her hostess said while guiding Gabriela toward the front door.
Much to Gabriela’s delight, she was to stay in one of the small cabins. “Oh my goodness, it’s so cute!” Gabriela exclaimed at the small wooden house. The front entrance was shaded by a small snow-covered porch, on it a whitewashed rocker.
They walked in and she put the suitcases beside the front door.
“Over here is the kitchen. It’s small, but adequate,” Natalie said as she motioned to the right. “I stocked it with coffee, there is creamer in the fridge. There is also bread and butter, plus a couple
