Page 132 of Happiness for Beginners

“Uh-oh,” the voice said.

I looked at Jake. “Did he just say ‘uh-oh’?”

“Sounded like it.”

Then the voice came back. “Sir, we’re very sorry. We thought it was fixed. Someone will be there shortly to pry open the doors.”

“How shortly?” Jake asked, but the voice was gone.

Silently, Jake took a step back to brace himself against the wall behind him.

I stepped back against my own wall. “What does that mean?” I asked. “We thought it was fixed?” An image of a ropelike cable frayed down to a thread popped into my mind.

Jake shook his head.

“What do we do now?” I asked.

“I guess we wait. And stay very still.”

“And try not to hit the walls.”

I studied the floor then. And Jake studied me.

“So Windy left for Colorado,” I finally said, not looking up.

“She was pretty mad,” he said.

“And what did you do then?”

“I kicked around with Beckett for a little while. He lives in Riverton, so that’s not too far. Did you know he’s in a reggae band?”

“That raises more questions than it answers.”

“Turns out, a guy in the band restores vintage Land Rovers. He rebuilds them from scratch. He’s got a barn full, all for sale. So I bought one.”

“Youboughta vintage Land Rover?”

He nodded. “In Riverton. It’s orange.”

“That must be a heck of a nest egg.”

Jake shrugged.

“So you lost your ride, but you bought a car,” I said. “Why aren’t you in Denver?”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”

I glanced at the elevator panel. “Okay. Let’s hear it.”

“Well,” Jake said, “I’d stopped for the night on my way to Denver when my phone rang.”

“Who called?”

“You did.”

I shook my head. “I didn’t call you.”

He nodded. “You did.”

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