Page 22 of Always, Plus One

“Let’s go,” Ariel said, and as they headed back to their car, Ariel’s mind spun with the implications of being caught following Miles's ex-wife. Charlie was thrilled with their caper, and recounted the whole ordeal as they walked. Ariel’s nerves began to lighten, and she was still laughing at their ridiculous cover-up story as they got back into the car.

Charlie said, "Well, that was a bust. But at least we got some quality spying in!"

Ariel couldn't help but smile. Even though they hadn’t learned anything useful, it was nice to have a good laugh with her sister.

As they drove back to the B and B, Ariel couldn't help but feel relieved that they hadn't been caught. But at the same time, she couldn't shake off the feeling that something was brewing between Miles and his ex-wife. There had to be a reason that she had gone to the old boat, to where she somehow knew, or had guessed, that Miles would be.

Ariel had to keep an eye on the situation, and maybe even talk to Miles about it—if he ever reappeared from where he’d bolted after Emily’s appearance.

The whole situation was making her irrational. For now, Ariel was just relieved to be going back to Leeside and putting distance between her and all the questions from the docks.

CHAPTER TWELVE

As Ariel began to peel back the old, peeling wallpaper in the upstairs bathroom, she could feel her excitement building and her worries and preoccupations fading into the background. Renovating Leeside felt good, and she had come to love the honest work of bringing it back, room by room, from something worn and unusable like the bathroom she stood in to something charming and full of character, like the operational parts of the house and the Seaside Café.

Charlie, who was always on the move in a way that made Ariel feel tired just thinking about it, jetted off as soon as they returned to Leeside, but only after making Ariel promise to text her with any updates on the Emily mystery. As it was now, Ariel was hiding from the focus of their morning’s investigation.

Renovation was something she’d had to put off in the main house while the café had been built out, but now that it was open and Katie and Darcy could help out with bed and breakfast tasks during the day, that freed Ariel up to start tackling the unfinished rooms. And today, she was making some headway with the old, faded wallpaper, which she hoped would reveal the same nice plaster walls that had been found in Katie’s room.

At first, it seemed like a simple enough job—just remove the old wallpaper and apply a fresh coat of paint. But as she began peeling away the layers of wallpaper, she quickly realized that this was not going to be an easy task. The wallpaper was old and stubborn, refusing to come off in anything resembling a neat fashion. In fact, it was coming off in small, shredded pieces that were sticking to everything and making a huge mess.

Ariel was determined to press on, though. She wanted to finish this bathroom before the end of the week. And besides, it was a good distraction from the ongoing drama around Leeside—between Katie and ConnorandAriel and Emily.

So, she threw herself into the bathroom renovation, hoping to take her mind off things. But the more she worked, the more frustrated she became. The wallpaper wasn't budging, and the mess was starting to feel insurmountable. She was beginning to feel like she had bitten off more than she could chew. Scraps of paper and wet wallpaper were everywhere, and as she stood there, staring at the mess, she couldn't help but think about how much easier this would be if Connor were here. He was a handy guy, always willing to help around Leeside. But now that his father had made him quit his summer job here at the B and B, they were short a set of hands. And Ariel still hadn’t found the right moment today to break the news to Katie.

Ariel let out a sigh and decided to take one more try at the wallpaper. But as she worked, she began to notice something odd. There were bumps and ridges under the wallpaper that shouldn't be there. Curious, she grabbed a larger scraper and started to dig a little deeper. Suddenly, a loud noise echoed through the bathroom, and Ariel felt the wall give way. She let go of the scraper and jumped back in surprise. She looked to see that it had broken through the wall, revealing a hidden compartment.

Uh oh.

Ariel's heart raced as she waffled on what to do. On the one hand, she had found a number of cool things while renovating Leeside. Old newspapers that were like time capsules, glass medicine bottles in the attic, and even a love letter hidden under a floorboard from (and to) a long-forgotten person who Ariel intended to research, one of these days. But on the other hand, she was afraid that the compartment might hold something scary, and no way did she want to stick her hand into a nest of spiders or other creepy crawlies.

Be brave, Ariel.

She gave the wall around the compartment a few hard taps with the handle of her scraper, and nothing came out. No scurrying noises resulted. If there was anything in there that shouldn’t be, she certainly didn’t want to wall it back up inside.

Carefully, Ariel cut the torn wallpaper and plaster—which was exactly the find she had wanted—away from the compartment. Inside was an old box covered in dust and cobwebs. She set her scraper aside and carefully took the box down, turning to set it on the pedestal sink behind her. She gingerly blew away the dust and opened the box slowly, her eyes widening as she saw what was inside. Inside, folded neatly in the box, was a vintage sundress with ruffles and lace, the pale yellow fabric seemingly untouched by the hands of time.

So it was anicesurprise, and not the horror movie scene that Ariel had feared.

As she pulled the dress out of the box, smiling, something fell from the folds and landed on the floor with a thud. Ariel leaned over to pick it up and realized with horror that it was a dead rat. She shrieked and jumped back, knocking over the bucket of water that was on her ladder nearby—the bucket she had filled to rinse her scraper in.

The water hit the far wall of the bathroom and splattered back all over Ariel’s face and clothes. She tried to wipe it off with her sleeve, but it only made things worse, the wallpaper paste that had mixed with the water smearing over her cheeks. She stepped back, stumbled, tripped, landing right on her bottom next to the dead rat—which promptly stuck to the side of her paste-covered arm.

Ariel screamed and shook her arm, shaking the rat loose, but some of the fur stuck to her arm, even though the carcass went flying into the tub.

Darcy and Katie heard the commotion and came rushing upstairs to see what was going on. When they saw Ariel, who was sitting on the floor, looking like a drowned ghost from a horror movie, they burst out laughing.

"What happened?" Katie asked, struggling to catch her breath. Darcy tiptoed carefully into the slightly flooded bathroom to assist Ariel.

"A rat fell out of the wall and landed on me!" Ariel replied, still trying to wipe the paste off her face.

Darcy tried to stifle his laughter as he helped Ariel to her feet. "Looks like we've got some serious cleaning up to do," he said, gesturing to the mess on the floor.

Ariel groaned, realizing that she was going to have to take a shower and change her clothes before she could get back to work. “Leave it. I’ll do it.”

“Mom, we can help,” Katie said. “I’ll go get some of those old towels—"

“No, honey, it’s fine.” She looked at Darcy. “Thank you, Darcy, but you can go back down. I’m sure you were in the middle of something.”

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