“Axel!” she shrieked.
He rushed over and stopped short, then laughed. “That’s a welcome sight. Hot damn.”
A smile stretched across her face. Despite chapped, sunburned cheeks, blistered feet, and a layer of grime on her skin two inches thick, the sight of Axel happy made her grin. “Right?”
“Gather all that up. I saw some lanterns out in the restaurant. Hunt around for matches. I’m going to hope this hotel has a generator somewhere nearby.
She hadn’t even thought of that. “I’ll also see if, by chance, we have running water.”
“If not, I’ll look for a well or pump out back. Stay alert, just in case we’re not alone. I’ll be back by dark.”
As Axel eased out of the kitchen, she tried to turn on the sink. Nothing, damn it. With a sigh, she gathered up a few cans of food, then rifled through the drawers until she found a manual can opener and spoons. She wrenched one of the bottles of water from the pack and began sucking it down gratefully as she hustled back into the restaurant, grabbed a few lanterns, then searched the bar until she found a book of matches. Lighting a couple of the little lamps, Mystery grabbed one and decided now might be the best time to explore the upstairs.
Each step creaked as she made her way to the second floor. Hot, stagnant air lingered up on the landing, but she could see sunlight eeking through the cracks in the log cabin walls. She had no doubt that as the temperature fell outside, it would do the same in here.
She found five closed doors upstairs. All but one were locked. The one she could open revealed what looked like the suite. It consumed the area at the front of the hotel with a big, old-fashioned wrought-iron bed, homemade-looking quilts, a honey-colored dresser and basin, complete with an old porcelain pitcher and bowl. An old-fashioned plush chair in a fussy beige damask with a skirt covering its squatty legs took up one corner. Outside the window, she glimpsed a sweeping view of the desert they’d just traveled and the mountains beyond.
Everything in the room was quaint and charming, and the idea of sleeping in any bed at all was beyond welcome. Cozying up with Axel . . . The thought made her shiver and flush.
A door in the corner led to a bathroom with a pedestal sink and an old claw-foot tub. And a toilet with a pump handle to flush. After making use of it, she snooped around. Someone had left behind a few new toothbrushes and a tube of toothpaste, a comb, a bar of soap, a bottle of shampoo, a razor, and a spray can of deodorant. Mystery thanked her lucky stars.
Back in the bedroom, she opened the dresser drawers and hit pay dirt. A woman had obviously been here and left behind a pair of jeans. They’d be two sizes too big, but way more practical than her skimpy dress. Not only that, but she found a few shirts, some clean socks, and tennis shoes close to her size.
Lantern in hand, she searched the rest of the hotel. The office that had obviously been shuttered a while ago had an old phone, but it didn’t work. The rest of the hotel held a parlor with an aging piano, a storage room empty of everything except a few rusted antiques, and not much more. By Beverly Hills standards, she was totally roughing it. But if she stacked it up against last night’s accommodations, this was the freaking Ritz.
Mystery returned to the kitchen as the sun edged behind the mountains. Outside, the sky turned dark fast. Inside, too. Axel busted through the back door, carrying a bucket of water in each hand. “I found a well. I’ve got more where this came from. Does that stove work?”
She hadn’t thought to check and shrugged.
“Matches?” he barked.
Mystery grabbed the rest of the book and handed them over. Axel set the buckets down and took them, gesturing to her. “Bring the lantern over here.”
She followed him across the kitchen, then watched as he lit the match and turned the knob to release the gas from the stove. It hissed and sputtered, then the burner flared to life.
“That antique works?”
“It’s a replica. I found the old wooden stove in a storage shed, along with a couple of propane tanks. I guessed this one was rigged up to heat like a barbeque since the gas company probably didn’t run lines out this far. Grab some of those pans. Let’s heat up this chow. The rest of the town is empty, by the way.”
She’d suspected as much.
Together, they grabbed pans from the ceiling and wiped them out with clean dish towels while Mystery filled him in on everything she’d found upstairs. He looked pleased.
Within minutes, they were shoveling in beans and soup, then washing it down with the bottled water. As they did, Axel heated the well water from his buckets in two big pots. He ate more than a few cans, shoveling food in at a rate that amazed her. Where did he put all the calories? After a can of stew and half a can of green beans, Mystery was stuffed.
As the water in the pots began boiling, he carried one across the room. “Can you lug that other bucket of water upstairs?”
Mystery retrieved it from its resting spot near the back door. It seemed to weigh a hundred pounds, and she grabbed it with both hands. “Probably. What are we doing with this?”
“Getting you clean.”
“Like . . . in the bathtub?”
“Originally, I was going to suggest sponge baths in the kitchen, but since you found an actual bathtub, lead the way.” He gestured to her with a nod of his head.
For that, she’d carry this bucket up a mountain. The muscles of her shoulders strained, and the brittle plastic of the handle threatened to break, but she kept on, leading him in the shadowy dark to the bedroom, then the small bathroom beyond.
He set the bucket on the floor behind her. “Stay here. I’ll bring one of the lanterns.”
Mystery groped her way to the old tub and shivered in the dark. It wasn’t cold but the air around her felt a bit creepy. She supposed this was known as a ghost town for a reason. History lingered, and she almost felt as if she could close her eyes and picture the people who had once stayed here, when this mining town had been in its heyday.
Axel returned a moment later, shedding soft, golden light on the situation. He set one of the lanterns in the little pedestal sink and gripped the other as he edged past her to shove the old rubber stopper in the drain. After, he dumped the bucket of hot water inside the tub. Steam rose in a billowing cloud, fogging up the old mirror hanging in its wooden frame above the sink. Mystery looked at herself and nearly shrieked. She didn’t look anything like the cool, sophisticated girl who’d gone out for a night on the town a few days ago. Now she looked bedraggled and filthy . . . and haunted, as if she’d seen more of the seedy underbelly of life than she’d been ready for.
She managed to bite her tongue, then catalog what she needed to do to get clean. At least the dirt on her cheeks and her rat’s-nest hairdo would be gone soon. As for the emotional turmoil from her ordeal, she couldn’t do anything about that now so she locked it away in a mental box for later.
“Put your hand in the tub,” Axel instructed. “Too hot for you?”
Mystery dipped her fingers in. Together, they worked to add some of the cool water from the bucket she’d brought upstairs until the temperature felt just right. The tub didn’t even fill halfway, but she could work with it.
“You’ll rinse with the rest of this water.” He pointed to the bucket. “Let me see if I can find one more thing . . .” He left the little room and after opening and closing some doors and drawers, he returned with a blessedly clean and big towel. “Here you go. When you’re out, I’ll do my thing. Until then, I’ll keep guard in the hall, just in case unexpected company comes.”
Then he closed the door behind him, leaving her alone with the glow of the lantern. Mystery stripped and stepped into the tub. Just like heaven . . . She shampooed her hair twice, then soaped down and shaved, rinsing with the final bucket of icy water. She was shivering as she stepped out, but she was blissfully clean.