Page 51 of The Beachside Rental

He felt absolutely awful.Gus, where are you?

Guilt dogged her.

Jenna kept replaying the events of the prior evening.Maybe if she hadn’t called out to Simon, he wouldn’t have been distracted—maybe then Gus wouldn’t have darted past him.

By the time she’d stepped into her place, her teeth were chattering.She’d gotten a shower and used what was left of the hot water.It had warmed her, but it hadn’t lessened the heap of guilt she was carrying around.Maybe if she had held onto Gus when Simon had gotten off the couch to go get his phone, Gus would still be at home all safe and sound.What did they say about hindsight being twenty-twenty?

After her shower, she’d put on shorts and a hoodie.When she’d opened her front door to look for Gus, she found Simon had put one of his chairs back on the porch.

He hadn’t noticed her open the door.It gave her a moment to quietly observe him.He just sat there, staring into the darkness, searching for his best friend.The scene tugged on her heartstrings.

When she’d checked on him a while later, Simon had been asleep in that uncomfortable chair.She grabbed the blanket from the back of her couch and tucked it around him.He moved repeatedly as though he were having a nightmare.She thought of waking him, but didn’t dare.She knew how exhausted he was.

And then she’d gone back inside.Leaving the door ajar, she curled up on the couch.She wanted to be close by in case Simon needed anything.

But her eyelids grew heavy.She struggled to stay awake but quickly lost the fight.Although she didn’t sleep well.She kept waking up and listening for any sounds from Simon.When she didn’t hear anything, she put her head down and went back to sleep.

She finally gave up on sleep a little after six in the morning.There was no sound of wind or the pitter-patter of rain on the windows.In fact, there was the slightest hint of sunshine coming through the windows.

She got up and stretched.With her phone dead, she needed to borrow Simon’s phone in order to call in a search party.She would start with just her family, but she knew as soon as friends heard, they would step in to help—it was the Bluestar way.

She ran upstairs.She redid her ponytail and did her best to tame her curls.She brushed her teeth and then put on some more deodorant, just to be safe.

She ran back downstairs.She quietly opened the front door, not wanting to startle Simon.She really hated to wake him, but she knew the sooner they started the hunt for Gus, the better.

She stepped out onto the porch and looked in Simon’s direction.She froze.She blinked just to make sure what she was seeing was actually there and not just a wishful dream.But when she opened her eyes again, she found Gus sitting next to Simon with his head resting on Simon’s knee.Simon’s hand was placed on the dog’s head, but Simon appeared to be sound asleep.She wondered if he even knew that Gus was back.Had he placed his hand on the dog’s head out of some sort of instinct?

Not that it mattered.The only important thing in that moment was that Gus was home.A smile pulled at her lips.

Gus lifted his head and looked at her.She stood still like a statue, not sure what to do.The last thing she wanted to do was startle Gus and have him run off again.

As it was, Gus looked wet and dirty.Wherever he’d spent the night, it hadn’t been comfortable.

She worried her bottom lip.Should she call out to Simon?Probably not.It would startle him awake, which could startle the dog.

She tiptoed toward Gus, hoping to slip her fingers around his collar.But Gus was keeping a wary eye on her.When she took a second step in his direction, he shifted his position, as though to run if necessary.

She held up her palms, as though to show him that he had nothing to worry about with her.And then she retreated.She had another idea.

She inched her way along the wall toward Simon’s place.With slow, steady steps she grew closer to Simon’s door.Keeping an eye on man and dog, she kept going.

At last her hand grasped the door handle.She let herself into the place.She told herself that Simon wouldn’t mind, since she was doing something to help Gus.

She made her way into the kitchen and was impressed that he kept everything neat and orderly.The food bowl was on the counter.The kibble was a little harder to find, but she finally located it in a cabinet.Lucky for her, there was a scoop inside, so she didn’t have to guess how much to feed Gus.

She grabbed Gus’s water bowl from the floor.She rinsed it out and refilled it.Armed with food and water, she retraced her steps.

She paused in the living room.There on the coffee table was Simon’s laptop.There were also some papers as well as a flash drive.But it was the dog leash that interested her.She struggled to scoop it up while still holding the water and food but she managed.

Setting aside the water bowl, she opened the front door.She breathed a sigh of relief when she found Gus was still with Simon.When the dog looked in her direction, she gave the bowl of kibble a gentle shake so he could hear the food.The interest was evident in his big brown eyes, and then his tail started to pound on the porch.

She placed the kibble just outside of the door and the water next to it.Gus got up.His gaze moved from her to the food and back to her again.She retreated a couple of steps into Simon’s place.

That’s all it took for Gus to make a beeline for the food.She was guessing he was ravenous after his adventure.When he started to wolf down the food, she wanted to rush over and hook the leash on his collar, but she didn’t want to stop him from eating.So, she waited.

When he was just about finished, she gingerly tiptoed over to him.Instead of him running from her, he stood his ground as he licked the bowl clean.She linked the leash to the D-ring in his collar.After his last bite, Gus turned his attention to the water bowl.He lapped up the water like he hadn’t had a drink in days.

“Where did you find him?”