“All the same, you hang on to it just in case you go changin’ your mind,” she said, and she picked the fresh towels off the table and scooted away before hearing any further objection.

Amy shrugged off the bartender’s not-so-subtle insinuations and returned upstairs, realizing halfway down the hall that their conversation had resulted in no progress whatsoever concerning the whereabouts of her dad. She slid the key into the lock and stepped inside their room.

“Dad? Are you here?”

He wasn’t.

She rang his number again, this time from the hotel phone, but the result was the same. Though she was beginning to worry, she reminded herself that he had come down here for work. While the circumstances were admittedly unusual, there would be a perfectly good reason for him disappearing and not answering his phone. He’d turn up soon and explain everything, she was sure of it.

Casting the mystery aside, Amy lay down on the couch and searched for a distraction. She began by clicking through the limited range of channels on the television, but the only options were infomercials and football. She then flicked through the scant selection of tabloid magazines left on the coffee table, though it soon became apparent that none of the latest trendy diets, self-help quizzes, or gossip over which Hollywood starlet had checked themselves into rehab was going to hold much interest either. Bored and restless, Amy threw the magazines to one side, closed her eyes, and sighed in contemplation of the long day ahead, when an image of Ryan unexpectedly popped into her mind. She sat up and reached for the flyer. Studying his photo again, it seemed crazy to think this was the same person she had been screaming at twelve hours earlier. He appeared perfectly normal—approachable, even—certainly nothing like some late-night prowler.

Oh, the poor guy. He probably wished he’d never tried to help.

As Amy replayed the encounter in her head, she wondered if her response might have been an overreaction. Yes, the sight of him standing there had scared her witless, but maybe she should have taken a moment and listened to what he had to say rather than send him barreling out of the room. Had she given him a chance to speak, or had she seen the extent of the flooding, she would have realized that his intentions were noble and that he was only trying to do the right thing. But instead, what did he get for his troubles? He got screamed at, shouted at, and Amy was pretty sure he got called some rather unpleasant names.

Ugh, now I really do feel terrible.