Part 19 (1/2)
”Fine. Yours?”
”Excellent.” She paused. ”Maybe next time we'll choose the same one.”
There it was again. Friendly Ann was still onstage. Why? ”Sounds good.” What else could he say? Why are you suddenly being Cinderella to me after seven years of playing the Ice Queen? Why are you suddenly being Cinderella to me after seven years of playing the Ice Queen?
”Guess who met a stalker this morning.”
He clutched his steering wheel as an image of the figure from the park flashed through his head. ”Are you okay?”
”Fine.”
”Was it Jason?”
”You win.”
”Where?”
”In the mountains on an old dirt road. I went for a run and he followed me there. He's a whacko, Cameron.”
Traffic in front of him stopped and as his Mini Cooper slowed to a halt, Cameron looked to his right. Climb-It Sports. A poster in the window showed a climber dangling from an overhang by his fingertips. There was no rope. The caption on the poster said, Leave It All Behind. Leave It All Behind.
He thought of his moment on the mountain before he'd seen Ann in silhouette and how close he'd come to leaving it all behind. The thought still niggled at him, tempted him. He was making progress on finding the book, but to what end? Even if he got to the finish line, he might not have enough of a mind left to know if he'd won the race. His dad didn't say the book would cure him, only that it would be okay. What did that mean? Who would really miss him? Brandon, of course. And...
”Cameron?”
”Yeah, I'm here.”
”Did you hear what I said?”
”No, sorry.”
”After making me feel like I wanted to take three showers in a row, Jason told me something interesting.”
”Talk to me.” Cameron glanced at the chipped street sign a half a block ahead as the light turned green and traffic lurched forward into a lazy curve in the road. River Street. That was his turn to get to Susan's house.
”Did you know according to Jason, there are six spots in the world with a legend about a book that tells the future?”
Cameron gripped his steering wheel between his legs as he pulled a pen out of his back pocket and leaned over to the pa.s.senger seat and grabbed a piece of paper out of his briefcase. A second later the wheel slipped and his car headed into oncoming traffic. Two horns blared at him.
As he yanked the wheel to bring his car back into his lane, he lost his grip on his cell phone and it smacked against the gear s.h.i.+ft before settling to the carpet at Cameron's feet.
He fished it off the floor, breathing in rapid little puffs. h.e.l.lo, Mr. Death. How are you today? I was just thinking about coming to visit you. h.e.l.lo, Mr. Death. How are you today? I was just thinking about coming to visit you. ”Ann, you still there?” ”Ann, you still there?”
”Are you all right?”
”Other than coming within inches of meeting another Three Peaker head-on, I'm dandy.”
”Those horns were for you?”
”Yep. I was driving with my legs and the wheel slipped. Then I dropped my phone.”
”Driving with your ... You're insane. Don't you use a Bluetooth?”
Heat burned his cheeks. ”When I remember to bring it with me.”
”You're breaking the law.”
”Sorry.”
”Buy another one for your car. I don't want anything-”
No. He couldn't let her say she didn't want anything happening to him. He didn't need those emotions stirred up. ”Can we get back on track?”
”Sure.”
”I'll bet the places with the legend are the Middle East, South America, China, Scotland, Turkey, and Egypt.”
”How did you know that?”
”Geology.” Cameron pulled over to the side of the road and yanked out his notebook. ”There's a seventh location, Ann.”
”I know.”
”And that seventh location is-”
In unison they said, ”-Three Peaks, Oregon.”
”Where's your interest meter pegging now?” Cameron asked.
”On a scale of one to ten, probably a twelve. This is getting entertaining.”
”I'm headed to talk to Susan Hillman about a rock she gave me, then grab a bite and do some serious Google searches on those spots. Wanna meet me at the Ski Inn restaurant-?”
”Absolutely, say around seven?”
”You're perfect.”
”I am?”
Cameron heard a smile in her voice.
Wow, where did that foray in the land of Freud come from? ”What I meant is, that time is perfect.”
”h.e.l.lo, Cameron, have you prepared yourself to pepper me with all kinds of questions?” Susan looked up for a moment, then continued watering the baskets of rock penstemon flowers hanging in baskets above the four corners of her ma.s.sive cedar porch.
”Maybe.” He strolled up her steps and stopped at the top. ”You weren't surprised to hear from me.”