Chapter Six
Everett
nosed my car out of the hospital parking lot and waved my thanks to the minivan full of tourists that let me in front of them. Then I sighed and switched on my radio, resigning myself to the slow crawl back into town.
It was the official start of the season. Friday evenings in June in Reckless Falls always brought with it a line of cars, stretching back out of town for miles, like a slow parade. The population swelled to ten times its normal amount. Every hotel and bed and breakfast had a No Vacancy sign out front, and every cafe and diner was packed with people celebrating the start of the season.
The sun was still high in the sky over Whaleback Mountain. Tonight was the solstice, the longest night of the year and everyone was taking advantage of it. The deep blue surface of the lake was dotted with boats and the whine of Jet Skis was loud enough to be heard over the noise of my radio. Traffic was so slow along Main Street that the pedestrians ambling along the sidewalk were moving faster than I was. Normally this would bug me. In the summer time I took pains to avoid Main Street at all costs, choosing to wind my way an extra five miles through the back roads to get home. But tonight I had business on Main Street. I was headed to see my friend.
The sign for Lake Country Tours hung between Mrs. Feathergill's dusty antiques store and Scoop's Ice Cream Station. A good location, especially in summer time. I pulled my car into the municipal lot just behind it, and parked, then reached into my pocket one more time to make sure I had my phone.
A bootprint just under her window like that meant that someone was looking in. Were they looking in to make sure she wasn't home? Or, worse, were they watching her while she was?
Both thoughts unnerved me in equal measure, and I knew they'd unnerve Cal too, so I'd have to be cagey about how much I told him.
When I opened the door into his small office, he looked up and raised his eyebrows in quick greeting before returning his attention to the older hippie-looking couple seated at his desk. As he went over tour packages, I idly paced around his shop, picking up brochures and putting them back down again.
"Hey man," Callum greeted me as the older couple packed up, looking immensely pleased.
"Hey," I said, sitting down and waving one of the brochures. "I just read about a new excursion I want to try. When are you going to start offering donkey rides down the gully?"
"Why? You volunteering to be one of the asses?" he shot back, reaching out to shake my hand.
I clasped it and grinned. "You want asses, not assholes," I reminded him. "I'm completely overqualified."
"Touché," he grinned. "What's going on? Weird seeing you here at work."
"I know, I should stop by more," I said.
"Nah. Neither one of us wants you to do that."
"You think you're on a roll today or something?" I needled him.
He leaned back and stretched. "I booked fifteen tours for the next week. Man do I love summer."
"Harper's not going to like that," I pointed out.
"She'll like the money," he nodded. "Diapers cost a fucking fortune and I swear Ellie poops every fifteen minutes."
I winced. "That's why I like being an uncle. She shits herself, I can just give her back."
"Oh come on, you know you want your own little rug rat." Cal elbowed me, then leaned forward. "Oh wait, I forgot. First you'd need to get laid."
"Fuck you," I grinned amiably, reaching into my pocket and pulling out my phone.
A text message was blinking on the screen. "I didn't see you before you headed out, so just a reminder, see you tomorrow at the Country Club 7PM," the message from Hal read.
I sighed heavily, ignoring it for a moment as I swiped past it to my photos. "Hey, make yourself useful," I told Cal, "and look at this picture." I flicked to the shot of the two bootprints. "The one on the right, with that tread, is that a hiking boot?"
Cal looked at me quizzically before leaning forward. "The smaller one? Yeah probably, though I'd guess based on that tread pattern that it's more of a hiking shoe."
"Shoe?"
"Yeah, someone who does trail running or something like that." He leaned back again. "Why do you ask?"
I pressed my lips together. Telling him why I had this picture would mean telling him why I was outside of Brynn's house. He'd asked me to check in on her, assuming my feelings for her were sisterly and innocent. "Some asshole keeps cutting across my lawn," I lied, setting him up for a joke at my expense.
"Oh no, is he trampling your flowers?" Cal jumped in, immediately taking the bait. "Not your hydrangeas, the horror!"
I sighed. "Go on, let it all out."
"I hope the brute gets pricked by your rose bushes. It'd serve him right."
"Those were planted there when I bought the place," I pointed out.
"Doesn't matter, you still spend way too much time pruning them."
"You have to prune roses. It helps them stay healthy."
Cal fixed me with a withering glare. "Just once," he sighed. "Just once I'd like to see you fuck something up. Anything. Forget an appointment. Even just get a spot on your shirt."
I grinned and stood up. "Not gonna happen," I promised him, reaching out to shake his hand again. "I need to give you something to aspire to."
He sighed and shook his head. "Grayson and Harper, they both call me a control freak, but I've got nothing on you, man." He clasped my hand. "Where you headed now?"
I looked down at my watch. "You working late?"
His face fell. "Yeah, I'm here til nine. Too much business to snap up."
Just then the bell over the door jingled. I nodded. "Keep my niece properly diapered," I hissed to him.
"Thanks man," Cal said, distracted. "Hi, welcome to Lake Country Tours!" he called out to the milling tourists.
I walked from his shop feeling a mix of amusement and admiration. Amusement at Cal's running his business and being forced to deal with the public in a civilized manner. But admiration because my friend was clearly doing well for himself and his family.
I pulled out my phone and swiped to the unanswered text message from Hal.
"I'll be there," I typed back.
He must have been waiting by his phone because the message came back immediately. "And don't forget to bring a date!" Hal wrote.
I took a deep breath and shoved my phone back in my pocket. There was only one person I could imagine bringing with me to this function. And it just so happened that I was turning the corner towards her father's bar right now.