Viator (The Viator Chronicles Book 1)

by Ralston-Brooks, Jane

  Five days had gone by since she had seen Gary, and she still hadn’t called him about the weekend. She wondered if he really wanted to join them or if he was just being kind. He might have forgotten all about it by now. She decided to quit putting it off, call him, and find out.

  She pulled into the music store parking lot and pulled out her phone. She searched her purse for Gary’s card and punched in his number.

  “Good morning. AB International,” a pleasant woman’s voice answered.

  “Gary Arthur, please.”

  “One moment.” Music came on the line.

  “Gary Arthur’s office,” said a brisk female voice.

  “Is Gary in?” Erin asked.

  “Who’s calling, please?”

  “Erin Holley.”

  She was put on hold again, and the music was back. She looked at her fingernails and pushed back a couple of the cuticles.

  “Gary is on the other line right now. May I have him return your call?” asked the woman.

  “Sure.” Erin gave her the phone number of the music store and went inside, wondering if he would call her back. She decided it was just as well she hadn’t reached him. If he didn’t call her back, she’d know he wasn’t really interested.

  By the end of the day, Erin collapsed into a chair and closed her eyes. She had given six lessons that afternoon, plus Ed had needed to run errands in the middle of the day, leaving her to attend to the customers, too. She was exhausted and had started gathering her things together when the phone rang.

  “Anacortes Music. This is Erin.”

  “It’s Gary. Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. It’s been one of those days.”

  “I’ve had one like that myself.”

  “Is the bike ride still on?” Gary asked.

  “Sure is.”

  “I’ll be there. Should I meet you at your place?”

  “My place is good. Say about nine o’clock?” Erin said.

  “In the morning?” He sounded surprised.

  “Of course.”

  “Do I need anything besides my bike?”

  “Just your helmet,” she said.

  “See you then.” Gary hung up the phone.

  So Gary would be there after all. Erin touched her lips, remembering the feel of his mouth on hers, and her heart started pounding. Was this the right thing? She shook her head, chiding herself for making such a big deal out of a bike ride. They would have a fun day with the kids and get to know each other a little better. All she hoped for was good weather and a good night’s sleep beforehand. The last thing she wanted was to look like a zombie on Saturday.

  Chapter 9

  Another wakeful night left Erin more tired in the morning than before she had gone to bed, but she drank an extra cup of coffee and got the kids off to school. Only two customers came into the store that morning, and Erin sat behind the counter, fighting to keep her eyes open.

  “Are you awake?” Ed was looking at her with concern.

  Erin lifted her head from the counter. “I’m so sorry. I guess I kind of drifted off. What were you saying?”

  “I just wanted to let you know I’m going out for a bite of lunch now.”

  “Oh, no problem,” Erin said.

  “Good. Are you all right? You drifted off once last week, too.”

  “It’s nothing. I keep waking up at night. I’m just not getting enough sleep.”

  “Hmm.” Ed was heading toward the door. “I hope it gets better. See you in a bit.”

  Erin went over some of the music for her lessons that afternoon. After a while she called Hannah.

  “Bakery De Oro,” Hannah answered.

  “Hi, it’s Erin. Are you still up for our walk?”

  “Sure am. What time?

  “How about a little after one o’clock? I’ll meet you at the bakery?”

  “Sounds good.”

  At one o’clock Erin buttoned her coat, stuffed her hands into her pockets, and walked the three blocks into the wind to the bakery. A few dark clouds scurried across the sky. Hannah had decorated the little shop in a Mediterranean style with rich colors, grape vines and trellises painted on the walls, and creamy white pottery on decorative shelves. Three small bistro tables with two chairs each sat in a corner by the windows, where patrons could enjoy coffee and a pastry with a view of her petunia-filled pots outside.

  “Hi, Erin,” Hannah said when Erin pushed the door open. She pulled a worn leather jacket over her orange T-shirt and tossed her long, single braid over her shoulder. The two women hugged each other.

  “Carlos, I’m going for a walk with Erin,” she called out.

  Her husband came out of the back room, wiping his hands on his apron. “Hola! Que tal, Erin?”

  “Muy bien. Como esta? Do you mind if I take Hannah away for an hour?”

  Carlos grinned at her. “Only one hour. Mi querida has to make a special order cake this afternoon.”

  “Okay, one-hour limit. Let’s go.”

  As they walked down the street toward the waterfront Hannah said, “You’ve got to tell me all about your weekend. You saw Gary again? Tell me about him.”

  “He’s a nice guy. He came over Saturday night and had dinner with us.”

  “That’s what Aleesha told me. It sounds like you made a good impression on him. Does he have a chance with you?” Hannah said.

  Erin gave her a sidelong look. “I’m going to see him again this weekend—we’re all going for a bike ride on Orcas,” she said. “I have such mixed feelings. I have to admit I do like him, though.”

  “Is there anything wrong with that?” Hannah asked.

  “I feel confused. He’ll talk about William, and I’ll feel so sad, then he changes everything, and I feel, um, like all I want is for him to kiss me.”

  Hannah smiled. “And has he?”

  “Yeah.” With her head down Erin continued, “I told him I needed to take it slow, but he said no, I didn’t. Then he kissed me. I was so surprised—it was so sexual.”

  “Carlos was very physical right from the beginning. And you know how wonderful he is.”

  Erin nodded. “There’s no denying that it felt good to be kissed,” she said, but she frowned as she thought about it.

  Hannah laughed. “I’m not at all surprised.”

  “In fact, part of what I don’t like about it is that it felt too good. I feel disloyal.”

  Hannah gave Erin a brief hug. “But you’re not. It’s okay for you to enjoy being with someone.”

  They continued their walk toward the water. The wind blew harder, smelling of fish and creosote, and they stopped a minute to watch the seagulls swooping over the bay. Two tall men ran past them, dressed in shorts and T-shirts. Erin and Hannah watched them until they turned a corner and were out of sight.

  “I haven’t seen them before,” Hannah said. “I wonder if they’re new here.”

  “Could be.”

  “Runners. That reminds me, you know my friend, Jill? Remember her daughter, Carolyn? The sweet girl who’s on the high school track team?” Hannah said.

  “I think so—a pretty, blond girl?” said Erin.

  “Yeah. She told Jill she had a dream about you. It was so vivid that she almost thought it was real. I guess you saved her from some big bad monster.”

  “Really?” Erin stopped walking; everything around her seemed to stop moving.

  “Yes. Isn’t that funny? I wonder why she would dream of you? She was having nightmares for quite a while. Jill thinks it was because she felt too much pressure with school and sports. She didn’t even want to go to sleep anymore she was so afraid. And not getting enough sleep made the stress worse, too. But then you popped into her dream and made the monster go away.” Hannah laughed.

  Erin felt shivery and a little weak. “That’s a strange dream.”

  Hannah touched Erin’s arm. “What is it?”

  Erin kept her eyes on the sidewalk. She shook her head as if trying to shake her thoughts away, but a brief memory
of Carolyn on a cliff-face flashed through her mind. “Nothing. It just made me think of my own dreams. They’ve been waking me more often lately. And I can’t get back to sleep. I’ve been so tired I even fell asleep this morning in the shop.”

  “This has been going on for a long time.”

  Erin looked out over the boats in the marina toward the water and the horizon. A bench was nearby, and she walked to it and sat down. “These dreams started right after the car accident.”

  Hannah sat down, too. “That’s right.”

  “The vision or dream I had in the hospital before I woke up—where I followed William across the river and tried to bring him back.” Erin’s voice dropped to a whisper. “There was a dark, evil shape that tried to hurt me.” Her whole body shook, and she felt icy cold. Fine drops of sweat broke out on her face.

  Hannah looked at her, concern in her eyes. “Erin, it’s all right. It wasn’t real.”

  She wiped her face with her arm and shook her head. “Of course not. It was so frightening, though. And even after all this time—just the memory is so scary—it’s as if I saw that creature just last night.” She shivered again and whispered. “Maybe that’s what my nightmares are about.”

  “Oh, I hope not,” Hannah said, but Erin saw that Hannah was thinking the same thing.

  Erin took a deep breath and stood up. “We’d better head back.”

  “You’re right. I’ve got to get started on that cake.”

  *****

  “I could use some water. Let’s stop here,” Michael said as he and Bruce turned back toward his house on the last leg of their run.

  “Got cash?” Bruce asked.

  “A little.”

  They stopped outside an ice cream and candy shop and paused to catch their breath. The wind picked up again, and some heavy raindrops splattered on the sidewalk. The two men went inside.

  “Water and a rocky road cone, please—one scoop,” Michael asked the clerk behind the counter.

  “Make mine two scoops of rocky road,” Bruce said.

  Michael shook his head as he grinned at his brother. “You always try to outdo me, don’t you?”

  “Always.”

  “You’ll never be able to.”

  “Hah!”

  They sat down at a table by the window to eat their ice cream and watch the people outside as they rushed to get out of the rain.

  “There’s the two women you noticed by the water,” said Bruce. “They just walked past.”

  “Yes,” Michael said.

  “What struck you about them?”

  “The brown-haired one looks familiar. I think I’ve met her before, but I can’t place where,” Michael said with a shrug.

  “She doesn’t look familiar to me.” Bruce stood up. “Ready to go?”

  “Yeah,” Michael drained his cup. “Let’s go.”

  They ran out the door into the rain.

  Bruce said, “There they are again—in the next block.”

  The brothers slowed to a jog and watched as one of the women called out goodbye and went into a music store. The blond kept walking. As they ran past, Michael wondered where he had seen the woman. Small. Dark hair. Something about her tickled his memory, and he couldn’t get her out of his mind.

  Chapter 10

  Erin closed and locked the music store’s door and walked the short distance to her car. The clouds had rolled away, sunshine warmed her face and hair, and the breeze smelled like the salty Puget Sound. She breathed deeply and felt a surge of contentment. Tomorrow would be a sunny day, and Matthew was going to have a wonderful birthday. She headed home.

  As soon as she turned into the driveway, Matt and his friend Jacob ran to meet her from Edna’s house next door.

  She stopped the car and opened the door. “Hi, guys.”

  Matthew was the first one to reach her. “We’ve got Jacob’s bike here now, but we need your help.”

  She laughed. “I’d better let Edna know I’m here first. Can it wait a couple minutes?”

  “Oh, sure.”

  When they reached the house, Edna swung open the screen door as she dried her veined hands on her apron.

  “Hello, dear,” she said. “Gwen’ll be right out—she’s working on a project in the kitchen.”

  “Thanks.” Erin gave Edna a quick hug. “How’s everything?”

  “Very well.”

  Gwen came out, and Erin and the children hauled Jacob’s bike to their house. It needed a new tire and some other adjustments, so Erin helped the boys with the work, and it wasn’t long before they were done.

  “Thanks, Mrs. Holley,” Jacob said. “See you tomorrow.” He hopped onto his bike and waved goodbye as he left for home.

  “We’ll pick you up at nine,” Erin called after him.

  After dinner Erin and Gwen mixed up Matt’s birthday cake. While it was in the oven, Erin checked over everything she had prepared to take the next day. She’d picked up little meat pies from Hannah’s bakery, apples, cheese, grapes, French bread and butter, and bottles of juice. With the cake, a thermos of coffee, and some chocolate bars, Erin thought it looked like a perfect birthday picnic.

  Matt sat on the stairs and watched Erin add some napkins to the basket. “Is Gary still coming tomorrow?” he asked.

  “Yes, he is.” She glanced at him, and then looked back at the basket. She felt like she was forgetting something.

  “Do you think he’ll give us a ride in his car?”

  “I’m sure he will if there’s enough time,” Erin said. She checked to be sure she had plastic forks.

  “Mom, I don’t know about him,” Matt said.

  Erin looked at him sharply and her stomach turned over. “What do you mean?”

  He shrugged. “Jacob says he’s too smooth.”

  “Too smooth? Well, don’t worry—I’m not rushing into anything.”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  Erin walked over and sat down next to him on the stairs. “I don’t even know Gary very well. We can see how much we like him tomorrow, okay?”

  “I suppose so.”

  “We’re going to have a fun picnic and bike ride. It’ll be a great birthday. We can do whatever you want.”

  Matthew smiled. “Whatever I want? I’ll have to think about that.” He ran up the stairs to his room, and Erin smiled after him. She didn’t want him to worry. She did enough of that for both of them.

  After the children were in bed, Erin wandered to the beach, scanning the shadows as she walked. The night was calm, so she sat on a log and gazed at the reflection of the moon on the water. Across the bay Skagit Island was black, but lights glimmered from two boats moored beside it. The water rose in small swells as the tide inched up the beach. She had sat on that same log and watched the same moon so many times with William.

  The roar of a car speeding up the road jolted Erin upright, and she turned around to see a black SUV pull into her driveway. She was sure it was Gary. She looked back at the water and the moon for a moment, then got up and walked toward the house, feeling an odd mixture of anticipation and reluctance. Gary had already jumped out of his car and was knocking at the front door. She ran around the house to meet him. “Hi. I wasn’t expecting you till morning.”

  “I know it’s late, but I just got into town and wanted to see you.”

  “Come on in.”

  They walked in the front door and headed into the living room. Most of the lights were off, and the house was dim and shadowy. Gary sank down onto the overstuffed couch, leaned his head back and looked up at the ceiling.

  “It was a long drive,” he said.

  “Would you like something to drink?” she asked.

  “Yeah. What have you got?”

  “Water, Coke, tea, brandy. Or I could put on a pot of coffee.”

  “I’ll take a brandy.”

  Erin pulled out a bottle from a kitchen cabinet, picked out two small brandy snifters, poured hot water into them and swished it around. She dumped out the water and poured so
me brandy into each glass. Gary watched her from the couch.

  “Here you are.” She handed him his glass.

  He raised his glass to her and took a large swallow. He leaned his head back again. Erin sipped hers. “Do you have a place to stay?”

  “Yeah, my assistant made a reservation for me at a hotel in town.”

  Erin switched on a table lamp and sat down in the chair opposite him. “Everything all right?”

  He gave a short laugh. “Just great.” He looked away, then glanced back at her. “It was a rough day.” He drained his glass.

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “No, it’s really boring. Why don’t you tell me about the plans for tomorrow?”

  “Sure. The ferry takes about an hour and a half to get to Orcas. Matt and I already loaded our bikes on top of my car—there’s room for yours and Jacob’s too. Gwen’s will have to go in the back. Once we get off the ferry, we’ll drive to the state park and to the top of Mt. Constitution—there’s a great old lookout tower there, and the view is amazing. Then we’ll go have our picnic and ride.”

  “Sounds perfect.” Gary leaned toward her, resting his arms on his knees. “Do you do this often?”

  “Only once before. It was a lot of fun.”

  He stood up, stretched his arms towards the ceiling, and walked to the living room window. It was dark in that part of the room, and Erin was struck by how bright his blond hair was even in the shadow. She felt an urge to smooth her hands across his back. He turned around and grinned at her. “Are your kids here?”

  “Of course. They’re in bed.”

  He nodded. “I’m beat. I’d better go. We’ve got an early start in the morning, right?”

  “Right.” She stood up and walked over to him.

  He bent down and kissed her lightly. His lips were smooth, and he tasted like brandy.

  She stepped backwards a half step and said, “I’m cooking breakfast in the morning—you want to come? It won’t be anything fancy.”

  “Yeah, I’d love to,” he said. “What time?”

  “Eight o’clock?”

  “I’ll be here.” He walked to the door and let himself out. Erin followed him outside and looked at his SUV.