A silence draped over the crater as Eddie released another shower of sparks into the night air. “You will discover yourself being out here for a while.” He swept an arm upward. “Sleeping under the stars. Disconnected from being bothered every five minutes by messages that don’t really matter from people you aren’t really with. Away from the barrage of overselling of stuff you don’t need. Taking a moment to appreciate our world and your place in it.”
Andy grunted as he leaned over to grab some wood to throw onto the fire. “Didn’t you say on the plane that you wanted to disappear for a while?”
Eliza moved around the campfire closer to Eddie, clearly not willing to let this drop. “So tell me, how do these journeys start?”
“Like all journeys out here. With one step into the desert. For some people, they discover who they really are when it’s them alone.” Eddie jerked his head toward the darkness. “Out there.”
Lincoln’s cackle echoed around the crater. “Lize, he’s already said we’re not doing it.”
Her nose crinkled, a sign her heels were sinking into whatever position she couldn’t be budged from. “I know, but I want to learn more. I’ve reached a place in my life where I need to discover who I am. Back in college I was driven and had so much potential and honestly, I was happier. I’m not now.”
Bree jumped to her friend’s defense. “But you’ve got the perfect life.”
“You keep saying that but, no, I don’t. I’ve got a lot of stuff, but there’s something that’s missing, and it makes me really unhappy.” She sat back from the fire, as if stunned at her own revelation.
Bree’s voice dropped to a near whisper. “I didn’t know you were so unhappy.”
“I didn’t realize that until now. I’ve been trying to work it out for myself rather than burden you.”
Bree was close to tears. “But I could have helped.”
Watching the exchange, Lincoln felt the buzz within him spread to his extremities. Eliza remembered college as a happier time. And this trip was going to be significant. Perhaps a drink might loosen her up. He rummaged through his swag for the vodka he’d bought at the airport.
Another shower of sparks burst into the air from Eddie’s stick. “Why don’t you let yourself unwind and your nerves untangle and see what happens.”
Eliza nodded. “That’s probably the best advice I’ve heard from anyone in the past five years.”
Bree scooched farther forward toward the fire. “It’s good advice for all of us.”
The conversation drifted away on the tendrils of smoke that cut through the chill. Eliza jerked her head toward Andy as dull thuds and the sounds of heavy dragging crept over the crater’s lip. Bree tensed as she pointed into the ring of darkness that lurked beyond them. “What was that?”
Sloaney leaned back on his swag and dragged his hat over his face. “Probably roos or a wombat.”
Andy stared beyond the light, a strange smile pasted on his face. What was going on with him? The outgoing Andy with money was now dodging and weaving and crying poor. Lincoln’s annoyance won the battle for control. “Okay, I’ll ask. Andy, tell us your story.”
Andy jumped as the glassy expression slid from his face, and he appeared to inflate with a sudden joviality. “I like what Eddie says about letting yourself unwind and your nerves untangle.”
Lincoln kicked his heel on the stones that circled the fire. “You speak so mysteriously I’m starting to wonder if you work for the CIA.”
Andy chuckled, a little too hard. “Not really, but what do I say?”
Eliza spoke into the growing silence. “It was easy for us, Andy. We haven’t seen you in five years. What have you been up to?”
Andy’s joviality faded. “Working hard, moving around as the work came and went. I’m really enjoying it now in Cincinnati—”
Lincoln sat bolt upright. “At LAX you said were in Chicago.”
Eliza braced her hands on her hips. “What’s going on? You’re evasive, and you avoid your phone like no one else does in the twenty-first century—”
Andy cut her off. “No, you’re right, it’s Chicago. I moved from Cincinnati not that long ago. I still get those two confused.”
Lincoln wasn’t buying it. And based on their narrowed eyes and shared glances, neither were Bree or Eliza.
Bree pulled her sleeping bag higher. “It’s okay. Even though we haven’t seen you for a while, we’re still friends—”
“Can I give you some advice, Andy?” Lincoln’s impatience got the better of him.
“How about you keep your advice to yourself?” Andy spat out.
Lincoln sat back on his swag, shocked.
The only sound in the crater was the crackle of the dried gum tree consumed by the dancing campfire flames.
* * *
The coals glowed white hot. The roaring heat of the flames had filtered away with the night, replaced with an intensity from deep within the fire. Eliza wrapped a blanket tighter as the cold air clawed at her shoulders. She lowered her gaze to Andy, his outburst still echoing around the crater. She needed to step in. She had to.
Sloaney closed the lid on the box containing their supplies and sat on it. “How about we talk about what’s lined up for tomorrow? We’re up early for the outback sunrise, then there’s an hour’s drive to those hills.” He pointed beyond the crater into the dark. “We’ll hike into a ravine, try some rock climbing, and might even see some rock carvings. We’ll see some wildlife on the way back, then return to camp for some bush tucker, and Eddie will share some of the stories of how this great land came to be.”
The thickness of jet lag wrapped around Eliza.
Lincoln stood with a rush. “How about a nightcap before we turn in? I bought something to drink at the airport.”
Sloaney threw him a flashlight. “We’ve got some glasses in the four-wheel drive while you’re up there.”
Bree wriggled out of her sleeping bag and shivered. “I need something out of my suitcase, so I’ll go with you.”
They left the circle of light and the flashlight beam swung back and forth in the darkness before it rose out of the crater.
Eliza turned to Andy, whose gaze followed the beam of light. “I need to ask you something. Is it drugs?”
Andy pulled his knees up under his chin. His shaken head gave her the response she hoped for, but his furrowed brow said otherwise. “I haven’t touched that stuff since college.”
Eliza shifted closer. “Everything about you looks like some people I know back in LA who take drugs. Nervous, evasive, avoiding people or conversations. And if that’s you, please tell me and I will try to help if I can.”
With a deep breath Andy opened his mouth. Voices grew louder above them, and the flashlight beam swung its way back down the side of the crater. Andy closed his mouth as Eliza leaned forward to fan their sparking connection into a flame. But Andy moved to the woodpile and reached for another log.
Darn it.
Lincoln’s indignation stormed back into the campsite before he did. The fire lit up the rippling knots of his clenched jaw. He stomped over to the storage box and placed down six glasses and a large bottle of clear liquid.
Bree shuffled past him and all but collapsed onto her swag. Her makeup case clunked onto the dirt, and confusion washed across her face.
Eliza raised her eyebrows at Bree and mouthed, What happened? Bree shook her head.
Lincoln proffered the bottle to Eddie, who again stoked the fire. “Not for me, mate. I’m working.”
Eliza raised a hand. “None for me either. I’ll stick with water.”
The bottle hovered over the glasses and Eliza detected something in Lincoln. A deeper rejection than simply turning down the offer of a drink. Didn’t he remember she’d said she didn’t touch that stuff anymore?
Eddie stood and stretched. “The first night’s always tough, especially with jet lag. If you need something to help you sleep, let me know.”
Andy sat up. “What have you got?�
��
Eliza snapped a look at Bree, then back at Andy. I knew it.
“Hot chocolate.”
Their shared laugher drifted into the air, then silence resumed as they were all drawn into the mesmerizing, pulsing light of the coals. Eliza resolved to revisit that conversation with Andy tomorrow—and make it an intervention if she had to. There was no better place than out here, far away from the influences that had led him down the wrong road.
Andy leaned back on his swag and folded his hands behind his head. “Do you wish you had your guitar, Breezy?”
Sloaney scratched more lines in the dirt. “You play guitar? Are you a good muso?”
Lincoln chimed in. “Back in college she won a chance to record a CD in New York—”
“Wow! New York. You must be great! It’s a shame Eddie didn’t bring his guitar on this trip.”
Bree’s eyes glistened in the campfire light, as a twitch tugged on the corner of her lips. Eliza felt compelled to step in, once again the den mother. “New York is the toughest market on earth to crack, but the fact she didn’t crack it doesn’t make her less of a musician. She gave it her best shot.”
Bree winced and stared into the fire, her mouth moving in silence. It was like she was traumatized. Bree should have moved on by now. Unless Lincoln had said something in the darkness fifteen minutes ago . . .
Andy’s brow knotted as he reached out a gentle hand. “It’s okay if the audition didn’t work out.”
Lincoln sipped from his glass. “I imagine the audition was hard, Breezy; that’s okay. Still, you got to play at the . . . What was the venue?”
Bree eked out in a whisper, “The Apollo Theater.”
“What was that like?”
“It was . . .” Bree’s sentence trailed off, almost as if she wanted it to drift away on the thin smoke from the campfire. Eliza had to know what was going on. Why couldn’t Bree get over this?
“Can’t you give me a few details? I was the guy who lent you the money after all.”
Bree was silent after Andy’s subtle guilt trip dressed up as an innocuous comment. They were all silent.
Lincoln zeroed his spotlight gaze to Andy. “Well, that’s it, Andy. You were rolling in money in college. What’s happening with you now? We all shared where we are coming from, but we didn’t get an answer from you. What’s going on?”
Andy stared into the coals.
“Come on, buddy. How about some honesty with your old friends?”
Bree’s chest heaved, and her breath became ragged as she shot a look loaded with daggers across the fire at Lincoln. “You’re one to talk about honesty.”
Her curiosity piqued, Eliza verbally lined up behind her friend. “What is going on?”
Lincoln drained his glass, then stormed out of the circle of light surrounding their campsite, the glow of his phone disappearing into the darkness.
Eliza sighed. She’d come on this trip to find answers to her own questions. But it looked like she’d be called on to fix other people’s problems first.
Like she’d always done.
Ten
Lincoln crunched along the rocky track that clung to the cliff wall. He dodged razor-sharp ochre rocks hurled down an age ago. Ahead of him, Eddie’s huge backpack disappeared as he bounded down the path like a gazelle, seemingly immune to the constant watch Lincoln needed to keep on his feet.
Bree appeared at his shoulder, as they negotiated a steep section where the path dipped away, sliding down large boulders. The silence was loud.
“Lincoln, I never saw what was in your letter.”
Lincoln’s chest heaved, and not from the hiking. “I shouldn’t have gotten angry with you. It was nothing.”
The track took a bend around a sagging gum tree, and Lincoln held back its branches to allow Bree through. Behind them, Eliza was deep in animated conversation with Sloaney. Andy puffed along in their wake. Their vehicle was now a tiny figure at the top of the ridge.
Bree skidded to a halt and turned on him, arms folded. “It seemed more than nothing.”
The riverbed rose to meet them as they descended. A wide stretch of sand littered with animal tracks spearing off in every direction. Lincoln had to play it cool, but his self-control failed him. “You were intruding—”
Bree flushed as she angrily waved away a squadron of flies from her face. “But I didn’t read anything. What is in it that makes it such a big deal?”
Lincoln measured her for intent and found little evidence of it. “I’m sorry I snapped at you like I did. I guess I’m nervous about talking about a failed marriage, that’s all. Can I count on you not to mention it to Eliza? I want to tell her myself.”
Bree was quiet for a moment. “If you’re serious about rekindling things with her, then you have to tell her. Be honest.”
A tiny part of Lincoln flared at that comment, and he had to restrain himself from revisiting old wounds. “Okay, thanks.”
Crunching footsteps grew louder and another voice appeared behind them. “Is everything okay?” Eliza.
“Sure.” Lincoln angrily charged ahead to catch up to Eddie, who leaned against a stack of fallen rocks, his canteen in hand, as he pointed at the riverbed. “Down there.”
Lincoln leaped the final few feet and landed ankle-deep in river sand, throwing a glance over his shoulder. Now Bree and Eliza were deep in discussion. He wanted to believe she would honor her promise, but he couldn’t be 100 percent sure.
* * *
Eliza’s shoes sunk into the soft sand of the riverbed as she waved away the flies and tugged on her cap. “So what happened?”
Bree trudged alongside and joined her in what Sloaney kept calling the “Aussie wave.” “It all started when we were at the four-wheel drive. Lincoln was having trouble finding that bottle he bought at the airport and an envelope fell out of his suitcase and landed at my feet. I picked it up and handed it back. It’s like he changed in a heartbeat, Lize. He blew up and accused me of opening it. I mean, how could I do that? I wouldn’t read it anyway.”
Harsh screeches descended on them as a flock of white and pink flashed above. The galahs that Sloaney had promised they would see.
“Why would he get so angry?”
“I don’t know. I’m hurt that after being honest with him, I get accused of lying.”
“I’ll confront him.”
“No, don’t ruin the vacation because of that. It’s only a small thing.” Bree stopped. “Oh, the crinkle is back. I know what that means.”
Eliza huffed as her wave grew more insistent, seemingly attracting more flies than it dispersed. Bree’s eyes stayed fixed on the ground. Her lips pursed.
“Was that it?”
Bree seemed to be measuring her words, or restraining them. “Yes. That’s all.”
“I sense there’s more.” Eliza looked down at her oldest friend. “Why won’t you tell me?”
Bree looked up at her, tears again pricking her eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me about how unhappy you were?”
“I’m sorry, Breezy. I told you last night was the first time I’ve had that thought.”
“But you’ve got everything.”
The riverbed widened and Eliza first felt the welcome coolness of water on the air before she saw it. The water hole was a cool oasis in a hot land. A long stretch of deep blue-green water separating pebbles and fine sand from scarred, blood-red rock. Trees dotted the ground, reaching out from under the canopy of the jagged rock wall that rose high above them like a sentinel. Eddie chewed at a gum leaf, his legs swinging from a low limb. Lincoln was nowhere to be seen.
Bree took out her phone. “This is beautiful. Sam would love this and it’s definitely Instagram-worthy.”
Eliza moved toward Eddie. “Are there many of these gorgeous water holes around the outback?”
“Not really. We had to drive to find this one.”
Bree offered her phone to Eddie. “Would you mind?”
“Not at all.”
Her arm aro
und Bree, Eliza turned until the background behind them was nothing but slices and scratches on the rock wall. Andy trudged toward them, Sloaney all but carrying him under one arm.
“Where’d the other bloke go?” Eddie handed back the phone.
Eliza shrugged as she sat on the soft sand at the edge of the water hole and unlaced her shoes. She wiped the sweat from her eyes and lowered her toes into the water. The coolness surged through her. Relief. She patted the sand next to her and Bree took a seat.
“Not game enough to put your toes in, Breezy?”
Bree laughed as she hugged her arms to herself. “They’d probably be taken off by a crocodile.”
“Out here?”
Birds twittered to their left, the gentle breeze waving through the valley on their right. The soundtrack of the outback bounced back at them from a sounding board carved from ancient rock.
Eliza stretched into the comfortable silence. “I’m so sorry if you felt like I hadn’t talked to you last night, but you have to believe me.”
“That’s okay.” Bree smiled. “I’d like to think we’re honest with each other.”
“Me too.” Eliza’s forehead puckered and a crinkle appeared above her nose. “Why couldn’t you tell us about what it was like to play at the Apollo Theater?”
Bree blanched. “What do you mean?”
“Well, you seemed really upset about that audition, and I would have thought it would be easy to talk about it, that’s all.”
Bree glared at the sand underneath them, unable—or unwilling—to meet her eyes.
“Come to think of it, I don’t think you’ve ever told me what that audition was like.”
Bree’s jaw clenched, a quiver on her lip.
“How hard can it be to talk about it? You really need to, even if it’s to move on. And I think while we’re away would be a good time. When you’re ready, I’ll be ready to listen.”
* * *
Lincoln’s voice rained down on Bree from high up the rock wall. “Get up here. It’s amazing!”
Her feet planted firmly in the red sand, Bree held the rope in a limp grip as she squinted up into the fierce blue of the afternoon sky. Her two helmeted friends dangled above her, swinging against the jagged wall. There was no chance of her joining them. Not with her fear of heights.
Where the Road Bends Page 7