Reece pointed over Brandon’s shoulder at the gift shop. “See the man coming out the door?”
Brandon turned and nodded.
“He’s another one of the four going to Well Spring. The other two haven’t arrived yet.”
Marcus spotted them, waved, and loped over.
“Marcus Amber, meet Brandon Scott.”
Marcus grabbed Brandon’s hand. “Brandon Scott, like the musician?”
“Yeah, like the musician.”
“You’re serious.”
Brandon put on a mock frown. “I avoid being serious as much as possible these days. It depresses me.”
“Fascinating. The temptation to call my wife and daughters right now is almost overwhelming.” Marcus tilted his head back and gave it a slight shake. “How do I convey the following sentiment without looking like a somewhat obsessed fan? Actually, it’s inconsequential. I’ve devoured your music for years.”
Brandon grinned at him. “And you’re Marcus Amber, like the brilliant physicist?”
“Exactly like him, excluding the brilliant section of your assessment.” Marcus returned Brandon’s smile.
“No kidding. The one who wrote Time Holes: The Portals Around Every Corner?”
“Do you mean to say you actually ingested that tome?” Marcus cocked his head.
“I did. Every word. Loved it.”
“Finally, a conundrum solved. I now know what happened to the one copy that was purchased.” Marcus laughed and tapped his fist against his head. “Do you have an affinity for quantum mechanics and all the surrounding machinations?”
“Yeah, bro. I started out watching every time-travel movie I could find, and then I graduated to books like yours.”
“Then it appears we have elements in common.” Marcus rocked on the balls of his Pumas on the parking lot.
“You don’t mind if I pick your brain on the multiverse, do you?”
“Instruct me on how to perform three of your songs and we have a deal.” Marcus motioned as if he were strumming a guitar.
“Do you play?”
“Not yet.” The professor laughed.
“Okay, then we might need to know each other for a while.” Brandon clapped Marcus on the shoulder and smiled, then glanced around the lot. “Any sign of the other two?”
Before Reece could answer, Tamera pulled up and leaped out of her Volkswagen Bug wearing black sweats that were in stark contrast to her fair skin and short blond hair.
Reece pointed her direction. “Here’s one of them now.”
She spotted him and jogged over to the three of them. “Hey, Reece, how are you?” She yanked lightly on the cords of her hoodie sweatshirt and smiled.
“I’m good. And you?”
“Excellent.” She glanced at Marcus and Brandon. “You must be the other recruits.”
Reece lifted an upturned palm and introduced everyone.
Marcus held out his hand and Tamera took it and smiled. “You’re kinda cute.”
The professor frowned. “I’m married.”
“Well, he’s cute too.” She winked at Brandon.
“Nice to meet you, Tamera,” Brandon said.
“Likewise.”
Reece cleared his throat. “Marcus is a professor at the UW and Brandon is a musician. Why don’t you tell them a little about yourself, Tamera.”
“I’m a personal trainer.”
“Rock on,” Brandon said. “In clubs or are you independent?”
“Independent, training private clients at the moment, until a TV show comes through.”
Marcus took a half step back. “Is that a serious pursuit?”
“Very. It’s my dream. I want to be on TV, reaching out to people, helping them get into better condition. We all need to take care of the temple, you know?” She motioned up and down her body, then held up a finger. “And it’s more than a dream. I got an agent a few months back, and we’ve had a number of serious conversations with some producers down in LA, so it’s a real possibility.”
“I don’t think I want to be your friend.” Brandon laughed. “You’d make me work out more.”
“Ah, you’re in fine shape. I can tell.” She turned to Marcus. “And you look like a runner.”
Reece glanced at his watch as the three chatted. Dana was now ten minutes late—which wasn’t like her. “Excuse me a moment.” As soon as he was out of earshot of the others, he dialed her number. She picked up on the fourth ring.
“Dana, where—?”
“I am so sorry, Reece. I was just about to call you. I should be there right now, I know. But work is the Titanic at the moment, and I’m the only one bailing.”
“This is a critical meeting. You need to be introduced to the others before we head to Well Spring.”
“I know, I know, but it’s not going to work. I’ll have to meet them another time.”
“You need to meet them now.”
“I understand that. And in a perfect world, I’d be standing beside you at this moment. You know me, Reece. It’s not like me to miss this, but if I’m thinking about being on that plane with you on Sunday, I have to get these projections finished.”
He didn’t respond.
“Reece? Are you there?”
“I’m here. With my feet in the spot your feet should be in as well.” “If you want me to apologize again, I will. Because I do regret not being there, but believe me, I don’t have a choice.”
“All right, Dana. You’ll meet two of the others at the airport and the last of the team at the ranch.”
“Yeah . . . yeah, sure. I think.”
“Are you still committed to coming?”
“I don’t know, Reece. Being around people I don’t know isn’t really my—”
“We’ve talked about this. What did God tell you?”
“With my work right now, he’s saying stay home.”
“It’s your choice,” Reece said. “I only request you ask God for the answer.”
“I will.”
“I hope to see you Sunday morning.”
Reece hung up and clenched his fist. Not a good start. He stared at Brandon, Tamera, and Marcus. The Spirit would have to do some heavy lifting with Dana once they arrived in Colorado. If she even came. He trudged back over to them.
Reece motioned toward the falls with his thumb. “Let’s head over to the viewpoint and talk for a few minutes about what I think the Spirit is saying.”
They meandered down the pathway lined with Douglas fir trees, their shoes scuffing on the gray concrete pathway. Brandon whapped Reece’s shoulder with the back of his fingers as they strolled along. “So is the last member of our tribe coming?”
“She is not.”
“Why?”
Reece turned right at the end of the path and spoke over his shoulder. “Work.”
“I still don’t understand why you wouldn’t tell us about each other until today.”
Reece didn’t answer.
“Okay, Mr. Conversation, can you at least give us some highlights on this lady?”
“No.”
“What?”
“You’re not ready to hear about her yet.” Reece stopped and faced Brandon.
The kid pointed to his chest. “Me? Or them too?” He motioned back and forth between Marcus and Tamera and himself.
“You.”
“Oh, man, now you’ve gotta spit it out.”
“I will. In time.”
Brandon tapped his watch. “I’m thinking now.”
“I’m thinking later.” Reece stared down at Brandon till he broke eye contact and shrugged.
They stepped onto the deck of the viewpoint overlooking the falls, and Reece walked to the railing and leaned forward on his elbows. The sight of thousands of gallons of water pouring over the lip of the falls and thundering 268 feet down never failed to inspire. Taller than Niagara. He closed his eyes as mist rising up from the roar in front of him settled on his face. After a few minutes Reece opened his eyes and glanced around
the platform and the trails leading to it. The four of them were alone. Good.
“For the Snoqualmie people, these falls have been central to their faith and spirituality for centuries. They say prayers are ‘carried up to the Creator by great mists that rise from the powerful flow.’ And that ‘the mists rising from the base of the waterfall are said to serve to connect heaven and earth.’
“I like those images.” Reece motioned toward the falls. “Consider the force of the water pouring over the edge of that cliff in front of you. It is an ideal picture of the Spirit. Living water. Unending. And if harnessed, able to do things far outside the imagination of the common man. And the common follower of Jesus.
“I want you to lock an image of these falls into your mind. I want you to consider it every time you press into the Spirit.”
Reece stooped and picked up a leaf lying on the platform, held it up, and pointed to a drop of dew that hung from the end. “This is the amount of water most people who follow Jesus tap into. But that”— Reece pointed at the falls—“is the kind of power available when we fully tap into the Spirit. You look at Snoqualmie Falls and realize the force it contains. Inside you lives the God who created it. The God who made the oceans and a universe so vast we measure the distance across it in light-years. The God who says you will do greater things on earth than he did.
“And tapping into and wielding that power is what I’m going to teach the four of you to do at Well Spring.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask you about that,” Brandon said. “The three of us and this other gal live in Seattle, right?”
Reece nodded.
“Then wouldn’t it make a lot more sense to hang out around here for our getaway?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because.” Reece glanced back at the falls behind him. Did he really have to get into the why right now? Probably. “Because of the atmosphere there.”
“Care to expand on that a little?” Brandon rested his elbows on the railing of the observation platform and gazed at the falls.
“We need a place where the distractions are minimized. Where you’re out of your routine. Where you’re jolted out of your assumptions and traditions.”
“Okay, I get that. But there are a lot of retreat centers around here.”
“The ranch is a place where I’ve found the curtain to be thinner.”
“Describe this curtain for us.” Marcus stared at Reece with inquisitive eyes. “What is it?”
“The veil between us and the spiritual world that surrounds us. The curtain between us and God.”
Brandon laughed. “You know, Reece, when I read those sci-fi and fantasy books, I realize they’re fiction. Probably the same with the prof and Tamera.”
“Marcus?” Reece turned to the professor, who stood in profile staring at the falls. “Do you think they’re fiction?”
“Not all of it.” He looked at Reece and smiled. “My mind is unlocked and ready to consider myriad possibilities.”
“Did Tamera and I miss an inside joke?” Brandon said.
Reece shook his head. “No, but over the past three years, Marcus and I have often discussed the idea that the magic is real.”
“Magic?”
“Things in the Bible that most followers of Jesus would dismiss as magic. Truths more real than the things in this world—mysteries you’ve not imagined but that few explore.”
“Like?” Tamera said.
“Don’t worry. We will look into a number of them at Well Spring and in the days that follow.”
“You’re not going to try to jack us into The Twilight Zone out there in Colorado, are you?” Brandon said.
“We’re going beyond The Twilight Zone. Way beyond.”
“Hmm.” Brandon kicked a small stone off the edge of the observation deck and watched it float down into the side of the cliff. “Why is the curtain thinner there?”
“The entire purpose and focus of Well Spring Ranch is to bring healing and freedom to the warriors of the kingdom. To show them Jesus in a way he hasn’t been seen before. It’s a place for restoration and training and revelation. There are warriors who will be praying for our time there. They pray back the soldiers of the kingdom of darkness and bring in the kingdom of heaven in all its power and glory.”
Brandon wiggled his fingers. “So you go in for all that woo-woo demons and angels stuff? I mean, hey, I believe that stuff too, but it sounds like you’ve bought the farm when it comes to the supernatural.”
“Probably every farm in the country.” Reece glanced at them. “It’s time to go.” He pushed himself off the railing, turned, and tromped off the platform and toward the parking lot.
Brandon called after him, “Care to expand on that a little?”
“Don’t worry, expansion on that topic will come. Probably to a far greater degree than you’re comfortable with.”
When they reached the parking lot, Reece folded his arms and glanced at the three of them. “We meet up at Well Spring in four days. Between now and then I’d like you to do three things. First, read through the Gospels. Second, read the book of Acts. Third, I want you to watch a movie.”
“Which one?” Tamera asked.
“The Matrix. Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne. Came out in 1999.”
“Done.” Brandon made a check mark in the air. “I own it. I’ve probably seen it seven times.”
“Watch it again. Pray before you do that you would have eyes to see and ears to hear.”
Brandon swept his hands around in a poor imitation of kung fu. “Wow, now this is what I call a Bible study.”
“I’m assuming you’ve seen it as well, Marcus.”
“I have. Nine times, if my memory is serving me accurately.” He held out his hand, palm up, and beckoned toward Reece with his fingers. “But it seems apparent you’d liked me to view it again.”
“I do.”
“What about you, Tamera? Have you seen it?” Marcus asked.
“Once.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket and made a note. “Are you going to tell us what The Matrix has to do with our little jaunt to Colorado?”
“No.”
Tamera tugged on the bottom of her sweat jacket. “I see.”
“Stay in prayer. There will be resistance to your coming. It would surprise me if there wasn’t. But fight it. This is your destiny.”
As Reece wound through the back roads on his way home, Dana settled into his mind and he prayed. He had a feeling the odds against her going were the highest.
FIVE
DANA RAINE CRUNCHED THE NUMBERS IN HER EXCEL spreadsheet for the third time, and for the third time, they crunched back. She sighed, pushed her reading glasses on top of her head, and slumped back in her leather chair. How could it be the end of the month already?
There was no way she’d hit budget for third quarter. Not at the pace they’d been setting. She should have at least 60 percent of their revenue locked in by now, and at the moment they were barely over 45. Yes, they’d made budget for first quarter, but those projections were the lowest of the year. And with only nineteen days to go in the second quarter, she’d be lucky to finish at 85 percent of that goal.
Two down quarters in a row would not make for wide smiles at corporate. They didn’t care that the station’s ratings were down. Didn’t care that spending on broadcast radio was flat. Didn’t care that Internet radio and social media and online discount sites were chewing up local ad budgets like locusts.
Dana stood and stared through her floor-to-ceiling windows at the Space needle in the distance and then down to the stream of red taillights inching along Mercer Street toward I-5, most likely headed to homes with more than one person in them.
A home with someone other than a Pekingese to talk to about overwhelming days and weeks and months. Must be nice. She blew out a long breath and watched it fog the window in front of her. Two and a half million dollars to go. Piece of cake with buttercream frosting on top.
She rubbed her eyes and sighed. And she was supposed to leave in four days for Colorado? And stay there for four days while her boss and her boss’s boss wondered why the station’s general sales manager had left in the midst of the fourth straight month of declining revenues?
Dana’s cell phone rang and she glanced at the caller ID. Perry. She smiled and the knots in her shoulders softened a bit. Finalizing plans for Saturday night would take her mind off the budgets. She tapped her Bluetooth.
“Hey, you. You’re definitely a welcome distraction at the moment.”
“Okay.”
“So what time on Saturday?” She gazed at his picture on the screen of her phone. Dana liked this guy a lot. Going on eight months and so far the sailing had been silky. Getting some time together before she headed east would be a great send-off.
“I’m thinking Saturday is not going to work.”
The hesitation in his voice sent a chill down Dana’s back. “What’s wrong?”
Perry puffed out a breath. “Wow.”
“Wow what?”
“I’m a clod-o-la. I should be doing this in person.”
No. Dana slid back into her chair. He couldn’t be. “Doing what in person?” Why did she even ask the question? The ice skittering down her back grew colder and wrapped itself around her chest. “Doing what, Perry?”
No, don’t say it.
“You know. Us.”
Her chest tightened. “We’ve been great.”
“No, you think we’ve been great. Yes, we’ve had fun and I love being with you, but at a certain point, it makes sense to move on from fun to something deeper.”
“You’re breaking up with me on the phone?” She closed her eyes. Wasn’t it supposed to be the other way around? Wasn’t the woman supposed to want to go deeper? Weren’t guys looking for a woman who didn’t push for commitment? Why couldn’t he wait till she was ready?
“Like I said, I should have done it in person, but I need to get it over with so we can both get on with our lives.”
She swallowed and stared at the framed photo on her desk of them at Alki Beach together. “I don’t want to get on with my life. I want us to be together.”
“No, you don’t, Dana.”
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