18
I snapped to attention at the sound of footfalls outside my door. I had no idea what time it was, but I sat up in bed, sure all of a sudden that Rusty had been lying awake on the couch all this time too and was coming to talk to me about things. But nobody knocked. The door didn’t ease open. The footsteps went past the door, right down the hallway to the kitchen.
It had to be Bru, then, up for his vortex tour. Which meant it was four a.m., and any hope I had for sleep was probably lost by now. The last thing I wanted to do was lie there waiting for the sun to come up, then have to face Rusty right off the bat. I needed to sort myself out first. Really, if there was anything that would do me some good, it’d be fresh air. A little peace or clarity or whatever Bru had called it couldn’t hurt either. I jumped up, still in my clothes, and yanked on my boots just as the jeep’s engine rumbled to life outside.
The first step out the door told me it was a good idea. I breathed in the starry coolness of the morning and the potential of a new day, still all crisp and clean in the dark. Bru was leaned over the side of the jeep clanking something around when I made it down the porch steps.
“Can I come? To the vortex?”
He spun around, reaching inside his jacket like a cowboy in the old westerns, then brought his hand to his chest and smiled in recognition at me. “Holy Hell, girl. You tryin’ to get shot first thing in the mornin’?”
“I’m sorry. I just heard the engine, and I was hoping . . . Are you really wearing a gun?” I squinted at him in the dark.
He patted his side. “Safety precaution. Never know what you might find out there in the dark.”
“Oh.” I waited a second for the punch line, but he went back to clanking around the jeep, serious as could be. “Um . . . Bru?”
“What’s that, darlin’?” he asked, walking around to the driver’s side of the jeep.
“Well . . . I was hoping you might have an extra seat. For the vortex thing. I could pay you . . . or be a lookout or something.”
Bru chuckled, then motioned at the jeep with a nod. “I got room. And I could use somebody to make nice with the hoity-toity ladies I got booked this mornin’. I’m not at my most charmin’ before sunrise.” He hoisted himself up into the driver’s seat and slammed the door. “Hop on in. Let’s go get us some coffee.”
By the time we pulled up to the valet area of the swanky resort to pick up Bru’s tour ladies, he’d sucked down the whole thermosful of coffee he’d filled up at the minimart. “Cece doesn’t keep any coffee in the house,” he explained, screwing the silver cup lid back on. “She likes all that herbal tea stuff that doesn’t do a dang thing to help you wake up, so I gotta get my fix when I can.” He put the jeep in park and cut the engine. “Also helps with the whole charming bit—which I’m gonna need, from the looks of it.” He motioned with his head, and my eyes caught what he was talking about.
Coming out of the massive frosted-glass doors of the lobby were two tiny blondes in pink track suits and little bejeweled hats pulled down low. They carried coffee cups and giant purses like all the stars in magazines, and they came out whispering to each other like best friends. I raised my eyebrows as Bru got out of the jeep and turned on his charm to greet them.
“So, whose brilliant idea was this?” he asked, stepping up to the two of them.
“Pardon me?” asked the taller one. I could see in the hotel lights she was the older of the two.
Bru put an arm out and gestured at the dark. “Not a lot to see out there until that sun comes up. You do realize that, right?”
“Of course I do,” she answered. “We want to watch the sunrise from the vortex so the whole thing will be that much more amazing.” She stepped toward Bru and extended her hand. “I’m Julia Whitmore. You make this a transcendent experience for my daughter and me, and I’ll make sure you’re compensated for the early hour. You do realize that, right?” She delivered her point with a wide smile, which Bru took to.
“Transcendent it is, then.” He shook her hand. “I’m Bru. Climb in, and I’ll get your gear.”
Once they were loaded and settled into the back of the jeep and belted in, Bru turned the key and wiped the dusty rearview mirror that spanned the whole top edge of the windshield. “Ladies, let me introduce a fellow traveler and seeker to you. This”—he gestured at me in the passenger seat—“is Honor. She’s here on a spiritual journey too.”
I looked at Bru, who just nodded at me, then I turned around to face them. “Hi. Nice to meet you.”
“Honor? What a pretty name! Like, so . . . important sounding, you know? I’m Ashley. And this is my mom, Julia. We just got here two days ago.”
Bru put the jeep in gear, and we rolled out of the turnaround and up a steep hill to the empty main road. “You ladies are gonna wanna finish that coffee of yours off before we hit the dirt,” Bru called over his shoulder. “’Cuz as soon as we do, you’re gonna get bumped around like you were in a stagecoach.”
In the mirror, I watched them bring their cups to their lips almost in unison and sip silently, exchanging a glance, so I sipped too and watched the center line of the road in our headlights. We drove through the sleeping town in semiawkward silence, which wasn’t all that surprising, considering it wasn’t even five yet. Still, it seemed like someone should talk, so I turned around in my seat and looked at Ashley.