Book of Days_ A Novel - James L. Rubart [71]
They stopped at a little cove just south of Limekiln State Park. The Olympic Mountains shimmered in the distance to the west, and looking north they could make out Vancouver Island.
After anchoring their sailboat and taking a small skiff onto the rocky beach littered with periwinkle shells, they found a sun-bleached log to sit on as they ate their tuna salad sandwiches—sandwiches splashed with the tiniest bit of Tabasco sauce. Cameron had teased Jessie about that for six months before he tried it and had to admit she was right. It made the sandwich.
After they finished, Jessie stood and shuffled toward the edge of the water. "When dreams come that feel so real you don't know if they're dreams, are they real?"
"Too many hours watching the philosophy channel?" Cameron laughed.
"Probably." She laughed with him and looked north toward Vancouver Island. "And what should you do when something so fantastic happens in real life you're not sure if your subconscious mind turned it into a dream because that kind of thing never happens in real life? Has it turned into a dream, or is it still real?"
"I'm not sure I followed every speck of that, but I'm going to vote for it's still real." He smiled on the outside, but inside he worried. When Jessie talked like this, he didn't know how to respond. Playing along with her meanderings felt like the wrong decision and the right one at the same time.
"So you'd believe the fantastic?"
"How old were you when the fantastic happened?"
"Ten."
"What happened?"
"I saw something." She turned and walked back to the log Cameron sat on.
"Are you going to tell me about it?"
Jessie squatted down in front of him. "I saw something about us. And something about me."
Cameron touched her cheek. "So that's how you knew to accept my invitation for that first date."
"Yes. I saw you, and your father, and I saw you and me. So years later when I met you and met him, I didn't hesitate to get involved with you."
"Did you see Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four too?"
"This is serious, Cam."
"I am being serious, I'm just . . . Okay, I'm not, but you have to admit it sounds a little woo-woo that you saw me, my dad, and us when you were ten. Even if it was in a dream, it would be weird."
Jessie sank down and sat in the sand with her back to Cameron. "It wasn't a dream. It was real."
"Okay, Jess." Score a point for Mr. Insensitive. "I'm sorry."
"I also saw someone die." She drew in a quick breath. "Someone we both know."
"Who?" Cameron leaned toward her. "Who, Jessie?"
She didn't need to answer. He knew. Where did her visions come from? She would say God; he would say from her fertile imagination. Whichever it was, it didn't diminish the emotional impact.
She turned toward him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Tell me it was just a dream."
"It was a dream from a ten-year-old. Let it go." That was all it could have been.
"It's gone." She leaned her head on his shoulder and started to cry.
Cameron woke up gasping for air. "Jessie!" She was there. Right there!
He slid his legs over the bed and grabbed his notepad off the nightstand. But by the time he clicked his pen, the memory of the dream had vanished.
Cameron slammed his fist into the mattress. "I'm sick of this!"
The clock read six fifteen. Time to get up and go meet Ann. Why did he agree to go climbing with her? He wasn't sure. Something about it didn't feel right.
CHAPTER 26
Climbing with Cameron was probably a poor use of time.
He drove them east on Highway 126 early on Thursday morning. They should be trying to find the book or working on her family history. But when she'd suggested they try a climb together, he'd agreed immediately. What was she thinking? She refused to allow her heart to answer.
As Cameron took the exit that would take them to Smith Rock, Ann looked at the temperature gauge on the MINI Cooper. Even though it had been in the mideighties the night before, it was now only fifty-nine degrees. Being