“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?”