Oberon Boxed Set (Books 1-3) Welcome to Oberon

by P. G. Forte

  Shit. He didn’t have a prayer.

  “Listen. There are a few other places I want to try, but it’s getting kind of late. How about we grab some lunch?” He had to do something to get her out of this car, at least for a little while. Maybe a little space would help him get things under control.

  “Lunch?” She looked at him doubtfully, and Nick found himself growing even more annoyed.

  Why did she have to look so damn surprised? Didn’t people eat lunch in... wherever the heck she’d been living all this time? “Yeah. You remember. It’s that meal that comes between breakfast and dinner?”

  “But don’t you have to get back soon? I thought you could only do this for a few hours?”

  Uh-oh. He had said that, hadn’t he? Well, who knew it was going to take so long to find the dumb mutt? “I thought you wanted to find your dog?”

  “I do. It’s just—”

  “Well, I got the time and I don’t mind the driving. But hey, if you’ve got something else you’d rather be doing…”

  “No. I just thought – Oh, never mind. Just... thanks. For doing this, I mean.”

  They lapsed into an uneasy silence, and he still didn’t know if she wanted to eat. So he tried a different tactic. “Look, I think maybe we got off on the wrong foot this morning.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah. What happened between us – you know, before? That was a long time ago. It’s in the past. It’s over.”

  “I see,” she said, very quietly.

  “We aren’t the same people we were back then, you know? Far as I’m concerned, I don’t know you, and you don’t know me.”

  She said nothing for a minute. And then, “So why are you helping me find my dog?”

  Her voice held a hint of challenge, and he found himself replying more sharply than he’d planned. “Well, it sure wouldn’t be because of the way you used to jerk me around now, would it?” He was instantly sorry, as all the softness and uncertainty fled from her face.

  “Oh, I get it now.” She glared at him through narrowed eyes. “So, the only part of the past we’re not forgetting about is the part where I screwed up?”

  “Okay. Good point,” he answered, trying to think fast. “From now on we’ll just forget the whole thing. None of it happened. Or, if it did, it was to two other people. Two strangers. How’s that?”

  “If that’s the way you want it.”

  “Absolutely. We don’t have to talk about it, or even think about it. Not ever again.” Yeah, right.

  “Perfect.” Her voice was distant and cold. “And what did you say your name was again?”

  Shit. He ground his teeth together, but finally he had to ask. “So, what do you think? D’you wanna get lunch, or not?”

  “Well, gee, Nick, that’d kind of be like taking candy from a stranger, wouldn’t it?” She shrugged. “But sure. I can live dangerously. Why not?”

  Strangers? Oh, good thinking. Just when the fuck had he lost his mind? “Okay. Good.”

  “Good.”

  Well, this is just perfect, Scout thought as they raced down the coast. Destination Unknown. Well, unknown to her, anyway. Obviously, Nick knew where they were going, but she didn’t think he was in the mood to share. In fact, she wasn’t sure what he was in the mood for. Not this, to judge from his glum expression. Even though it had been his idea.

  “You know this was your idea.” The words were out before she realized she was going to say them.

  He scowled. “Yeah, I know.”

  “So, I guess... what I’m wondering is... why are you doing it?”

  He hesitated, seeming confused. “Why? Because I’m hungry. Why else would I want to eat lunch?”

  “No, not lunch. This. Spending the day together.”

  He choked back something that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. “Oh, is that what you think we’re doing?”

  The hint of amusement in his voice was more than she could take. “I don’t know what we’re doing!” she snapped. “And please don’t say we’re looking for my dog, because that’s not what I meant either. I just can’t help thinking that you might have some... other reason for doing this.”

  “I see. So, I have to have another reason, is that it?” She saw the muscles of his jaw bunch. “Okay, and what about you? Do you have another reason for being here too?”

  Scout found her mouth had abruptly gone dry. There was no way she was going to mention any of the foolish ideas she’d had the night before. “No. No, I just want my dog back.”

  “Ahh.”

  She fumbled to light another cigarette. “You know, come to think of it, I don’t think I want to stop for lunch after all.”

  “Too bad,” he answered, swerving suddenly off the road and into an unpaved parking lot. “Because we’re already here.”

  Scout looked around her and gasped. “Oh! I’ve been here.” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. They’d stopped here on the way back from Domingo Canyon. What was he trying to do to her, anyway?

  “Sure you have.” Nick shrugged. “It’s been here forever. Everybody’s been here.”

  She was about to say more… was about to say that she had been here with him, and more than once, but the indifference in his voice hurt too much. If he didn’t remember, she wasn’t going to be the one to remind him.

  “We aren’t the same people we were back then.”

  “We’re two completely different people now.”

  The words he had spoken a few minutes before, the words she’d said to Glenn Monday night, came back to haunt her.

  We had something, Glenn had insisted. You know that as well as I do. Who knows what might have happened, if things had been different? I always thought we would have made a good couple. Maybe we still could be.

  Oh, God. She could imagine herself saying the exact same things to Nick. Was it possible? Surely not. That the way she felt about Glenn, was the same way Nick felt about her?

  We had something... you know that as well as I do.

  And if she said that to Nick now, would he answer as she had answered Glenn the other night?

  Yeah, we had something. I’m just not sure what.

  She swallowed hard, blinking back her tears, and looked with unseeing eyes at the scenery.

  “It’s changed some,” she said finally.

  “Yeah. You’re in luck,” Nick drawled. “The food’s better now.”

  * * *

  They ate outside, perched on one of the picnic tables, both of them facing out toward the ocean, their feet on the bench, and about half the length of the table stretching between them. This was nothing like what he’d had in mind when he’d called her last night. Back when he still believed that they could spend some time together, maybe get used to being with one another again, without it driving him crazy.

  Back before it even occurred to him how maddening it might be to sit across from her in the intimate confines of a booth. Even more frustrating than sitting beside her in the car had been.

  “You want to eat inside or out?” he’d asked her, hoping she would choose one of the picnic tables at the bluff’s edge. Not that she had given him any reason to suppose she even noticed the tension he was under. Whatever reaction he might be having, she clearly didn’t share it.

  “Does it make a difference?” she responded, her voice as unenthusiastic as he’d ever heard it.

  “Well, if we eat out here, you can still smoke.” He nodded toward her hand, where her cigarette was burning away.

  “Oh. Right. That’s fine then.” Scout shrugged, and then, once they had gotten their food, proceeded to lose herself in the view. Apparently , she was more hungry for the scenery than for her sandwich ,which sat untouched on the table beside her. Or for him.

  What was she thinking about, anyway? He sneaked a look at her from the corner of his eye, but her face told him nothing.

  “You know,” he said, “I think we just might be the last two cigarette smokers left in the entire state.” />
  She shook her head. “Not really. I haven’t smoked in years. It’s this place. I just started up when I got here. I’m sure it’s only temporary. I’ll probably stop again as soon as I leave Oberon.”

  “Yeah, I probably will, too,” Nick answered absently. Then he saw the startled look on her face and rushed to elaborate. “I just started smoking again, I mean. I’ll probably quit again soon, too.”

  “Really? Why’d you start?”

  “Oh, you know.” He waved his hand in a vague, casual gesture as he improvised a reason. “My ex-wife was being a pain in the butt. She messed up my vacation plans with my daughter.” Like that was anything new. Still, she didn’t know that. He took a deep breath before continuing, in a voice he had to struggle to keep casual. “It looks like maybe my problem’s not as temporary as yours, though. I take it you haven’t moved back here for good?”

  “Oh, hell no. No way,” she answered, with a fierceness that surprised him. “Are you kidding me? I hate this place. All the magic and the mysticism and stuff? Shit, if I even hear the word synchronicity again anytime soon... I really think I might scream.”

  Wow. That much, huh? Terrific. “The view’s nice, though,” he said, hoping he might get a smile, or even a laugh. “You know? The buena vista of bar and grill fame?”

  But she just snorted without mirth. “Yeah.” She sighed. “Yeah, the view’s nice, all right.” After a moment she continued, “You know, I had a car accident out here the other day.”

  “I know. I saw your car,” he answered, again without thinking.

  “What?”

  “I mean, I saw your car was gone. Yesterday. You mentioned last night that you were having it fixed.”

  “Oh. Right.”

  “So, uh, what’s it have to do with mysticism? Or do you only get into accidents here in Oberon?”

  “Sometimes it does kinda seem that way. I...” She paused for a moment, as if struck by a sudden thought. Then she shook herself and began again. “I was up at the festival, you know? And when I was leaving I, uh... well, I thought I could beat the crowd by sneaking out the back way. Out through Domingo Canyon.”

  She wasn’t looking at him when she said it, and he didn’t think she saw the look he shot her way. “It’s a tricky road,” he said quietly, between gritted teeth. “What happened?”

  “Oh, some car tried to pass me. Yeah, on that road, if you can imagine. But you know, I’m sure it happens all the time after the festivals. Some idiot gets too drunk or stoned or sleep-deprived and loses his judgment, does something stupid. Anyway, he just clipped my fender, but it was enough to make me lose control and smash into the hillside. And the thing is, he came really close to hitting me broadside, which would have probably run me off the road.” She laughed again – the same short, humorless sound as before. “Well, there’s no probably about it, I guess. And you know, when I say off the road up there, I mean really off the road. The only reason I’m still here is that just before it would have hit me, I heard a voice in my head that told me to hit the brakes.”

  “Jesus!” Nick felt his throat tighten in panic. He had to clench his fists to keep from grabbing her. She was nearly killed? He’d come that close to losing her forever?

  “That’s what I mean about this place,” she continued, unaware. “After a couple of days, I’m not only smoking like a chimney, I’m hearing voices. What’s next? Visions? Transmogrification? Full-scale possession?”

  She slid off the table and stood facing him, her arms wrapped around herself as though she were suddenly cold. “I don’t know, Nick. You think the view here is nice enough to make up for losing my mind? I’m thinking I’m gonna need a little more incentive than that to stick around.”

  He didn’t answer right away. He couldn’t. “What kind of car?” he got out at last, his voice cold and flat.

  “What? Mine?”

  “No, the one that hit you.”

  Scout shrugged impatiently. “I don’t know. It happened too fast. I just got one look as this big, dark thing flashed passed me, you know? It was big. An SUV or something, I guess. But what’s the difference? Who cares what kind of car it was?”

  “Well, there are laws, you know,” he reminded her. “Did you report it?”

  She stared at him in amazement. “You see? This is why I can’t ever live here! I tell you I’m hearing voices and all you want to know is did I report the accident.”

  She sighed and shook her head. “Are you finished? I’d like to get going.”

  Nick took out a cigarette and concentrated – very hard – – on lighting it. He needed something to occupy his hands. Something to occupy his thoughts. Something to occupy his mouth.

  I can’t live ever here.

  Well, she’d certainly said that loud and clear. And that, he thought somewhat bitterly, certainly answered one of his questions.

  Back to Top

  * * * *

  Chapter Twenty Two

  * * * *

  It was late afternoon when Nick pulled back up in front of Scout’s house. They hadn’t found her dog. They hadn’t spoken much after their disastrous exchange at lunch, either. But they had each managed to maintain a cold civility, and he guessed that was something.

  He couldn’t help but be aware of her growing disappointment as shelter after shelter had yielded no success. And now... man, she looked unhappy. Which was not at all what he’d wanted, or hoped for. Not at all a part of his plan.

  His plan had been, first of all, to make sure she understood he had not spent the last twenty years obsessing about her. He had tried this morning to make it crystal clear that he was totally indifferent to the events of twenty years ago; that he didn’t still hold all the lies she’d told him against her.

  But in retrospect, he had to admit that he might have gone a little overboard there. If only being with her wasn’t making him so fucking crazy.

  The second part of his plan had been to find the damn dog. If he had, it would have made the rest so much more simple. She would have been happy. Perhaps even grateful.

  Grateful would have been very, very good.

  Instead, she was silent and sad, and now – he watched as she eased the car door open – now she was leaving.

  “Well, thanks for trying,” she said, turning back to him for a moment, a small smile tugged at one corner of her mouth. “I guess I’d better go.”

  “I’ll walk you to the door,” he said grimly, wondering if there was any possible way he could still salvage this disaster.

  At the door, Scout paused with her hand on the knob. “Do you want to come in?” she asked tonelessly, not even bothering to look at him, her entire body gone rigid, as if her desire to get rid of him was at war with some notion she had of good manners. She took a deep breath. “The least I can do is get you a drink. Or something, I suppose.”

  It was quite probably the least enthusiastic invitation he had ever received. And if she had been anyone else he would have turned her down flat. But this was Scout, and he’d take whatever opening she gave him.

  “I guess I wouldn’t mind a drink,” he said carelessly. Drinks? Sure, why not. Plenty of possibilities there. “I’ll call the station while I’m here. Maybe there’s some news about your friend.”

  Scout was searching the kitchen for something to offer him when Nick joined her. She glanced at him hopefully, but he shook his head. She felt discouragement settle more heavily in her chest. “Damn,” she said softly.

  “So, what’ve you got?” Nick came up behind her, peering over her shoulder into the refrigerator as Marsha had done the day before. She had to resist the urge to shut the door before he could see inside. The shelves were nearly empty, and suddenly that seemed too pathetic for words. “Jeez. Don’t you have any food? What do you do? Eat all your meals out, or something?”

  She sighed. “I guess it looks that way, doesn’t it? Anyway, there’s beer, some wine, a couple of spring waters. Sorry. I wasn’t exactly planning on entertaining.

&nb
sp; “So I see. You weren’t exactly planning on eating dinner tonight either, were you?”

  “I’m not very hungry.”

  “No? Well, I am. How about I order us a pizza?” he suggested in a disinterested voice, still staring absently into the open refrigerator.

  She glanced up, startled by his suggestion. He met her eyes briefly.

  “Well, I was going to pick one up on my way home, anyway,” he said with a small shrug as he returned to his pointless perusal of the empty white box. “And I figure you gotta eat, too.”

  What was going on here? She really couldn’t stand to see any more of her fantasies crash and burn tonight, but every once in a while, like now, he said or did something that left her thinking there was still a chance. Oh, hell, she was probably about to make another huge mistake, but she supposed things really couldn’t get any worse. And she could use the company. Anything was better than the loneliness she was sure to feel when he left. Or almost anything. And if there was the slightest possibility at all –

  “Okay,” she said making up her mind at last. “But this is my treat. You didn’t have to spend your whole day looking for my dog the way you did. I’m really very grateful.”

  “It’s a deal,” Nick said, and she could actually feel some of the tension leave his frame. But before she had even a moment to wonder about that, his face was suddenly illuminated by a dazzling smile, and she lost the ability to reason at all.

  He reached around her for one of the beers, and as his arm brushed against hers, she shivered. He was so close now. She could feel his breath, warm against the side of her neck. She slipped quickly under his arm and away.

  “Help yourself to anything you find in there,” she called as she headed toward the phone. “I’m just going to make that call now. Be right back.”

  Oh God, that was close. She leaned her head against the wall in the hallway for several long minutes, waiting for her heart to stop hammering. Way too close. How could she have forgotten what it did to her when he smiled like that, or when he touched her?