The cabin at the end of her dream, Jones had all but said he'd created it, and she now felt secure in guessing that the diner was also from him. Ocean had said Lund would spend all his breaks and lunches in her room, talking to her and working with her. He must have talked about the diner.
Goddamn right he talked about it, and then I dreamed about it. Just like the cabin. Probably like a lot of things. Jesus, between his voice and my brain, we spun an entire world together.
“Jones spent time here,” she said out loud.
“Jones?”
“Nurse Lund,” she rolled her eyes. She was tired of the multiple titles. “When I was in the coma, I think he talked to me about this place. That's why it feels so familiar to me.”
“Ah. You think you retained some of what he said while you were out?”
That's putting it mildly.
“Yes. Yes, I think I did. And I think he talked about other things, too, and if I can remember them and focus on them, I bet I could find him,” she started getting excited.
It was a bit of a leap, but she had faith in him. She had faith in them.
So while River went to pay for his two meals, Adele hurried outside and stared back at the diner. The exterior looked identical to the one in her dreams, and she was positive she'd never been to one like it in her waking life. So what else in her dream had been utterly unfamiliar to her?
Most of the settings, if she thought about them long enough, could be traced back to something in her own past. The poppy field and the tornado were straight out of her favorite movie, The Wizard of Oz. Her parents' house was obvious, her love of Disney movies had made a solid impression on her dream world, and she'd always been a fan of the beach as a child.
But she couldn't remember having been anywhere like The Tunnel, where they'd kissed for the first time ever – maybe it had been one of his memories imprinting itself on her dreams. But where would she find a space like that in real life?
What else was there?
The magnolia tree – she'd never actually seen one in real life, and it had been a very important feature in that other world. A pink tree with deep roots, threatening to keep her in the coma forever. A physical representation of her comatose self. But why a tree she'd never seen before? Maybe it was a sign, maybe he'd gone to wherever magnolia trees were!
But a quick search on her phone told her that magnolia trees mostly only existed in the southern states. She couldn't exactly hop a plane to Georgia and go searching for magnolia trees – a tour of the deep south just wasn't possible right now.
“Bad news?” River asked as he hurried down the steps to meet her. She was glaring at her phone.
“Do you know where there might be any magnolia trees in this city?” she asked, and he laughed at her.
“Magnolias? In L.A.? I don't know,” he chuckled. “You're the one who's from here. I don't think they grow around here, though. Aren't they in like Louisiana, places like that?”
Adele groaned as they headed back towards his dusty truck.
“I know, but I can't go to Louisiana, it's too far.”
“Too far for what?”
“Too far to ...”
She stopped walked. She'd been about to say “too far to get to” when the ball in her mind had dropped. Yes, Louisiana was too far – too far to drive to. The hospital had put Jones on a mandatory one week leave of absence, and the waitress had said he drove out of town that morning. Drove. Wherever he went, it couldn't have been too far away, not if he was coming back in a couple days.
“I need a map,” she said, jogging the rest of the way to the truck.
While River drove them back to her apartment, Adele stared at the maps program on her phone, going back and forth between it and a search engine. It was ridiculous, the entire state of California was practically a vacation destination, and the southern area in particular. From L.A., a person could easily drive to San Diego, Death Valley, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Yosemite, even Mexico.
Where would you go, Jones? I know you. I know you better than anyone else. I can do this. Where would you go?
“If you were going on vacation somewhere down here,” she spoke fast as they pulled up to her building. “And you wanted to go somewhere you could relax, get away from stress and stuff, where would you go?”
River thought about it for a while, waiting till he'd parked before answering.
“If I wanted to de-stress, I'd go to the beach,” he answered. Adele frowned. It didn't feel right. Jones hadn't minded the beach in her dreams, they'd played in the ocean plenty of times, but he'd never seemed particularly drawn to it, either.
“Where else?” she asked, pinching her fingers together over her screen, then drawing them apart, zooming in and out of the map.
“I don't know, there's so much here, Adele. You know it better than me. The hills? Or maybe even farther up north – there's a big lake up there, right? And it's cooler weather. Probably perfect for fishing, or great for camping.”
Clarity ripped through her brain with such ferocity, she almost shouted. She dropped her phone and pressed her hands against her face.
“We used to come here when I was young. Fishing. I was a horrible fisherman, but my dad brought me anyway, year after year,” Jones had said. “... this cabin was the best I could do.”
“River,” she breathed, peeking between her fingers. “You're a genius. Fishing. Camping. He's at the cabin.”
“What cabin?” River asked, his mouth full of Reuben sandwich. She shook her head, then leaned close and kissed him on the cheek.
“You're the best. Thanks for the ride,” she said as she yanked some cash out of her wallet. She dropped the gas money on her seat just as she hopped out the passenger door.
“You gonna be okay?” he called out, almost choking on some fries.
“I think so,” she said, then she waved goodbye and shut the truck door. She turned to head inside and realized she was grinning like an idiot.
“I really, really think so.”
24
Ocean Reins stared out the window. It was raining again. A light drizzle, nothing compared to the harsh winters they got in Philadelphia. So it should've been funny to see all the Angelinos scurrying about, acting as if they were in a hurricane. But he wasn't laughing. Wasn't even smiling.
He was at loose ends. August had flown back to the east coast for a couple games. River had a full time job there in L.A. and had even found an apartment for himself – it looked like the move to Los Angeles would be permanent for him. Their parents were packing everything up to make the move back to Philadelphia.
And then there was Ocean, not doing anything at all.
It was time to shit or get off the pot. His department in Philadelphia was regularly sending him emails, asking when he was planning on coming home. He couldn't stay on leave forever, especially not now that Adele was out of the hospital.
Going home was the logical choice. He had a life in Philly. An apartment, a job, a lofty title. Detective Reins.
Though when he stopped to really think about it, what kind of life was he going back to? An apartment he'd sublet – he'd have to kick out the renter. A job that had become somewhat stagnant, and a title that really didn't seem so important anymore. All he did was work, go home, eat, and sleep. Rinse and repeat, every day. Did he really want to return to that?
But do you really want to stay in Los Angeles, of all places?
“Looks like it hurts.”
Ocean snapped his head up and was surprised to see Zoey Blanke heading towards him. She didn't wait for an invitation, just pulled out the chair across from him and plopped down on it.
“What hurts?” he asked, watching as she dropped a huge purse at her feet before shrugging out of her jacket.
“You. Thinking hard. Looked painful,” she explained. He rolled his eyes.
“Always a pleasure being around you, Blanke.”
“Shut up. I'm the most stimulating part of your boring-as-fuck day,” she informed him. He chuckled and looked back down at his coffee.
She was right. He wasn't sure what was going on between them, but ever since their mini-make-out session, there'd been a tension between them. Usually, it bubbled over into nit picking and arguing. Other times, though, he'd catch her staring at his arms and hands. Or he'd find himself getting lost in thought as he watched her lips move.
It seemed fate was determined to help them along, too, because he kept bumping into her. L.A. was a huge city, there were millions of people living in it. The amount of times they ran into each other was ridiculous.
Or a sign.
“So what brings a ray of sunshine like you into Starbucks today?” he sighed, leaning back in his seat. She shrugged and pulled a pack of cigarettes out of her boot.
“I was walking by, saw you inside. Thought I'd say hi and see if I could wait out the rain,” she explained, nodding towards the window.
“You might be waiting a while,” he warned her. She continued nodding and drew a cigarette out before tucking the pack away.
“A real bummer. Have you seen Adele lately?” she asked, finally looking at him again. She obviously wanted to smoke, and he wondered why she didn't step outside and give into the craving.
“I drove her home from the hospital the other day, after she fainted.”
“Did you ever find out what that was about?”
“Anemia or malnutrition,” he shrugged. “But there was something else weird – she said some stuff about that nurse.”
“What nurse?”
“Lund.”
“Ah. Nurse Nordic Hottie.”
Ocean rolled his eyes.
“Sure, that guy. She wouldn't really talk about it with me, but she said something to her doctor that got the guy in trouble, had everyone all up in arms.”
“Really? What did she say?” Zoey asked.
“I don't know. Like I said, she wouldn't tell me. I've been trying to call her all day. I guess River took her to some diner earlier and she grilled the waitress there about Lund.”