So I turned on the TV and just did that.
11
LEXI
2004 - LAUREL RIDGE HOUSE
Acar pulled into my driveway, tires crunching the gravel.
I ran to the window to look out. I quickly thought both:Oh good, Jen is here,and also,uh oh, Jen is here.
I grabbed the gun and opened the door, looking right and left.
She got out of the car and froze with her hand on the door. “What’s going on, Lexi? You look spooked.”
I waved her over. “I am spooked. Come inside. I need to tell you about it.”
I glanced down at the back-shack.
Her eyes followed mine and went wide. “Did someone break into the back house? Is someone here?”
“No, it’s a guest — just come inside. That’s not the scary part, not really.”
I let her in and closed and locked the door behind us. “First, how was your date?”
“You’ve got a gun waving around and you’re locking doors like you’re a fugitive from the law and you want to know about my date?”
“Yes, I want to know about your date. This is nothing.” I put the gun down. “Everything is fine.”
“My date was fine. He’s actually fantastic. I will see him again.”
“How come you’re here? You didn’t bump uglies? Weren’t feeling it?”
She laughed, “That’s so classy of you, how do you know we didn’t?”
My eyes went wide. “He’s high-pitched and fast in bed? Doesn’t sound like a fantastic guy, sounds kinda like you’re out of his league.”
She sat down on my kitchen stool with a sigh and put her handbag on the counter. “He’s not out of my league. One thing I’ve wondered as I’ve gotten older is — where do I get off with so many highfaluting ideas about my own worth? I’m not that great, honestly. He’s fine, he made me laugh. He kissed me nicely at my door. And he told me he wanted to see me again. I told him that I was expected here and so he let me off the hook. It was all very responsible and he was reasonable. I didn’t lie or make excuses. He didn’t get weird.”
“Great, he sounds like a keeper. I’m going to call him Mr Passable.”
She raised her brow. “So whatchu doing, nut job?”
“Who me? Just harboring a time traveler in my back-shack.”
“Say, what?”
“So,... you know the guy from the hospital the other morning?”
She looked incredulous and sarcastic. “No recollection at all, I totally forgot about the hottie with the Scottish accent, the chiseled cheek that could cut glass, and the wide burden-carrying shoulders.” Her eyes went jokingly far away and she sighed.
Then she redirected her narrowed eyes at me. “Are you saying he’s in your back house?”
I nodded. “Remember how I told you that there had been a weird fluke storm and then he was lying out on my grass?”
“Yeah, hence the endearment I used for you earlier, ‘nutjob’. The storm isnotrelated to it, probably.”
“But it is. Because now it’s happened againtwice. The next day, and just a little while ago, I think… without Cooper here, the days are running together. Both times there have been storms and he’s out on the lawn again. Practically the same place.” I opened a bottle of wine and got two glasses from the cabinet.
