D. Graham - And Then What?

“Oh my God, Murphy. That is so exciting.”

He held his hands up in defense. “What’s so exciting? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t say anything.”

I lunged over and hugged him around the waist. “Have you told Trevor yet?”

“Uh.” He glanced over his shoulder. “There’s nothing to tell. Are you having one of your Spidey senses or something?”

“No. I had a vision this morning but it wasn’t about you and Rene. I just noticed that she’s not drinking and you look all happy and goofy. There’s something to tell, isn’t there?”

He rolled his eyes and twisted the cap off a beer. “Zip it.”

I bounced up and down on my toes, about to burst from the news. “When can I unzip it?”

He shook his head in an attempt to discourage my enthusiasm as Rene joined us in the kitchen. He shot me a cautionary glare.

She smiled and slid in next to him. “Sorry to interrupt, but I have to go to back to work soon. What time is Trevor supposed to arrive?”

“Eight.” I looked at the clock on the stove, which showed eight forty-five. “What time do you have?” I asked Murphy.

He took his phone out of his pocket and glanced at the screen. “Eight forty-five.”

“Are you sure?”

We both knew it was out of character for Trevor to be late, but Murphy said, “He probably got caught up in traffic.”

“For forty-five minutes? He would have called if he was going to be this late.” I texted him to ask if he was on his way.

Murphy’s eyes darted away from mine. He knew I was right.

“He’ll be here.” Murphy reached across the counter, grabbed a couple of pieces of sushi, and popped them both into his mouth, probably so he wouldn’t be able to say anything. He glanced at me one more time, then stretched his arm across Rene’s shoulder and walked away.

Trevor still hadn’t responded to my text when Sophie stepped into the kitchen to get a new bottle of wine. She had on a black mini skirt and she’d put on one of my mom’s frilly white aprons so she looked like a French maid. The guys seemed to be enjoying it.

“Rene’s not drinking,” she said with a curious eyebrow lift.

Partly to avoid divulging anything Murphy wouldn’t want me to, and partly because I was actually starting to worry, I said, “Trevor’s almost an hour late.”

She waved her hand to dismiss my concern. “Don’t worry about it. You know what he’s like. He probably came across an accident and helped some people who needed saving or something. What did you tell him you guys were going to be doing?”

“Nothing specific. I didn’t want to sound suspicious, so I just said come over around eight.”

“Maybe he didn’t realize it was a set plan. Just call him.”

“Okay, yeah. Right. Just call him.” I pulled out my phone and locked myself in the bathroom so he wouldn’t hear the music or the people and ruin the surprise. It rang and rang and then his voicemail kicked in. “Hi, Trev. Just wondering if everything is all right? I thought we were supposed to meet at my place at eight. Call me.”

All of his friends and the guys from Search and Rescue shot awkward glances at me when I returned to the living room. To avoid their stares I ducked back into the kitchen and updated Sophie. “He didn’t answer,” I mumbled.

Sophie didn’t say anything and I could tell by her silence that she didn’t think it was good.

Trevor’s dad wandered into the kitchen and ate a few chicken wings before he realized there was tension. “What’s going on?”

“Trevor was supposed to be here at eight and he isn’t answering his phone,” I said.

Jim grabbed another chicken wing. “He’ll be here.” He piled a few other appetizers on a plate, then went back into the living room. When he sat back down, he leaned over to say something to Murphy. Murphy nodded and then got off the couch, walked towards the hallway, and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He rested up against the wall with his enormous back to me. Less than a minute later, he went back to sit beside Jim on the couch and whispered something. They both turned to look at me. When they saw that I was staring at them they both forced smiles before they turned back and pretended to watch the game.

By nine-fifteen, more people started asking when Trevor was supposed to be arriving. By nine-forty-five, they made polite excuses for why they needed to get back up to Squamish. By ten o’clock, the only people left were my mom, my granddad, Jim, Kailyn, Sophie, and Murphy.

“Why didn’t Trevor come to his own surprise party?” Kailyn asked her dad in a heartbreaking way.

“I don’t know, Kiki. Something must have come up.” He patted her shoulder in a reassuring way, even though his expression didn’t sell it.

There was a long, heavy silence as they all either stared at the floor or fidgeted with whatever happened to be within reach. “I’m sure he’s fine,” Sophie finally said and hugged me.

“I had a vision this morning,” I blurted out. The words dropped like a grenade. Everyone except Kailyn turned at the same time and stared at me. “In the vision, I couldn’t find him. He was lost and I was calling his name, but he didn’t answer. I’m scared it means something bad has happened.”

They shot uneasy glances at each other. Ever since I was a kid I’d experienced intuitive visions. I hadn’t had many since I moved away from Britannia Beach, but the ones I did have were very accurate and gave me warning before things like a pop quiz in my lab and when my granddad fell from a ladder in his condo in Squamish. Unfortunately, I didn’t see that one quite early enough to warn him and prevent him from getting a concussion, but luckily I sent Sophie over to check on him. She found him on the floor and took him to the hospital.

I had assumed the vision I’d had in the morning was a mixed signal or symbolic of something else because Trevor never got lost. He found people who were lost. It still didn’t make sense, but the fact that he was not where he was supposed to be was a very bad sign.

Sophie dropped dishes into the sink of soapy water and scrubbed vigorously. Murphy left the room, probably to call Trevor again. He returned only a minute later and shook his head at Jim, which made my mom walk out of the kitchen. She sat down in an armchair and stared out the floor-to-ceiling window. Her hand shook as she pressed it to her mouth.

“Maybe he’s studying and lost track of time. Or, I bet he fell asleep,” Sophie offered. “Doug missed a gig once because he fell asleep. The band tried to get a hold of him, but he’d turned the ringer off on his phone.”

“You’re probably right.” I checked my phone again to see if I had missed a text. “You guys can head back to Squamish. I’ll go by his dorm to make sure he’s okay.”

Sophie put her coat on. Jim looked as if he didn’t want to leave, but it was getting late and they still had to drive back to Britannia Beach. “I’ll take Kailyn with me,” Jim said to Murphy. “Thanks for bringing her down.”

“No problem. I’ll go by the dorm with Derian and call you later,” Murphy said.

Everyone except Murphy left. I rushed to my room and changed into yoga pants and a sweatshirt, then grabbed my purse. Mom was still sitting in the armchair staring out the window with a distant look on her face. It was the expression she got whenever she was thinking about my dad and the accident. “I’ll call you when we find him,” I said as I took long strides through the living room and met Murphy at the door. It was hard to tell if she heard me. She didn’t move.

Murphy and I didn’t talk as we waited for the elevator, or as we walked to his old green GMC pick-up truck that was parked on the street in front of the building. He opened the door for me, then walked around the back to get in the driver’s side. The truck shocks shifted and squeaked from his weight.