was then that Angel decided she’d discovered another thing about Ty. Yes, the lame jokes and useless facts could get old pretty quick. But the guy could cook. It wasn’t sophisticated and it certainly wasn’t healthy, but it was the some of the best food she’d ever tasted: rump steaks marinated in a homemade chilli sauce and barbecued until they were charred on the outside but so soft you could cut them with a spoon; chicken wings sticky with honey; shrimp in lime; corn dripping in butter; potato salad and coleslaw. They tucked their heads down, all seven of them, and bashed elbows until they were fit to burst. Angel even managed to fill her plastic tumbler with Blue Moon when her mom was looking the other way.
Afterwards, sitting on logs around the campfire, with the evening sun blushing the clouds to pink and setting a flame to the granite peaks, and with the sound of the river like soft applause, Angel looked at the gathered faces and wondered if they might just all work out. Her mom and Ty; her sister Hope and her brother Elliot; her new siblings, Regan and Luke. She’d been sceptical of this trip. Even now, she was unsure of how Vegas would suit her, and she grew tearful when she thought of what she’d left behind. But when she saw Ty put his arm around her mom and saw her mom rest her head against his shoulder, Angel decided that she might be able to do this, would at least try to do this. For her mom’s sake if no other’s.
When the stars came out, she asked if she could go down to the river and watch the moon floating on the water. Her mom sat up straight, and Angel just knew she was going to tell her it was too late. But then Regan stood up and said she wanted to see it too.
They walked to the river’s edge in companionable silence. Angel found a flat boulder and they sat, staring across the water at the silhouettes of California black oaks and incense cedar. She felt something pressing against her thigh, and when she put her hand into her pocket her fingers closed on the amber locket the stranger had given her earlier that day.
‘What is it?’ Regan asked, leaning over.
Angel frowned. She hadn’t really thought about the woman since their encounter, which was odd, considering how much she had affected her at the time.
‘Just a locket.’
‘Where’d you get it?’
‘Someone gave it to me. A gift.’
‘It’s beautiful. Kind of spooky, though.’
‘I like it.’
‘Yeah. It’s cool. Looks really old.’
Angel swung the locket like a pendulum between her fingers. Its chain resembled a series of interlinked silver beetles. They’d stopped for lunch at a roadside diner on Route 41, somewhere north of Fresno. And that’s where she had met the stranger.
The diner had a picnic area. Just a few scarred benches and a climbing frame for kids. While Ty and her mom took a table inside and figured out what everyone wanted to eat, Angel came out to check her emails and escape the diner’s piped R ’n’ B. The locket’s owner appeared a few moments later, sitting at the second bench with a coffee and a pastry.
Angel couldn’t help but stare. The woman was, without doubt, the most beautiful creature she had ever seen. Her features were so startlingly perfect, in fact – so proportioned – she didn’t seem real: seaweed-green eyes striated with shards of emerald and pearl; pale wheat-blond hair falling over her shoulders in tresses that shimmered with captured sunlight; cheekbones that looked like they had been cut by a jeweller. She wore a white cotton summer dress under a black cardigan, and python-skin cowboy boots. Her bag looked like it was made from snakeskin, too. The amber locket hung at her throat.
The woman took a sip of her coffee and bit into her pastry. Not in an attractive way. She opened her mouth wide and tore off a huge piece, chewing it quickly, as if she hadn’t eaten in days. In another two bites the pastry was gone, leaving nothing but a few flakes dusting the
Afterwards, sitting on logs around the campfire, with the evening sun blushing the clouds to pink and setting a flame to the granite peaks, and with the sound of the river like soft applause, Angel looked at the gathered faces and wondered if they might just all work out. Her mom and Ty; her sister Hope and her brother Elliot; her new siblings, Regan and Luke. She’d been sceptical of this trip. Even now, she was unsure of how Vegas would suit her, and she grew tearful when she thought of what she’d left behind. But when she saw Ty put his arm around her mom and saw her mom rest her head against his shoulder, Angel decided that she might be able to do this, would at least try to do this. For her mom’s sake if no other’s.
When the stars came out, she asked if she could go down to the river and watch the moon floating on the water. Her mom sat up straight, and Angel just knew she was going to tell her it was too late. But then Regan stood up and said she wanted to see it too.
They walked to the river’s edge in companionable silence. Angel found a flat boulder and they sat, staring across the water at the silhouettes of California black oaks and incense cedar. She felt something pressing against her thigh, and when she put her hand into her pocket her fingers closed on the amber locket the stranger had given her earlier that day.
‘What is it?’ Regan asked, leaning over.
Angel frowned. She hadn’t really thought about the woman since their encounter, which was odd, considering how much she had affected her at the time.
‘Just a locket.’
‘Where’d you get it?’
‘Someone gave it to me. A gift.’
‘It’s beautiful. Kind of spooky, though.’
‘I like it.’
‘Yeah. It’s cool. Looks really old.’
Angel swung the locket like a pendulum between her fingers. Its chain resembled a series of interlinked silver beetles. They’d stopped for lunch at a roadside diner on Route 41, somewhere north of Fresno. And that’s where she had met the stranger.
The diner had a picnic area. Just a few scarred benches and a climbing frame for kids. While Ty and her mom took a table inside and figured out what everyone wanted to eat, Angel came out to check her emails and escape the diner’s piped R ’n’ B. The locket’s owner appeared a few moments later, sitting at the second bench with a coffee and a pastry.
Angel couldn’t help but stare. The woman was, without doubt, the most beautiful creature she had ever seen. Her features were so startlingly perfect, in fact – so proportioned – she didn’t seem real: seaweed-green eyes striated with shards of emerald and pearl; pale wheat-blond hair falling over her shoulders in tresses that shimmered with captured sunlight; cheekbones that looked like they had been cut by a jeweller. She wore a white cotton summer dress under a black cardigan, and python-skin cowboy boots. Her bag looked like it was made from snakeskin, too. The amber locket hung at her throat.
The woman took a sip of her coffee and bit into her pastry. Not in an attractive way. She opened her mouth wide and tore off a huge piece, chewing it quickly, as if she hadn’t eaten in days. In another two bites the pastry was gone, leaving nothing but a few flakes dusting the
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