a fog. He wondered if the others felt it. Cameron was quiet, eagerly watching the screen of his cell phone to see if there was a signal so he could call Becky. He never said she was his girlfriend, but Sean recognized the funny, faraway look on that young face as Cameron watched the miles go by out the window.
By midmorning, the landscape had shifted to the harsh drama of the Columbia gorge, and the highway was nearly empty. Bald mountains reared up on either side of the river, and yellow grasslands rolled away to the east, into eternity. They found a driving range near Gadsden, and that was where Sean decided to stop for lunch. There were only two other vehicles in the parking lot, but he still felt self-conscious about the bread-wrapper design on the RV.
“Nobody eats until each of us hits a bucket of balls,” he stated. Charlie had her own set of cut-down clubs, and Cameron had his dad’s. Sean had brought along Crystal’s clubs for Lily, though when he handed her the pink designer bag, her brow knit in a frown.
“What?” he asked.
“This stop wasn’t on the schedule.”
“It’s on my schedule. Loosen up, Lily. Come on, I’ll show you how to hit a drive.”
She protested, of course, right up until he stationed her with a bucket of balls and a driver and teed one up for her. She hacked away, missing or topping the ball, hitting a grounder once or twice.
“Try this grip,” Cameron said, showing her. “No, not so tight. Easy.”
Sean felt a welling of pride for his nephew. The kid had problems, sure, but he had a heart, too. Sean and Red had argued long and hard about choosing a caddie, Red wanting someone with experience and a record of success. Sean wouldn’t hear of it. Cameron would caddie for him or the deal was off.
“Like this, Cam?” asked Charlie. “Like this?” She and Ashley had a plastic Wiffle ball they were chasing around.
Watching the kids with Lily, Sean felt something else, a funny warmth in his gut. Two months ago, the idea of spending the summer with a schoolmarm and three kids would have sounded like a joke to him—or a nightmare. Now he couldn’t think of anywhere he’d rather be.
They fixed sandwiches for lunch, though he noticed Lily couldn’t quite bring herself to try the smooth white bread his sponsor had provided in such generous quantities. Once they hit the road again, Lily kept her word about being Charlie’s tutor. She launched into teacher mode, and the afternoon was spent studying landmarks along the trail of Lewis and Clark. Amazingly, she had managed to find the historical significance in practically every bend in the road—the signal fire Meriwether Lewis had used when he lost some of his party at Dry Canyon, the rock formation around the rapids where they’d spent six weeks in one springtime. Glancing in the rearview mirror, he saw Ashley unhappily sucking her thumb and Charlie yawning with boredom. Cameron looked too bored even to yawn.
Sean turned off the highway, following signs to a Taste-T-Freeze drive-in.
“This wasn’t on the schedule, either,” Lily said.
“Oh, yes, it was,” he said. “According to local lore, Lewis and Clark stopped here for onion rings in the winter of 1811.” He pulled up in front of a menu board covered with illustrations of dancing chocolate-dipped ice-cream cones. “This was where Sacajawea befriended them for bringing soft-serve to the savages.”
“Very funny,” Lily muttered.
“I love you, Uncle Sean,” Charlie shouted from the back of the RV.
“Lubyou,” yelled Ashley.
Sean clutched at his heart. “God, you girls slay me. Take the wheel, Lily. I’m dying here.”
Munchkin-like giggles erupted from the rear.
After they placed their order, Charlie decided to teach Ashley “The Rainbow Connection,” and the two of them sang the first line loudly, over and over again. Cameron put in the earpieces of his iPod. Sean laughed at the expression on Lily’s face.
“And to think,” he said, “you gave up Italy for this.”
chapter 38
Late at night, Lily stood at the edge of the gorge that reared up around the Snake River. A perfect moon at the height of fullness spilled pale light down into the canyon, turning the fast-moving water into a stream of silver. In front of her, the darkness was pierced by stars. She couldn’t tell how deep the gorge was, but judging by the silence, the river was a good distance down. She lifted her gaze to the moon. The clarity of the air