he was poking fun at him. Maybe he wasn’t as conscious as Jeff was of how much he used the expression.
“It was from Evan.”
The instant Jeff heard the name, a dash of cold rippled through him. The surrounding darkness pulsed and subtly pressed in on him, making it hard to catch his breath.
“Evan Pike?” Jeff thought his voice sounded like a faint echo, reverberating hollowly in the darkness.
“Yeah. That Evan. And guess what?”
“I couldn’t guess … not in a million years,” Jeff said, barely aware this time that he was imitating Tyler.
“He wants to have a reunion.”
“A what?”
“A camp reunion.”
“A camp reunion.”
Jeff didn’t like the way he kept repeating everything Tyler said, but the shot of rum he’d had before bed, and being awakened from a deep sleep had thrown him off. He was a little embarrassed that Tyler had caught him off guard like this. He liked to think he was always on top of his game.
“What do you mean, a camp reunion?”
“At Camp Tapiola,” Tyler said, “on Lake Onwego.”
Jeff sucked in his breath with a loud whoosh, but as hard as he tried to focus, his mind was a roaring white blank.
He had no idea how to respond.
The first, most reasonable thing would be to read the e-mail tomorrow, assuming Evan had sent one to him, and see what he thought. Evan had to have invited him if he invited Tyler. There was no reason to think otherwise, but then, knowing Evan—or at least Evan the way he had been when he was twelve years old—he couldn’t be sure without actually checking his e-mail.
“I—ah … I dunno,” Jeff finally said. “Camp Tapiola—Jeeze, I haven’t thought about that place in … ages … not since … well … you know—”
He sighed as he ran his hand across the slick sheen of sweat that sprinkled his forehead. It wasn’t just the humidity, he knew, because an icy chill had formed in the pit of his stomach. He felt like he’d swallowed a snowball.
“I know,” Tyler said breathlessly. “Me, neither.”
Why does he sound so excited about this? Jeff wondered.
“He’s inviting all of us from the tent.”
“All of us?”
There’s that echo again.
“Who does that include?”
“I assume he means him, you, me, Mike, Ralph, and Fred … all of us guys from Tent Twelve.”
“Fred Bowen? Jesus, I’ve always wondered what happened to him. You have any idea?”
“Not a clue, but Evan says he wants to have all of us out there if we can make it.”
“To the camp, you mean.”
Jeff couldn’t imagine why he was suddenly so cranky. Was it just because he’d been awakened so late, or was it because of the memories this phone call was stirring up?
“I—uh … Jeeze, Ty, I dunno. Like I said, I haven’t seen any e-mail yet, so I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He made an effort to keep the pique out of his voice, but he was sure he wasn’t doing a very good job of it.
“Yeah … Sorry,” Tyler said, lowering his voice and sounding truly apologetic. “My bad.”
It was just like Tyler to blame himself. Maybe he hadn’t changed all that much in the intervening years. Jeff narrowed his eyes and tried to picture his childhood friend now. It was difficult—no; it was impossible to imagine Tyler Crosby a grown man—a successful Hollywood lawyer, no less.
“No need to apologize,” Jeff said, hoping he hadn’t hurt his old friend’s feelings.
“I probably should have called you in the morning, huh?” Tyler said. “I definitely should have, but I was so excited about the idea I didn’t even think about the time difference, but after I got the e-mail … I just started thinking, you know? Remembering the good ole’ days, and I just … You know … I thought it was a really cool idea.”
“Yeah … No, I understand,” Jeff said.
He was still having trouble focusing his thoughts as he stood up and snapped on the bedside light. He squinted in the sudden burst of yellow light that made his eyes start to water. He cleared his throat and rubbed his eyes, forcing back the sleepiness. He had never liked waking up too fast.
“It’s just that … It’s been so long, you know?” Tyler said. “I mean … we haven’t been very good—none of us have—about staying in touch. I—” He sniffed with laughter, and Jeff could picture him shaking his head at the thought. “Remember how we had that whole BFF thing going?