Free Silver Lake by Kathryn Knight Page A

tell you he’s going to stay the night?”
    “I heard. And I guess everyone is waiting for you to make a plan of action for the next get-together.”
    That lightened her mood. “Excellent. Although I’m not sure I should be the one making the plan, since I’m the least busy among us.”
    “Lucky,” he commented, and she laughed. He smiled back at her and extended his hand to help her up. Grabbing the chairs, he said, “Let’s go find the others, then, and look at a calendar.”

Chapter 10
    The morning sun streamed in as Rain stretched in bed. An okay night’s sleep, she decided. Although she’d had a disturbing dream, she had managed to fall right back asleep. In the dream, Brandy had been trying to tell her something. Her lips were moving, but a loud, billowing fog swirled around her, making her long hair undulate and obscuring any sound. Rain had jerked awake, frustrated but not afraid. As she drifted back off to sleep, she vowed to put a notebook on the night table, just in case Brandy’s words became intelligible in the future.
    Allie called out from the porch as soon as Rain emerged from the bathroom. “Come out here, Rain, I’m on lifeguard duty!”
    “Hold on a sec, I need some coffee.”
    Carrying her full mug carefully, she joined Allie at the little wrought iron table in the corner of the porch. She blew on the steam as her eyes scanned the lake. Jason’s form cut through the water, creating a wake parallel to the shoreline as he swam his laps.
    Rain tested the temperature of her coffee, then took a big gulp. “I’m the last to get up?”
    “I’ve only been up for a half hour. Apparently A.J. already left; he had to get to an important afternoon meeting or something. So Jason was very impatiently waiting for someone to wake up and watch him.”
    “A.J. left? I didn’t even get to say goodbye. I can’t believe it’s Tuesday already.”
    Allie nodded in agreement. “I know, the time has just flown by. And I’m going home tomorrow. That leaves just you and Jason. Will that be weird?”
    “What do you mean? Did he say something?” Rain’s words spilled out as heat surged to her cheeks.
    Allie’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Then a look of understanding came over her face and she leaned forward excitedly.
    “Have you been holding out on me? Something happened, didn’t it?”
    Rain dropped her head in her hands with a sigh. She should know better than to speak before she’d finished her first cup of coffee. “Nothing happened,” she mumbled.
    “You’re going to have to do better than that,” Allie insisted. “Tell me!”
    Slumping back in her chair, Rain described her Sunday night encounter with Jason. Her empty stomach churned with fresh anxiety as she hurried through the story.
    Allie listened intently, her hazel eyes flicking between Rain and the lake. “Well, that does sound awkward,” she allowed when Rain had finished.
    “Yes.”
    “But that’s because of the way you two feel about each other! There wouldn’t be any tension if the underlying emotions weren’t there.”
    Rain shrugged wearily. “Doesn’t matter. This whole reunion thing is supposed to be about Brandy, not me and Jason.”
    “Well, you got A.J. to agree to come back—that’s huge!”
    “He was very adamant that he doesn’t believe in ghosts, though.” Rain crossed her arms and blew out a frustrated breath.
    “We don’t need him to believe. We just need him to come here.” Allie said gently.
    “He did come here. We all did, and where did it get us? Weird stuff is happening, but we’re not one bit closer to the truth. Maybe it’s pointless.”
    Allie frowned. “That doesn’t sound like you. Where’s your positive attitude?”
    “I think I left it with my self-respect,” Rain answered wryly.
    A hint of a smile crossed Allie’s face before her eyes suddenly widened in alarm. “Oh my God, he’s gone!” she shouted, jumping up so fast her chair fell backward. “Where is he?” She ran