Between the Stars

Traffic slowed to a crawl on the highway as Sam bounced his leg and stared out the window. An hour had passed since they'd left Marlene's office. They should have been home by now.

"What's taking so long?" Try as he might, he couldn't keep the annoyance out of his tone.

"I don't know, honey," his mom replied. "There must be an accident or something."

"Where's the fire?" His dad glanced back at him, his expression concerned.

"Charlie's coming home today. I promised I'd meet her at the lighthouse when I got back," he told them. "We should have been back by now."

"I'm sure it'll clear up soon," his mom said distractedly as someone tried to cut in front of her.

Sam let out a sigh and leaned his head against the window. Cars merged around them as they all tried to find a faster way through. The sun shone in his eyes and the wailing of a siren echoed through the closed windows as an ambulance flew by on the other side of the highway. He pulled out his phone as the car pulled forward and called Charlie's home phone, only to be greeted by the robotic voice of the answering machine. He grimaced. She was probably already waiting for him at the lighthouse.

"Hey Charlie, don't know if you'll get this or not. I'm on my way back but I wanted to let you know I'll be late. There's an accident on the highway or something. I'll meet you at your place when I get back and we can go to the lighthouse. Can't wait to hear about your trip. See you soon."

He hung up the call and gazed back out the window as the car crawled forward again.

***

Once they got home, Sam didn't waste any time. The second his mom put the car in park he threw open the door and took off down the driveway.

"I'll be back later!" he called over his shoulder.

The sun was already low in the sky but he knew his parents wouldn't worry as long as he checked in. As he headed down the road he mentally rehearsed his apology again. Their trip had taken two hours longer than he'd expected thanks to the awful traffic from that accident. He'd tried to call Charlie again when they reached the outskirts of town but there was still no answer. There was no telling whether she was still at the lighthouse, so he decided the best bet would be to stop by her house on the way in case she'd given up on waiting. A rueful smile tugged at his mouth at the thought of the lecture she'd probably prepared for him, for daring to delay her from telling him about her trip.

It only took him ten minutes to get to Charlie's house. As he approached the driveway he noticed the red truck was still nowhere to be seen. The gate creaked open and crashed back against the chain link fence as he walked up to the front door and knocked on the worn wood.

No answer.

He tried to peer in the side window. The house was dark, and he didn't see any movement. He knocked again and waited another minute. Nothing.

Strange. Maybe she was still waiting for him. He wouldn't put it past her to stay at the lighthouse all day regardless of whether he was there or not. Just to be sure, he called her home phone one more time. It echoed faintly from inside the house, but no one answered and he found himself wishing again that she had a cell phone. He hung up and knocked one more time for good measure, then retreated back down the walkway. Once he reached the street he turned around to make sure Charlie wasn't sitting on the roof. No glint of copper hair greeted him and his heart sank a bit as he headed toward town.

The sun was just starting to set over the lake as he approached the woods; streaks of pink shot through the sky overhead as he followed the trail into the trees. He picked up his pace when he reached the turnoff and jogged down the hill until he reached the beach. The sun was almost to the horizon now, and the clouds around it burned bright scarlet as Sam stepped onto the pier. No silhouette sat perched among the beams, and as he approached the ladder he noticed the chain was still locked. Disappointment flooded through him and he huffed out a sigh. He'd been looking forward to seeing Charlie all day but the stupid trip had just taken too long.