Chapter 31
Adam
Adam tried to hold on to the warmth of Carly in his arms, but that was quickly replaced by the coolness of his hand on Shireen’s
shoulder.
Wait, Shireen . . . She’d been gone for two loops, and now she was here. He blinked into the reset and nearly tackled Shireen as soon as she came
into focus. “You’re back!” he exclaimed at the same time as she said, “You’re back!”
Adam pulled away, confused, but sure she was having residual side effects. “Are you all right?” He held her face in his hands
and inspected her eyes for signs of distress.
“Adam,” she carefully said. “You were gone.”
He paused. Could she be suffering a kind of head trauma?
“Shireen, I think you should sit down. I’ll explain everything.” He started to lead her toward the big leather chair behind
his desk, but she grabbed his wrist.
“No, Adam, trust me. I came back many loops ago. I was gone for two of them. Then you vanished. You’ve been gone for a long
time.” She gave him a steadying look and he began to understand what she was saying.
“I was gone?” he asked.
“Yes.” She sharply exhaled and released her grip on his wrist.
“And Carly?” He asked the question, but had already begun to open the office door. If Shireen had returned and Adam vanished,
would Adam’s return mean that Carly had vanished?
He tripped out of the office, unable to keep up with the pace of his own spinning thoughts, and that was when he saw her:
combat boots, black dress, glasses and the sweet round face dotted with a lush pout.
Carly. His Carly. She ran to him, and he ran to her, and he scooped her up and spun her around like they were in a damn movie.
“You’re here,” he breathed into her ear.
She pulled back, holding on to his arms and breathing heavily. Her eyes scanned him as she said, “You were gone for so long—ten
loops.”
His eyes widened. Ten loops? He hadn’t felt any different. All he’d known was being with Carly after the vow renewal, and
then the reset.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
Carly laughed. “I’m not a scientist, but I know how to count.” She tucked a strand of hair behind his ear and added, “I didn’t
give up, though. Every loop I tried to bring you here. I didn’t know what it would take, but I knew you’d come back.”
Adam wanted to kiss her. He wanted to kiss her until they forgot that he’d been missing. He bent down to meet her when his
phone rang in his jacket pocket.
He stilled. Carly stilled. Shireen came out of the office. “Is that your phone?” Shireen asked.
Adam reached for his cell, pulled it out of his pocket and saw the name Dad flashing on the screen. “Oh my God,” Adam said, swiping to answer the call. “Hello?”
Screaming. Lots of screaming was all Adam heard on the line when he answered. He had to hold it away from his ear and, as
he waited for the screams of his parents to end, Carly and Shireen took out their phones, too.
Shireen was on a call with Dean. Carly typed furiously into her iPhone. “Hi, Marilyn,” she mumbled to herself. “Would love
to discuss! Thank you so much for the read! I will get back to you with availabilities as soon as possible.”
Adam smiled at Carly, and she smiled back. A shiver ran through at the possibilities of what this could mean. Was the loop . . .
over? Did they somehow only have cell service for a moment?
“Adam!” Sheila’s voice screeched from the phone.
“Mom, yes!” he finally answered. “I’m okay, I’m okay. Can you two come to the funeral home? I’ll see you soon.” Adam couldn’t
quite understand his parents as they spoke over each other. But he hung up and put the phone away.
While he wanted to get back to kissing Carly, Shireen approached.
“I’ve been wanting to give this back to you for a while.” Shireen placed her wedding and engagement ring into Adam’s hand.
Adam took off his wedding band, too. Shireen held his hand, and the place where their rings were. Her skin was cool against
his palm, and he was suddenly grateful for this moment with her, where they could have a goodbye that was mutual.
“We both deserve to be happy,” she added. “I hope you find that again.”
Then Shireen gave Carly a nod, and she turned on her heel to head out the front door.
As soon as Shireen was gone, Carly began to sob, and he wasn’t sure if she was happy or sad. Adam led Carly to the sofa in the hallway, wrapped her in his arms and let her curl onto his lap. “What’s going on in there?” he gently asked.
“I just can’t believe that you’re here. Like, a small part of me worried I might not see you again, but now I’m . . . overwhelmed.
I’m happy. I’m sad. I have a lot of feelings, okay?” She said all of this through tears. “This is who I am!”
“Don’t cry,” Adam said as he brushed thick tears away with the pad of his thumb. “Let’s figure this out together.”
Carly told him about the loop when he went missing; all of the ways she, Shireen, his parents and even Dean had tried to bring
him back. She told him about trying to cause an equal and opposite reaction by reliving memories of him. He heard about the
day she went to find her dad and came up with a plan to honor Bruce’s memory. And how, in the theater, she’d felt her dad
watching over her.
When Bill and Sheila barged through the front doors, Carly gave Adam space to hug and reassure them. Adam found it hard to
believe that he’d been gone, but he sensed the relief from his parents so strongly that it was impossible to deny.
“We’re going to therapy,” Sheila said. She wiped a spot on his cheek and added, “Family therapy, if that’s something you’d
be open to. While you were gone, Carly reminded us that secrets have no place when it comes to the people you love. And honey,
we’re just so sorry that we haven’t been honest with you, and you haven’t felt safe to be honest with us.”
“We’ll try and do better,” Bill added. “I mean, as good as two old people can.”
Adam chuckled. “Thanks, that means a lot to me.”
His mom seemed to be waiting for him to say more, though, and then it occurred to him. “It’s probably a two-sided coin? So, I’ll make sure to get help, too. I want to be better for all of you.” Adam spoke to his parents, but gave Carly a meaningful look at that last part.
“Should we go test the perimeter? See if we can actually drive out of here?” Bill asked.
Adam was still wrapping his head around being gone for so many loops and the cell phones working. He wanted to think before
speaking, which meant Carly took the reins.
“I have a feeling there will be a bottleneck heading out of the main road in Julian,” Carly said. “But I know someone who
can show us a way.”
Adam drove Carly, Bill and Sheila over to Rick’s airstream. His dad, who had never taken a close look at the place, was fairly
impressed by the flamingo motif.
“He’s really committed to an aesthetic,” Bill commented as he stepped out of the hearse.
“Cheap plastic is an aesthetic?” Sheila poked a flamingo and it immediately tipped over.
“I think Dolly Parton made cheap chic,” Carly said. “Come on, let’s see if Rick’s home.”
When they knocked on the door, though, there was no answer, not even the Beaches soundtrack playing in the background. Carly scanned the yard for a sign of him. “Maybe he’s gone to find Heather? His golf
cart is still here, though.”
As they walked back to the hearse, the Caltech van rattled down the road and came to a skittering halt, blocking their path
out. Dr. Song jumped out of the van and barreled toward them. “Adam, hey! You’re here.” She gave him a surprise hug, and he
almost didn’t have time to hug her back before she followed up with, “Rick? Have you seen him?”
“No, he’s not home,” Adam said, but she continued toward his airstream all the same. “His golf cart is here, too. We assumed he was with you.”
“Rick, open up!” Heather banged on the door. Then turned around, fisted her hands through her hair and said, “Last night we
were in this orchard, and he told me he was going to grab a flashlight. I was focused on my telescope when I saw this blinding
light. I mean, way too bright to be a flashlight. I called out his name and then reset.”
Adam wasn’t sure what to make of that story. He’d only just gotten back himself. Unless . . .
“Oh shit,” Carly said. “Do you think you traded places with Rick somehow?”