Chapter Three
JULIA
“All right, I think that’s it.”
As I look down at the suitcases at my feet, I’m proud of myself for making it all fit.
It wasn’t a small task trying to pick which outfit to wear, so I brought three of my five options, just in case.
Then I added an outfit for Lucas, since I knew he wouldn’t bring one himself.
There are clothes for the travel days and our one full day in Vancouver before the concert.
I don’t know which route Lucas is planning to take, so the weather could range from blistering heat to chilly.
Not to mention the breeze that can come off the ocean when we get there.
It’s been a while since I’ve been to Vancouver, but I remember how cool the nights can be.
Glancing at my watch, I blow out a huff, frustrated he’s running behind. I shouldn’t be surprised; punctuality has never been his strong suit.
Some things never change.
The soft sole of my runner silently taps against the pavement as I cross my arms. My stomach is in knots, and I’m wondering if the double espresso I made this morning was a good idea with at least five hours of driving ahead of us.
My watch buzzes, alerting me to an incoming text.
Lucas
Don’t worry, I’m coming. I just stopped for supplies.
Rolling my eyes, I pull out my phone and type out a response.
Hurry. I have all my things at the curb. If I’m out here too long, Mr. Ridley will come out and start asking questions.
Why are you standing at the curb? You could wait inside.
I THOUGHT I would be saving us time by having all my bags out of the house. But that only works if the driver is punctual.
Throwing punches already? We don’t have to go, you know. I still have time to cancel the hotels, and I’m sure you could sell the tickets for a pretty penny.
I know he’s joking, but my pulse races so fast I can hear it in my ears, making it hard to concentrate on typing.
I’m sorry. Not complaining. No punches being thrown. Take your time. I’m here when you’re ready.
You make this too easy. See you in five.
I let out a sigh of relief, the knot loosening a little in my stomach. This is happening. We’re actually going to Vancouver to see True North.
I’ve been following the tour on social media, seeing everyone dressed up in their ’90s pop outfits, reliving their teenage years.
I’ve been feeling the excitement for weeks while I dusted off my old T-shirts and CDs, compiled playlists, and became shocked at how the lyrics and dance moves from twenty-five years ago are still fresh in my mind.
Movement across the street catches my eye, and the anxiety comes flooding back.
Lucas, I appreciate everything you’re doing for me, but please be here in three minutes. Mr. Ridley has noticed me.
The door opens.
TWO… S.O.S… Please come…
Bat signal received. Be there as fast as I can.
Three minutes later, Lucas’s black truck rumbles down the street while Mr. Ridley is mid-sentence, telling me the dangers of “the big city.” His dark, unruly eyebrows move animatedly as he speaks, hands flying in arcs between us.
“You just never know what you’re going to run into, Julia. And a nice girl like you…”
“Thank you for your concern, but please don’t worry about me. I’ll have Lucas with me, and we’re staying close to the arena…”
“Good, that’s good…” Mr. Ridley says, looking past me. “Very good.”
“It’s kind of you to look out for me and to offer to watch my house. I’ll only be gone a couple of days, though. I’m sure it will be fine.” Not to mention that this is Pinehaven, and the most dangerous thing that happens here is someone running a red light.
His eyes narrow as he scans my yard. “You never know, with that pack of raccoons on the loose. Anything can happen. Just last week they were seen taking a porch goose from Mrs. Jensen’s yard. What they’d want with that thing, I don’t know! It was dressed in a bathrobe, holding a cup of coffee!”
“Good morning, Mr. Ridley,” Lucas says through the open truck window as he pulls up to the curb. “Thanks for keeping Julia company until I got here.”
“Of course, you two have fun on your trip. And Julia, don’t worry. I’ll be watching for anything suspicious with those pesky critters. No funny shenanigans will be happening while you’re gone.”
“Um, thanks. We wouldn’t want any shenanigans around here, and I don’t have a porch goose dressed in, well… anything,” I say, sending a silent plea to Lucas as he gets out of the truck and rounds the front.
Mr. Ridley is nice enough and harmless, but if he catches you, the next thing you know, you’ve been listening for an hour about unruly rodents, conspiracy theories, and, if you’re lucky, aliens.
“There’s an idea! Maybe we could find a boy band goose. The Mighty Vs. The Porch Honkers. I know! INFormation!” Lucas exclaims.
“You’re not funny,” I mutter.
He looks at the bags at my feet. “Did you pack half your closet? Is someone else coming that I don’t know about?”
“Ha. Ha.” I give him a mock chuckle as I roll my eyes. “You can never be too prepared.”
“Can you believe this?” Lucas asks Mr. Ridley jokingly as he grabs the largest suitcase, lowers his tailgate, and slides it under the bed cover. “We’re going for four nights.”
“She’s right; best to be prepared. You never know what you’ll encounter,” Mr. Ridley replies. “There’s Mary. I have to talk to her about her dog. Silly thing got into a squabble with a squirrel the other day.”
I watch as he strolls down the street, catching the attention of our neighbour as she takes the dog in question out for a walk.
“Is he wearing a bathrobe?” Lucas asks as soon as the older man is out of earshot.
“It appears so.” I chuckle, grabbing a bag and sliding it into the back of the truck. “And he was worried about a goose in a bathrobe. Now, let’s get out of here before he starts talking about the raccoons again.”
“Okay, I can’t take this anymore,” I say, reaching for my phone.
I didn’t say anything about Lucas’s choice in music because he was driving, and saved me from Mr. Ridley’s questions, but I can’t take the endless guitar riffs.
Lucas groans. “Please don’t tell me you’re going to subject me to multiple days of nothing but True North songs. I’ve agreed to the concert, that doesn’t mean I want to listen to them any more than that.”
Clicking through my music app, I connect to his truck’s speakers and hit shuffle. “Don’t worry, I put other things on there.”
“Let me guess, more ’90s pop?”
“Mostly, yes. But I put songs on here that you used to listen to, too.”
He gives me side eye, his eyebrow raised. “You remember what I listened to in high school?”
I scoff. “Of course I do. You don’t think I remember how much I had to listen to The Killers?”
“Honestly, no.” He laughs. “It was almost thirty years ago.”
“I don’t want to think about that.” I shudder. “I refuse to acknowledge that we’re that old and high school was that long ago.”
He doesn’t say anything right away. He focuses on the highway in front of him, keeping his eyes straight ahead. The sun is setting behind the tall fir trees that line the pavement, the sky streaked with pinks and oranges.
The music changes from True North to “Mr. Brightside,” and a smile crosses his face. “I don’t think I’ve listened to this song since college.”
“You listened to them non-stop. Remember when this album came out? You refused to listen to anything else for a month, claiming it was the best album of all time.”
“I still stand by that.” He chuckles before he sobers. “So is this what it’s like for you? When you listen to True North?”
“Yes. And how it takes me back to a time when there weren’t bills, responsibilities, and world strife.”
“Yes, that too.”
I smile as my thoughts drift to when I found out about the concert.
Unlike what Lucas thinks, I haven’t listened to them consistently over the last twenty-five years.
“I guess. I haven’t really thought about it, but it plays a part, for sure.
Mostly, it just brings back an excitement I haven’t felt in years. ”
“What do you mean?”
I try to grasp what I’m trying to say. I have a great life, and it’s mostly turned out the way I’ve always wanted it to, but lately there’s been something missing.
I can’t put my finger on it, but one thing I’ve noticed is that I don’t feel the rush of excitement like I used to.
There aren’t any nervous jitters or quickened heartbeats.
No countdowns or growing anticipation for an event.
Maybe it’s part of growing up, but whatever it is, it’s not the same.
That is, until the True North concert was announced. All those feelings of excitement and anxious anticipation came rushing back in a tidal wave I wasn’t prepared for.
I’m not even sure why I’m thinking this or where these emotions came from. All I know is it’s not what I want to start our road trip off with.
“Nothing. I’m just rambling.” Shaking my head, I look out the passenger window as the trees give way to farms.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Lucas glancing over at me, concern written across his face, but he doesn’t say anything. “What a Girl Wants” by Christina Aguilera starts playing over the speakers, and he reaches over and turns the dial, making the song louder.
“Dance it out,” he says with a smirk.
“What? No.” I laugh, turning in my seat to face him. “And I am not in a funk.”
“Yeah, okay.” He chuckles, rolling his eyes. He relaxes into his seat, elbow resting on his lowered window. The wind rips through the cab as he picks up speed. “You know you want to.”
I shake my head, the smile staying on my face. “I’m not doing this.”
“Come on. Remember how we would drive around forever, and the only way you’d get out of your funk was to dance it out? Usually, to this song. Or True North. Or whatever boy band of the day had a hit song out.”
“I mean, they were dancy songs…” Crossing my arms across my chest, I think back to the days when we both first got our driver’s licenses and would spend any time we could driving the backroads to find freedom.
There were plenty of nights with friends, or just the two of us, where we would find a field, have a bonfire, or go up to our spot on Elk Mountain. We acted like we had life figured out.
Or had dance parties to dance any funks out.
I let out a breath, close my eyes, and let myself feel.
It’s summer break, so we don’t have the responsibilities of teaching or students.
We’re on our way out of town, on our way to being far from the small-town hoopla that’s going on in Pinehaven right now with goose-stealing raccoons and the town’s summer festival kicking off. This is the epitome of being carefree.
“You know what? I think I do need to dance it out, but not to this song.” Grabbing my phone, I scroll through my “Ultimate Retro Playlist” until I find the song I’m looking for. “This is much better.”
As soon as the first beat drops, Lucas groans, rubbing a hand down his face. “No, not this one. You listened to this almost as much as True North.”
I giggle, dancing in my seat to “Oops!… I Did It Again” by Britney Spears, holding my phone like a makeshift microphone while I sing along.
Lucas holds out until the talking part in the middle, where he jumps in and recites the man’s parts while I do Britney’s.
By the end of the song, we’re both laughing so hard we’re wiping tears from our eyes.
“I needed that,” I say, hoping I don’t look like one of those troublesome trash pandas back home with the way I think my mascara is running down my face.
“I told you that you were in a funk,” he comments smugly, as if he didn’t benefit from the impromptu karaoke as well.
“All right, Mr. Know-It-All. Where are we going? You said we were going to spend the night somewhere about halfway to Vancouver.”
“I’ve booked us a couple of rooms in Kelowna. We should be there in about an hour.”’
“Perfect.” I close my eyes and feel the wind on my face as my hair flies in all directions.
The excited butterflies come back as we pick up speed down the highway. My favourite True North song comes on, the one they sing with Ashley Sinclair, making my smile wider as I turn my face up to the sun. The carefree teenage feeling comes back—it’s muted, but it’s still there.
“Did you know Rich is still married to Ashley?” I ask
“Who?”
I gasp, opening my eyes and turning to him. “Rich Ballas and Ashley Sinclair? The ones singing right now.” A large bang breaks my train of thought, followed by Lucas trying to guide the truck to the side of the highway. “What happened?”
I grip the soft fabric on either side of my legs as my body shoots up straight, letting my nails dig in until they almost hurt. I’m not sure what I’m bracing for; there’s nothing to crash into, and everyone seems to be giving us a wide berth, but I’m bracing myself anyway.
“I think we hit a pothole.” He doesn’t look at me as he puts the truck into park. “Stay here. I’m going to take a look.”
I can’t take my eyes off him as he rounds the truck to my side, one hand on the hood as he squats down beside the tire. He hangs his head and runs his fingers through his hair while he stands.
“That bad?” I ask through my open window.
He lets out a deep sigh as he looks down the highway behind us. “It’s that bad. I don’t know if we’ll be able to make it to Kelowna tonight, or anywhere, actually.”
My heart sinks.
If we can’t make it out of here, we can’t make it to the concert.
“I know that look. Don’t start worrying… yet,” Lucas says, putting his hand above my window. “I’ll figure out a way to get us to Vancouver by tomorrow.”
“How?” I ask, looking down at my phone, seeing I only have one bar of service.
“Let me worry about that.” He reaches into his pocket, avoiding my gaze, and pulls out his phone, stabbing at the screen as if it will give him the same level of satisfaction as the old, corded phones.
I smile through my panic, knowing that if anyone can make it happen, it’s Lucas Mathers.