Chapter 24
Adam
The thing Adam hadn’t anticipated about losing someone was the few seconds when you forgot they were missing and life felt
normal. Then, inevitably, the yank back to the realization that they were gone.
That jarring juxtaposition came when Adam reset and briefly felt Shireen in the office with him. But then, as his eyes adjusted,
he saw that he was alone in the space.
Shireen was still missing.
“Adam?” Carly’s voice pierced through the air, and her footsteps pounded down the hallway. When she came to the office door,
her face fell. “She’s not back.”
“No,” he replied. They’d tried looking for Shireen, telling the rest of the town, and trying to predict the future by going
on as he normally had. Nothing about the last loop had worked to change the current one.
“Well, fuck.” Carly stomped her foot and gnawed at her bottom lip.
Adam found his mind and body were at war as of recent. Because while his gut clenched with anxiety over Shireen, he really longed to hold Carly. He stepped toward her and pulled her in, resting his chin on top of her head.
“What are we going to do?” he asked. “I can’t even think straight. My mind is going a mile a minute.”
“Well, the whole town knows to be on the lookout for Shireen, and we know Dean is going to be scouring Julian for her. We
could join the search party, but I do think we just need something to take the edge off. A shot of whiskey?” she hedged.
“A lobotomy?” he countered.
“I don’t know any doctors other than Heather, so I think the easier option would be the whiskey.” Carly cleared her throat.
“Seriously, though, I need a drink. Do you need a drink? I’ve never seen you drink, but do you? What about drugs? I just kind
of need to release some of these nerves, because my head is about to explode. You probably don’t drink or do drugs or need
anything to feel less freaked out, but I do, you know?”
She’d spoken so fast that she was practically panting at the end. Adam had an edible before, and he wasn’t opposed to drinking,
especially if there was a local IPA available. His drug of choice had and always would be sugar. Still, a drink sounded nice.
Maybe it would keep him from spinning. “Yeah, we need a break.” He grabbed her hand and tugged her in the direction of the
front doors.
When they parked the hearse and walked toward the saloon-themed bar off Main Street, Adam shouldn’t have been totally surprised
by the people staring at them. After the last town hall loop, a bright spotlight had been aimed their way. Still, the attention
was a bit jarring.
“You going to be okay with this?” Carly asked. “I’m used to having attention on me, because I’m a friendly and likable person. But unless you’re in work mode, I know you prefer to hiss and scamper when anyone so much as looks at you.”
His mouth betrayed an amused smile. “You talk so much that I’m worried you’re dehydrated. That’s why we’re getting drinks.
I’m sacrificing my own needs for yours.”
“So chivalrous. Come on, the booze won’t drink itself.” Carly blessedly tugged on his hand and led him into the bar.
The saloon-themed bar was a nod to Julian’s history as a gold-mining town, and it leaned heavily into the shtick. Adam pushed
on the swinging saloon doors and they walked in to find a wall lined with cowboy hats, and fake gold-plated tables with enormous
rocks spraypainted silver as centerpieces. The bar was filled with beers on tap, a selection of hard apple ciders and a stocked
liquor display.
“Thank the whiskey gods,” Carly said as she walked behind the bar. “I’ve never been happier to be at a bar. I mean, I work
as a bartender, so I don’t usually like to hang out at them. I prefer small gatherings, like a dinner party, or . . . well,
yeah, really just those. And that’s when I’ll have a cocktail or something. But I don’t like sticky floors or that kind of
moldy smell some bars have, you know?”
“I’ve never met anyone who talks as much as you. Have I mentioned that?” Adam sat at a bar stool.
Carly not so playfully tossed a paper napkin at Adam, which he clutched in mock pain.
“If I didn’t talk we’d exist in pure silence and nothing would get done.” She brushed stray hair off her cheek and leaned
across the bar. “I’m going to make myself a whiskey with, like, lots of fancy cherries. What do you want?”
“I’ll have a mezcal, neat. Any brand is fine.”
“Don’t worry, just one drink and we’ll get back to looking for Shireen.” Carly smiled at him.
A few drinks later, they were not looking for Shireen, but were feeling very good. So good, that Adam draped an arm around Carly and she leaned her head against his shoulder.
“Have you noticed that people look kinda fancy?” Carly picked her head up and glanced around.
While it was true that there was a man with a handlebar mustache and a three-piece suit standing next to a blue-haired woman
in a ball gown, plenty of people played dress-up in Julian every loop.
“There’s a big vow renewal happening at the Clio Farmhouse down the road,” a woman on the bar stool next to them said. “Sorry
to eavesdrop, but I’m a little nosy.”
“Me, too,” said Carly with a smile. “What’s your name?”
“Elizabeth,” she said and stuck out her hand, which was covered in costume rings and bracelets. “All the old folks got together
and decided that if the world is ending, they might as well renew their vows while they can. They’ve been inviting everyone
in town. You should come. It’ll be fun.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Carly said and looked at Adam to gauge his reaction. “We need to look for our friend.”
“The missing one? But the world isn’t actually ending, though, right?” Elizabeth asked them.
Adam hesitated. What was the point in dragging another person into the doomsday vibes that were his own internal thoughts?
“No, it’s not ending,” he eventually said.
The relief that crossed Elizabeth’s face was immediate and grateful. Carly leaned into him and whispered, “That was a nice
thing that you just did. Should we go look for Shireen?”
Adam knew he should look for Shireen, because he’d like to think she’d do the same.
But he was a little buzzed, so was Carly, and they were in no state to drive.
He also knew that wandering around town wouldn’t bring her back.
Maybe once they sobered up, they could hit the library to look for answers, or brainstorm with Dr. Song. But this wasn’t the exact right time.
And maybe it was the way Carly’s body was pressed against his, or the alcohol, but he didn’t want this moment to end. So instead
of doing what he should, he said, “Let’s go to this vow renewal.”
The Clio Farm was normally used for events like weddings or school field trips. Bistro lights were already strung across a
laminate dance floor with round tables lining the perimeter. A picturesque red barn was in the near distance, and the sun
set just behind it.
There had been no change in the eclipse time. Perhaps Dr. Song was right; with Shireen’s disappearance, maybe something had
stabilized. Still, that didn’t stop the slightly sick feeling in Adam’s gut at the thought of Shireen, suspended somewhere
in limbo so that they could all continue in the loop.
Upbeat pop from the sixties played over a sound system, and a kid with cartoon pajamas and a water gun skidded past, knocking
into Carly. She tripped and Adam caught her. He was relieved for the distraction, and as Carly readjusted her glasses, he
realized that while there were plenty of things to look at, she was the only person he wanted to see.
“Sorry, it’s really packed, huh?” she asked.
Adam’s hand landed on the small of her back, and he was delighted to find that it fit there quite perfectly. He guided them
to a high-top table that had yet to be claimed.
“This is nice.” Carly leaned on the table. “Never seen this part of Julian before.”
For a moment he’d forgotten that they were only there because of the time loop, and that whenever it ended—if it ended without
them being sucked into a black void of death—Carly would go back to her life in Los Angeles, and he’d still be here.
“Where did you go to just now?” Carly studied his features.
He shook his head, a little annoyed that he was so easy to read. He expected another lie to come out, but instead he said,
“I was overthinking things.”
“What things?” Carly gave him a look like she was genuinely curious.
In a moment of weakness, Adam told the truth. “Like, if the loop ends, what happens when you go back to Los Angeles?”
She looked down at the tablecloth. He was suddenly way too aware of the fact that he’d just made himself vulnerable. What
the hell was he doing spiraling about a future he didn’t even know if they’d have? Why did he go and ruin the night by bringing
up probabilities?
“I haven’t even thought of that.” Carly rubbed her fingers across the white tablecloth, then looked at him. “I like you. We
can figure it out.”
I like you, he repeated to himself. And then, because talking to Carly had become so easy, the words slipped out. “I like you, too.”
She gave him a small smile, then reached behind his head and pulled him in. He found the idea of one kiss impossible, though,
and moved closer. Adam’s hands found her face and he deepened their connection. How was it that her lips felt so damn good
against his? He hardened as she wrapped her arms around his back.
“You two are together?” Mayor Franco’s voice was so close that they pulled away. “Or is the impending doom getting your gears going?”
Adam swiped a thumb along his lower lip, where Carly had just been. He looked over at the mayor, who wore a velvet maroon
suit and a cowboy hat.
“Ceremony is about to start.” Mayor Franco adjusted her bolo tie. “So either get a room or stop stealing my thunder.”
Adam forced himself to laugh. Carly gave Adam a playful nudge and said, “A room doesn’t sound so bad . . .”
He had to agree with that. But before he could do anything about it, there was a tap tap tap on a microphone.