It was a barn of a placethere had to be five hundred people whooping it upbut he had no concerns about finding Willa. My mojos working, he thought as he cut a corner of the dance floor, almost dancing himself as he avoided various gyrating cowboys and cowgirls.
Beyond the bar and the dance floor was a dark little lounge with high-backed booths. Quartets were crammed into most of these, usually with a pitcher or two for sustenance, their reflections in the mirrored wall turning each party of four into eight. Only one of the booths wasnt full up. Willa sat by herself, her high-necked flower-print dress looking out of place among the Levis, denim skirts, and pearl-button shirts. Nor had she bought herself a drink or anything to eatthe table was bare.
She didnt see him at first. She was watching the dancers. Her color was high, and there were deep dimples at the corners of her mouth. She looked nine miles out of place, but he had never loved her more. This was Willa on the edge of a smile.
Hi, David, she said as he slid in beside her. I was hoping youd come. I thought you would. Isnt the band great? Theyre so loud! She almost had to yell to be heard, but he could see she liked that, too. And after her initial glance at him, she went back to looking at the dancers.
Theyre good, all right, he said. They were, too. He could feel himself responding in spite of his anxiety, which had returned. Now that hed actually found her, he was worried all over again about missing that damned pick-up train. The lead singer sounds like Buck Owens.
Does he? She looked at him, smiling. Whos Buck Owens?
It doesnt matter. We ought to go back to the station. Unless you want to be stranded here another day, that is.
That might not be so bad. I kind of like this plawhoa, look out!
A glass arched across the dance floor, sparkling briefly green and gold in the stage gels, and shattered somewhere out of sight. There were cheers and some applauseWilla was also applaudingbut David saw a couple of beefcakes with the words SECURITY and SERENITY printed on their T-shirts moving in on the approximate site of the missile launch.
This is the kind of place where you can count on four fistfights in the parking lot before eleven, David said, and often one free-for-all inside just before last call.
She laughed, pointed her forefingers at him like guns. Good! I want to see!
And I want us to go back, he said. If you want to go honky-tonking in San Francisco, Ill take you. Its a promise.
She stuck out her lower lip and shook back her sandy-blond hair. It wouldnt be the same. It wouldnt, and you know it. In San Francisco they probably drink I dont know macrobiotic beer.
That made him laugh. As with the idea of an investment banker named Wolf Frightener, the idea of macrobiotic beer was just too rich. But the anxiety was there, under the laughter; in fact, wasnt it fueling the laughter?
Were gonna take a short break and be right back, the lead singer said, wiping his brow. Yall drink up, now, and rememberIm Tony Villanueva, and we are The Derailers.
Thats our cue to put on our diamond shoes and depart, David said, and took her hand. He slid out of the booth, but she didnt come. She didnt let go of his hand, either, though, and he sat down again feeling a touch of panic. Thinking he now knew how a fish felt when it realized it couldnt throw the hook, that old hook was in good and tight and Mr. Trout was bound for the bank, where he would flop his final flop. She was looking at him with those same killer blue eyes and deep dimples: Willa on the edge of a smile, his wife-to-be, who read novels in the morning and poetry at night and thought the TV news was what did she call it? Ephemera.
Look at us, she said, and turned her head away from him.
He looked at the mirrored wall on their left. There he saw a nice young couple from the East Coast, stranded in Wyoming. In her print dress she looked better than he did, but he guessed that was always going to be the case. He looked from the mirror-Willa to the real thing with his eyebrows raised.
No, look again, she said. The dimples were still there, but she was serious nowas serious as she could be in this party atmosphere, anyway. And think about what I told you.
It was on his lips to say, Youve told me many things, and I think about all of them, but that was a lovers reply, pretty and essentially meaningless. And because he knew what thing she meant, he looked again without saying anything. This time he really looked, and there was no one in the mirror. He was looking at the only empty booth in 26. He turned to Willa, flabbergasted yet somehow not surprised.
Didnt you even wonder how a presentable female could be sitting here all by herself when the place is juiced and jumping? she asked.
He shook his head. He hadnt. There were quite a few things he hadnt wondered, at least until now. When hed last had something to eat or drink, for instance. Or what time it was, or when it had last been daylight. He didnt even know exactly what had happened to them. Only that the Northern Flyer had left the tracks and now they were by some coincidence here listening to a country-western group called
I kicked a can, he said. Coming here I kicked a can.
Yes, she said, and you saw us in the mirror the first time you looked, didnt you? Perception isnt everything, but perception and expectation together? She winked, then leaned toward him. Her breast pressed against his upper arm as she kissed his cheek, and the sensation was lovelysurely the feel of living flesh. Poor David. Im sorry. But you were brave to come. I really didnt think you would, thats the truth.
We need to go back and tell the others.
Her lips pressed together. Why?
Because
Two men in cowboy hats led two laughing women in jeans, Western shirts, and ponytails toward their booth. As they neared it, an iden tical expression of puzzlementnot quite feartouched their faces, and they headed back toward the bar instead. They feel us, David thought. Like cold air pushing them awaythats what we are now.
Because its the right thing to do.
Willa laughed. It was a weary sound. You remind me of the old guy who used to sell the oatmeal on TV.
Hon, they think theyre waiting for a train to come and pick them up!
Well, maybe there is! He was almost frightened by her sudden ferocity. Maybe the one theyre always singing about, the gospel train, the train to glory, the one that dont carry no gamblers or midnight ramblers .
I dont think Amtrak runs to heaven, David said. He was hoping to make her laugh, but she looked down at her hands almost sullenly, and he had a sudden intuition. Is there something else you know? Something we should tell them? There is, isnt there?
I dont know why we should bother when we can just stay here, she said, and was that petulance in her voice? He thought it was. This was a Willa he had never even suspected. You may be a little nearsighted, David, but at least you came. I love you for that. And she kissed him again.
There was a wolf, too, he said. I clapped my hands and scared it off. Im thinking of changing my name to Wolf Frightener.
She stared at him for a moment with her mouth open, and David had time to think: I had to wait until we were dead to really surprise the woman I love. Then she dropped against the padded back of the booth, roaring with laughter. A waitress who happened to be passing dropped a full tray of beers with a crash and swore colorfully.
Wolf Frightener! Willa cried. I want to call you that in bed! Oh, oh, Wolf Frightener, you so big! You so hairy!
The waitress was staring down at the foaming mess, still cursing like a sailor on shore leave. All the while keeping well away from that one empty booth.
David said, Do you think we still can? Make love, I mean?
Willa wiped at her streaming eyes and said, Perception and expec tation, remember? Together they can move mountains. She took his hand again. I still love you, and you still love me. Dont you?
Am I not Wolf Frightener? he asked. He could joke, because his nerves didnt believe he was dead. He looked past her, into the mirror, and saw them. Then just himself, his hand holding nothing. Then they were both gone. And still he breathed, he smelled beer and whiskey and perfume.