Remind Me

Chapter Thirty-Three

It takes me about two minutes into the taxi ride to realize what I've forgotten. My cellphone. My mom still has it! I can't warn Owen about my arrival. I can't have my mom or Clarin checking in on me. I have absolutely zero contact until I get to where I'm headed.

Florence, Oregon.

That's all I know about the place. It's supposedly gorgeous.

It takes me about five minutes to become extremely bored. I fiddle with my fingers, check my hair for split ends, I even hum some songs that the guy is playing on the radio. I can't seem to occupy myself well enough. Ugh. Boredom sucks.

"Hello," I say to the man driving me.

When he doesn't answer, I continue.

"I'm Brinley."

He looks at me through the rearview mirror, a frown showing through his bearded face. Whoa, okay, bad day much?

"I'm Phill," he says gruffly, then his eyes are on the road again.

I clear my throat. "Hi Phill. Um, would you mind changing the channel? I hate this song."

Let Her Go by Passenger is playing and I am doing all I can not to jump right out of the car. Not literally, of course, we don't need that again.

Phill stares at me again, surprised. His finger jabs at the 3 button and it turns to a lame country song that I don't know. I would say something, but he's tapping his fingers along with the song and for some reason that makes me happy. Phill likes country music.

"How old are you, Phill?" I ask, trying to make small talk mostly for my own sake.

"Forty-three," he replies quickly, turning on his blinkers so he can enter the freeway.

"Do you have any kids?" I ask him.

"A daughter," he replies, speeding up past a very slow car.

"Aw, what's her name?" I smile, looking out the window now.

"Loki," he replies, looking highly annoyed by my questions. Loki. What an... interesting... name for a daughter.

"How old is she? What's she like?" I ask.

"She's twenty and just married her boyfriend Kale in Las Vegas. She's a performer up there. 'Course a girl like you wouldn't be much likin' of it," he says.

And that's the end of my conversation with Phill the taxi driver.

<•>•<•>

Four hours later, I'm almost dead asleep, the music acting as a lullaby. But every time I think about Owen, I wake right back up. I don't know if I'm excited or anxious or both. It's weird. I feel so conflicted.

I know I want to meet his family... Of course, I've seen them before, but I don't remember it.

Phill hasn't spoken a word to me and I'm perfectly fine with that. He kind of creeps me out anyways.

"Girl," he says.

"Brinley," I correct without thinking.

"Brinley," he frowns. "I can't take you all the way to Florence. I'm going to take you to a bus station and you'll take that the rest of the way. This is my max distance."

My eyes widen. "Oh." I had no idea they do that.

Part of me thinks he's only doing this because I'm annoying him a lot. I mean, what does he expect? Me to sit back here silently? No, I'm going to hum along and talk because I have to entertain myself somehow.