scene 38

Previous.

INT. HUNTER'S FOYER - MOMENTS LATER

Tom and Chloe, Tom's hat on the rack.

CHLOE: Do you have an idea what he's going to bring back?

TOM: Well, when he said photograph I remember your grandmother takin' a picture with an instamatic camera she picked up when we stopped for lunch in South Lake Tahoe. An old school selfie of us in the lake with our pants rolled up.

Hunter enters, envelope in hand.

CHLOE: He remembers.

HUNTER: I heard. Any details would of course be greatly appreciated.

TOM: Well, the part a the lake we were at is called Zephyr Cove. I reckon ya know that already. I'll prob'ly repeat a lotta what your mother told ya.

HUNTER: That's alright. 

TOM: We parked, walked down to the beach, she took off her moccasin style boots that was popular at the time, rolled up her light blue corduroys to her knees, I did the same with my boots and jeans, we walked out, she took the picture. Didn't know she was left-handed til she held the camera away from us. 

HUNTER: Parked what before you walked to the beach?

TOM: I was drivin' a Chevy C ten. A pickup.

CHLOE: What else was she wearing, if you remember.

TOM: She had a suede floppy hat that matched the moccasins. She wore them mirror-type reflective sunglasses. A forest green light sweater over a white shirt with collars. A silver bracelet she said her grandmother had given her. 

CHLOE: What were you wearing?

TOM: Not so different than what I'm wearin' now. Pretty sure I was sportin' a bolo tie that day.

CHLOE: The envelope please.

Hunter hands her the envelope, she opens it, retrieves the 3" x 5" photograph she gives a good going-over before she hands it to Tom, who stares at the picture that matches his description exactly. The lake and mountains on the other side behind them under a cloudless blue sky. Her sunglasses hang from her sweater collar, his peek out from a shirt pocket. The bolo tie silver and turquoise. His hat is tipped back to show more face. Both with big smiles.  

TOM: Funny.

HUNTER/CHLOE:  What's funny?   

TOM: Well, I think I read or heard somethin' about smell - scent - bein' yer strongest sense memory. Or memory sense. One ot the other or maybe neither.

CHLOE: It's the hippocampus part of your brain. 

TOM: Is that it.

CHLOE: If it decides, for lack of a better word, that something about the smell is important - maybe it triggers something - it will store it. But back to what's funny.

TOM: Soon as I seen her face I smelled her lilac perfume. Like on a breeze. That's what's funny. Do you mind if I take a picture a this?

HUNTER: Of course not.

TOM: Wanda and Ruth'll wanna see this. Chloe, would ya mind holdin' it

Chloe takes the picture, holds it up against her shirt. Tom gets phone from pocket, takes the picture.

TOM (cont'd): Thank you.

CHLOE: My pleasure.

Tom pockets phone.  

TOM: And thank you both more than I can properly express for this time together. Today was one a the best I've ever had and I won't ever forget a minute of it.

HUNTER: I think I can speak for both of us in assuring us we feel the same.

TOM: I'm happy for that. Goodnight, y'all.

Chloe hugs Tom, who betrays surprise, then warms into the embrace.

CHLOE: Goodnight, Tom.

Hunter approaches, opens arm to Tom. They embrace.

HUNTER: Goodnight, Tom.

They pat each other's backs.

HUNTER (CONT.) I'll be on the patio with coffee for sunrise if you're up early.

TOM: It's a date. I'll set my alarm.

Tom flashes a peace sign. Chloe and Hunter reciprocate.

TOM (CONT.) Olivia gave me the peace sign when we parted. Little trivia you may or may not have known.

HUNTER: We did not. Thank you.

TOM: Thank y'all.

HUNTER: Don't forget to sign the guest book if you haven't already. 

TOM: I haven't, but I'm gonna.

HUNTER: Cool.

Tom leaves into hall, takes the KNOCKING OF HIS BOOTS with him. 

CHLOE: I'm gonna call mom.

HUNTER: I'll start popcorn.

She looks at the photograph.

CHLOE: Pretty good memory, huh?

HUNTER: Noted.

She winks, hands him the photo, leaves into hall. He stares at the photo, puts it in envelope, leaves into hall.

scene 37

Previous.

EXT. HUNTER'S DRIVEWAY - NIGHT

Hunter, Chloe and Tom at Jackie's car on the street, where she idles, top down, headlights on. Starry sky. Rover in the garage, Tom's truck where it was.

JACKIE: So Tom, safe travels and good luck with your house-hunting.

TOM: Thank you, Jackie. And thanks again for havin' me along today.

JACKIE: Thank you for coming, Tom. Til we meet again.

TOM: Til then.  

JACKIE: I'll call when I'm home.

HUNTER: Thanks.

Hunter and Jackie exchange a quick kiss. She drives away waving. They wave back, walk to the garage. When Tom stops to look to the sky, Hunter and Jackie do the same.

TOM: Any idea how many stars there are in whatever it is that makes the universe?

CHLOE: Approximately two-hundred billion trillion. Or, to put it another way, two-hundred sextillion. Emphasis of course on approximately.

TOM: Approximately how many zeros in one sextillion.

CHLOE: Exactly twenty-one.

A shooting star burns itself out in its brief arc.

CHLOE: Whoa!

TOM: Well how bout that.

HUNTER: Right on cue. 

CHLOE: You probably have starry skies over Laramie.

TOM: We do. More so outside a town a course. Me and Wanda have a spot we'll drive to, look at the stars over the Snowy Range.

Lull.

HUNTER: Popcorn and a movie?

CHLOE: Yay.

HUNTER: Tom?

TOM: I'd sure like to but to be honest I'm feelin' a little tuckered. I know I'd just fall asleep on y'all. Thinkin' I'll call Wanda and Ruth, take a shower and get on to bed. Sorry to be such a party pooper.

HUNTER; Hardly, Tom. You made today's party pop.

CHLOE: Word.

Hunter leads them into the garage.

HUNTER: Tom, before you retire, could I show you a picture?

TOM (beat) Sure.

HUNTER: It was taken at Lake Tahoe fifty-one years ago.

Hunter opens the door to the house. Chloe enters, Tom removes his hat as he passes Hunter. Hunter enters, closes door behind him. Garage door closes.

scene 36

Previous.

EXT. JAN AND JOHN'S PATIO - DAY

Grill, wall-mounted big-screen TV, lawn and lap pool, sun above homes in the rolling hills on the other side of the foliage fence. And John and Jan in two of the four chairs at the table, a bottle of white wine and their half-full glasses at hand. They stare at Chloe's White Sands sunset selfie that fills the screen of Jan's laptop. Foglost near John, closed and marked near the end.

JOHN/JAN: Have you ever been?

JOHN/JAN: No.

JAN: She looks so happy.

JOHN: They all do.

JAN: They all do.

JOHN: I'm going to call Hunter.

JAN: I'd like to say hello.

scene 35

Previous.

EXT. SUBURBAN CUL DE SAC - DAY

Leafy neighborhood overlooked by the small mountain Cerro San Luis Obispo and the sun above it. California plates on the Tesla Barbara drives into frame and parks in the driveway of the two-story home at the end of the street.

INT. TESLA

Phone in console and celery sticking out the the top of the grocery bag in the front seat with purse. As soon as she turns off the engine HER PHONE CHIRPS. She picks it up and stares at the selfie Chloe has taken that includes Hunter, Tom and Jackie in the dunes of White Sands National Park, the sun setting on the San Andres Mountains behind them. Chloe wears Tom's oversized hat. Barbara pockets her phone, puts keys in purse, opens door,

EXT. TESLA

She gets purse and grocery bag, closes door, walks to the house. A GERMAN SHEPHERED BARKS and greets her happily when she opens the door. She enters house, closes door behind her. 

scene 34

Previous.

INT. MODEST LIVING ROOM - DAY

A MAN and WOMAN, 60-somethings in glasses, reading in recliners aimed at a television, their backs to the couch and window above it that frames the leafy street, the two homes across it, and the water tower above and behind them. ARDMORE big across the tower's tank. Oklahoma plates on the Honda Odyssey van in one driveway and the Toyota Tundra pickup truck in the other. 

She's in sandals, old jeans, Leon Russell t-shirt, perusing a Galveston travel brochure. Red t-shirt under his overalls. Socks, work boots to one side of recliner. He turns to the last page of Foglost. A BLOODHOUND DOG at repose on the pad near the lampstand between the recliners. 

Framed reproduction of Barbara Vaupel's painting, Elk Herd in the Wichita Mountains, above a loaded bookshelf that includes a framed photograph of Claire and Sess cheek to cheek and smiling at the camera, Grand Canyon behind them, in a selfie Claire has taken. View into hallway and framed photographs on wall. John Deere ballcap, cowboy hat and University of Oklahoma football helmet on rack near front door.  

A few moments before he closes the book, sets glasses on the lampstand, ponders. She looks at him over her glasses. 

WOMAN: Done?

MAN: For now. I'll need to read it again.

WOMAN: Like it?

MAN (two beats): Yes.

WOMAN: Did the fog lift?

MAN: Lifting. There's no way it won't be a movie.

WOMAN: Who plays Bob?

MAN: My preference would be someone we've never seen or heard of. But no way that'll happen. It needs to be black and white. Montgomery Clift.

WOMAN: I'd watch that. Happy ending?

MAN (two beats): Bittersweet. 

She stares at his deep consideration of whatever is on his mind.

WOMAN: Honey.

He seems snapped out of a reverie.

MAN: I'm sorry, sweetheart. 

WOMAN: Unusually contemplative.

MAN: I thought I saw the ending coming. Again. How does he do it?

His PHONE CHIRPS. He gets it from pocket, stares at the screen, shakes his head.

WOMAN: What is it, babe?

MAN: A selfie Claire took.

He hands her the phone. She stares at the picture of Claire and Hunter, arms around each other, smiling at the camera, Sierra Blanca prominent in the background. She extends a hand to take the book he hands her. She opens to Hunter's picture and blurb, holds the phone close to it to compare. She looks at him.

WOMAN: That's him.

MAN: Or his doppelganger. 

She stares, he ponders. She hands back the phone. He stares, she ponders.

scene 33

Previous.

INT. ROVER - DAY

Hunter at the wheel, Jackie front passenger seat, Tom behind Hunter, Chloe behind Jackie. Driving southwest on Highway 70, White Sands and sun above the San Andres range dead ahead down the hill. 

TOM: Who taught you to drive, Hunter? 

Hunter and Tom make eye contact in the rearview mirror. Chloe readies her phone, records Tom.

HUNTER: My grandfather. Is my driving okay, Tom?

TOM: Drivin's great. Just curious. In what and where were ya, if ya don't mind me askin'.

HUNTER: My grandfather's eighty-seven Volvo G-L sedan. We started in the parking lot of Anaheim Stadium, then went out to Katella and east to Santiago Canyon and Irvine Park. A Sunday afternoon in late July.

TOM: How old were ya?

HUNTER: Fifteen. Then I had drivers ed in high school. Education.

TOM: Right. 

HUNTER: How bout you.

TOM: My dad, in his sixty-two Impala S-S convertible.

CHLOE: What color?

TOM: It was called twilight blue. White top.

CHLOE: I'll have to look that up.

HUNTER: No truck? 

TOM: Sixty-one G-M-C.

HUNTER: K. Where were you in the Impala?

TOM: West Texas. Dad had a friend who had a cabin and horses on some land off one-eighteen about halfway between Alpine and Terlingua. Ed Figueroa. He and his wife and son and daughter lived in El Paso most a the time but by a couple years later he'd retired and they was out there full time. We'd go out once or twice a year.

HUNTER: We being?

TOM: Me and dad and mom and Ruthie. 

HUNTER; So Ruth and your mom were out on this occasion.

TOM: They were. This was over a week in June.

CHLOE: How old were you?

TOM: Couple months shy a fourteen. Ruthie'd just turned twelve. Ed and Gloria's kids were older. His name was Javier, he was sixteen or seventeen and the daughter Soly, for Soledad, had just graduated high school. Sorry if I'm ramblin'.

CHLOE/HUNTER: You're not.  

TOM: Well, stop me if I start to. Anyway, to cut to the chase, dad got me outta bed early, maybe five or so, askin' if I wanted to go for a drive. Sure, let's go. We did that a lot, just get in the car and go. I never got tired of it. Anyway, ten minutes later we got to the gate at the highway, turned left, drove to south a Terlingua, found a spot and watched the sun come up over the Chisos Mountains. After awhile he asked if I was ready. I nodded, thinkin' he was talkin' about headin' back to the cabin. Which he was. He gave me the key, we switched places. I drove back.

CHLOE: Top down of course. 

TOM: Comin' and goin'. Keep in mind, it wasn't exactly my first time behind the wheel. I'd taken the truck for a lap or two around the block a time or two. But the Impala on open highway was a change.

CHLOE: Were you surprised?

TOM: A little. I was hopin'.  

HUNTER: Engine?

TOM: Two eighty-three V-eight. 

CHLOE: How fast did you go?

TOM: Well, a little faster than the sixty dad suggested I tell mom if she asked.

CHLOE: Did she?

TOM: No. 

CHLOE: She knew not to.

TOM: That thought occured to me. 

HUNTER: How fast did you go?

TOM: Dad let me know eighty was plenty.  

HUNTER: What became of the Impala.

TOM: Totaled when dad hit a whitetail that November.

CHLOE: What's a whitetail.

TOM; White-tailed deer. 

CHLOE: Oh.

TOM: Big ol' buck come outta the woods just north a Lost Maples. Dad thinks he mighta been tryin' to get away from a mountain lion. Anyway, end a the chassis.

CHLOE: And the deer, I reckon.

TOM: You reckon correctly. He put it down.

CHLOE: Put it down?

TOM: Shot it. 

CHLOE: Oh.

TOM: It was sufferin'.

Chloe nods.

TOM (CONT). I'm sorry, Chloe. I coulda - I shoulda - left that out.

CHLOE: No. No leaving things out, Tom. Okay?

Tom nods.

CHLOE (CONT.): Did your dad get hurt?

TOM: Broke his right foot and ankle, left wrist, concussion, bruised sternum, got some windshield glass in both arms. Took awhile to get all that out. But eventual full recovery. 

A lull.

CHLOE: Tom.

TOM: Yes ma'am.

CHLOE: What did he shoot the whitetail with?

TOM: The Colt forty-five he kept in the glove compartment.

CHLOE: Why did he keep one there?

TOM: For exactly the reason he used it.

CHLOE: Deers are why you have that guard on your grill, isn't it?

TOM: Yes ma'am. That's one reason. And it comes in handy movin' through brush and such. 

A lull.  

CHLOE: Do you have a gun in your glove compartment?

TOM:  No. It's in a case under the driver's seat. 

Lull. 

CHLOE: Same gun?

TOM: No. Dad's Colt is at Ruth's.

CHLOE: Do you carry it for the same reason?

TOM: Yes.

Lull.

CHLOE: Is that the only reason?

TOM (beat). No.

CHLOE: Self-protection?

TOM: Should push come to shove.

CHLOE: So to speak.

TOM: Yes ma'am.

Tom looks out the window. Chloe stops recording, pockets phone.

scene 32

Previous.

INT. HORSE BARN - DAY

Sess, Claire, Jackie, Chloe, Tom and Hunter watch the teenagers team up to unsaddle the horses, place saddles in tack area and lead the horses to the hay in their respective feeders. A mechanical bull in a corner. 

SESS: Straight back to Cruces?

JACKIE: Nope. Ice cream in Rui and a White Sands sunset.

SESS: Nice. Send a picture.

JACKIE: Will do.

ANGELO, one of the teens, walks to Claire and, keeping his eyes on Tom, whispers something to her.

CLAIRE: Tom, Angelo is wondering if you can make a reata and if you can would you mind showing him.

TOM: Well it's been awhile but I reckon it'd come back to me if I had enough rope in my hands.

Claire nods to Angelo, who hurries to the tack area and returns with a coil of rope he takes off a hook on a wall and hands to Tom. 

TOM: Gracias, Angelo.

Angelo nods. All the other teens stop to watch and move in closer. Tom runs the rope through his hands as if habit.

TOM (CONT): Chloe, ya know what a reata is?

CHLOE: A lariat, or lasso, although I recall reading that lasso is closer to verb than noun but I'll defer to you on that.

Tom smiles. Chloe gets phone, aims at Tom, records. The teens do the same.

TOM: I've heard the same. I tend to call it a rope and ropin'. Ya know what the knot is called to make a lariat?

CHLOE: I do not know that knot.

TOM: It's called a Honda knot. 

CHLOE: Why?

TOM:  Thought you might ask. I couldn't tell ya with any certainty.

Quickly, almost suddenly, Tom makes the knot and lariat he widens to the loop he swings over his head as he approaches the mechanical bull.  All follow as he gets to within fifteen feet of the bull, lets the rope fly. The loop lands perfectly around the bull's horns. Applause and a chorus of appreciation and approval. Tom removes the lariat from the horns, walks the rope to Angelo.

ANGELO: Muchas gracias, vaquero. 

TOM: Por nada, amigo.

Tom drapes the loop over Angelo's head onto his shoulders. Claire comes in close for a picture of them. Tom drapes an arm over Angelo's shoulder. Angelo puts and arm around Tom's waist. Claire takes the picture.

scene 31

Previous.

EXT.  CUESTA COLLEGE BASEBALL FIELD - SAN LUIS OBISPO - DAY

Brian and BRIAN'S DAD, 70-something, sit in the stands behind the backstop, their attention on the PITCHER, 19, on the mound throwing to CATCHER, 19, behind the plate. A COACH, 60ish, stands behind the pitcher to observe. Green rolling hills beyond the outfield fence. In a batting cage away from this action a HITTER takes his swings against the pitching machine fed baseballs by ANOTHER COACH. The BAT PING indicates aluminum. In the bullpen area PITCHER 2 throws to CATCHER 2.

All on the field wear shirts and ballcaps making clear they play for CUESTA COLLEGE. The pitcher's fastballs POP THE CATCHER'S MITT with 90-mile-an-hour velocity.

DAD: You get along with Clodagh?

BRIAN: Chloe. So far so good. 

DAD: You said she plays softball?

BRIAN: She's a stud. All-league last year and already getting letters. She surfs. 

DAD: Does she know you do?

BRIAN: Yes. We're gonna hit the pier when she's back from her dad's.

The pitcher indicates to the catcher with his glove motion that he will be throwing curve balls. The pitches bend late and drop straight down to low in the strike zone a batter would present.

DAD: He's throwing it harder. 

BRIAN: And changed the grip. Been playing with a splitter, too. Wanna come?

DAD: Surfing?

BRIAN: Yeah.

DAD: Where?

BRIAN: Pismo.

DAD: She'd be cool with that?

BRIAN: I think so but I'll ask.

DAD: Will Barbara be there?

BRIAN: In the water taking pictures.

DAD: Sure. I'll dust off the longboard.

BRIAN: Cool.

The pitcher gives the catcher a thumb's up. The catcher jogs to the pitching mound where he and the pitcher and the coach convene in conversation that lasts a few moments before the pitcher walks to Brian and Brian's dad, who both stand and meet pitcher at the backstop. The coach and catcher take their conversation to a dugout. 

DAD: Lookin' good.

PITCHER: Yeah?

DAD: More pop and movement.

PITCHER: Two-seamer.

DAD: It works.

PITCHER: Thanks, gramps. So I'm gonna ice up.

BRIAN: Meet at the car?

PITCHER: Fifteen minutes.

BRIAN: See ya there.

Pitcher jogs away.

DAD: How's he doing with the breakup?

BRIAN: Better. It will help being up here. 

DAD: Right.

BRIAN: Speaking of breakups.

DAD: Okay.

BRIAN: The divorce is final tomorrow.

DAD: I remembered it's getting close.

BRIAN: We had a good talk last week.

DAD: I'm glad to hear that, Brian.

BRIAN: She says hello.

DAD: I'll email her. 

BRIAN: K. 

DAD: Wish her the best.  

Bran puts arm around Dad, who puts arm around Brian. 

BRIAN: Love you, dad.

DAD: Love you, son.

They walk out of frame.

scene 30

Previous.

EXT. CREEK IN WOODS - DAY

Mixed conifer forest. A modest CREEK GURGLES IN A WHISPER interrupted by the CUH-LIP COH-LOP of approaching horses. Tom is the first rider to emerge from the woods to lead the others along the narrow trail that parallels the creek. He is followed in a line and in order by Chloe, Hunter, Jackie, Claire and Sess, the last to ride out of frame. 

scene 29

Previous.

EXT. PINE FOREST - DAY

Hunter, Tom and Chloe stroll through the woods some distance away from where Sess, Jackie and Claire are setting up lunch at a picnic table in a clearing near where the horses are tied. 

TOM: Anyone know why they're called ponderosa pines?

CHLOE: Pinus ponderosa, from the Latin ponderosus, large and heavy.

TOM: Oh. Thus ponderous.

CHLOE: Thus ponderous. But you knew that.

She looks at Tom. Tom winks.

TOM: Just checkin' my recollection, which ain't what it used to be. What else ya speak besides Latin? 

CHLOE: I wouldn't say I speak Latin. I going into my third year of Spanish. How about you?

TOM: Poquito español. Suficiente para meterse en problemas.

CHLOE: Bastante suficiente, I reckon.

Tom smiles and winks.

TOM: Hunter?

HUNTER: Two years of French in high school.

TOM: Ever come in handy?

HUNTER: As a source of humor courting Barbara, who is fluent, and the summer after college I traveled in Europe. I took it because of a girl.

TOM: Remember her name?

HUNTER: Charlotte Barbier. What was your first girlfriend's name.

TOM (TWO BEATS): Ana Baca.

CHLOE: How old were you?

TOM: Fifteen. Met in history class.

CHLOE: Bandera high?

TOM: Bandera high. How'd you know there's a Bandera high

CHLOE: Didn't.  Still there?

TOM: Still there. San Luis Obispo high?

CHLOE: Yep.

TOM: Mascot?

CHLOE: Tiger. Bandera's?

TOM: The bulldogs.

CHLOE: Did you play sports?

TOM: Me and your dad was talkin' about that. I did rodeo through my high school years. Ruth ran track and field.

CHLOE: My grandmother ran track and field at Berkeley.

TOM: What event or events?

CHLOE: Eight-eighty. Yards. Ruth?

TOM: Four-forty. High school, not college.

CHLOE: Did she go to college?

TOM: She did. It's Texas State now, Southwest Texas State when she was there.

CHLOE: San Marcos.

TOM: Yep. How'dya know that?

CHLOE: They sent me a letter about softball.

TOM: Sounds like maybe you got a few a those letters comin' in.

CHLOE: A couple. 

We see past them to Jackie raise something that RINGS LIKE A TRIANGLE DINNER BELL. 

CHLOE (CONT.) Chuckwagon ringeth.

TOM: Whaddaya know about a chuckwagon.

CHLOE: Everything you're about to tell me.

They walk toward lunch.

EXT. PICNIC TABLE

Jackie, Sess and Claire with the sandwich and potato salad lunch laid out on the gingham table cover. The triangle bell hangs from the table near Jackie. They watch Hunter, Tom and Chloe approach.

SESS: So Jack, Claire says Hunter could be the doppelganger of her dad's favorite author, H C Hardyn, with a Y.

JACKIE: Not doppelganger.

SESS: As in one and same.

JACKIE: One and same.

CLAIRE: I knew it. Do you think he would mind if I took a picture? 

JACKIE: I think he would not mind, but I'll ask.

CLAIRE: Thanks. My dad would shit his pants.

SESS: Speaking of dads.

CLAIRE: Yes?

SESS: Could you say anything one way or the other about this sense I have that Tom might be Hunter's.

JACKIE(BEATS): I could. 

SESS: Gottit.

JACKIE: And will, later.

SESS: Roger that, cuz.

They watch Tom stop at the horses to point out to Hunter and Chloe different parts of the saddle. He holds a stirrup briefly and gestures as he talks about it. He lets it go, strokes the horse's neck, then Chloe does. They resume their approach to the table.  

scene 28

Previous.

INT.  DEN - DAY

Handsomely appointed. Old wood, loaded bookshelf, reading nook, window view to lap pool in grass yard fenced by foliage. Antique GRANDFATHER CLOCK KEEPS TIME.

John and Jan at laptops across from each other at table. John types, checks screen. Jan reads, scrolls. 

JAN: So what did we learn about Brian's golf game?

JOHN: That he played a few rounds when he was a teen on his uncle's hillbilly country club course in Tennessee. He's borrowing a friend's clubs. 

JAN: He looks athletic.

JOHN: He does. She's nervous about meeting his father and son in Pismo next week.

JAN: The son and ex are in Long Beach?

JOHN: The ex is, the son was. He's moving up to play baseball at Cuesta. Reminds me. Tee time change, now ten-thirty. 

JAN: What does or did his father do?

JOHN: Bob. Retired carpenter. Bingo..

JAN: Bingo?

JOHN: Got it. Street view of the entry to their mobile home park.

JAN: Tom and Wanda's.

JOHN: Yes. 

He turns laptop to Jan, who stares at the street view image of the entry to the Meadowlark Park Mobile Estates. Patches of snow on the ground. 

JOHN (CONT.) Travis did the trick. Theirs is one-twelve Centennial. Three bed, two bath. 

She uses the 360-degree feature to navigate a full-circle surveillance of the unremarkable surroundings along a remote area offering a view of distant mountains. A field half-covered in snow.  

JAN: Have you ever been to Laramie? 

JOHN:  Two days in Cheyenne for a depo when I was at Flynn. Middle of February.

JAN: Balmy?

JOHN: Snow and a tropical twenty-below both mornings. You?

JAN: Closest was Fort Collins for a track meet at Colorado State. Mid-fifties, early April.

JOHN: How'd that go?

JAN: Third place and a hamstring strain that ended my season.

JOHN: When were you last in a manufactured home?

She returns his laptop. John stares at the screen.

JAN: An asbestos case my first year at Ryan Kelly. Several in the same park over a few days. You?

JOHN: I had a great aunt and uncle who had one with a pond in the woods outside ____ It was nice. He built a double-level deck around it, a brick grill, and a boardwalk to the pond. I was there a few times over two junior high summers. James and Edith.

JAN: Is this something you've told me and I've forgotten?

JOHN: If it is then I've forgotten too.

JAN: Were there fish in the pond?

JOHN: Yes, Perch and catfish. And as there was neither creek nor stream to get them there, I asked my uncle how they arrived and he told me how waterfowl could get fish eggs stuck to them, and then deposit said eggs into a pond, et cetera. I think if I remember that I would remember if I had told you.  

JAN: Did you go fishing?

JOHN: Yes. With can poles from the pier he built. We'd dig up worms and catch crickets for bait. He cleaned, she cooked.

JAN: Pan fry.

JOHN: Cornmeal batter. Edith was from east Texas. James was granny's cousin. They died in a car crash when I was in high school. Have you ever fished? And if I have, is it something you've told me.

JAN: You'd think something like that would have come up, don't you? Whether we'd ever fished or not. Right?

JOHN: A good possibility but the possibility otherwise. 

JAN: To the best of my recollection, I have never fished.

JOHN: Would you like to?

She smiles.

JAN: You're funny.

JOHN: I'm serious. 

JAN: I know you are.

She kisses his cheek.

JAN (CONT.): Where would we go? 

JOHN (TWO BEATS): Nacimiento. Rent a boat.

JAN: What will we do with the fish we catch? To use Chloe's vernacular, I'm not sure I'm down with the clean and cook thing.

JOHN: Catch and release, assuming catching.

Jan stares at him, shaking her head and smiling.

JAN: What if I hook myself?

JOHN: I hooked myself at the pond. James showed me how to unhook. But you won't hook yourself because I won't let you. You'll catch a fish and never forget the feeling of the sudden tug and pull. And if not, sweetheart, it's a day on the lake in a boat with the man who loves you.

She closes laptop, stands, extends her hand, John closes laptop, takes her hand, stands and follows her out of the room into hall. 

scene 27

Previous.

EXT. HILLSIDE HORSE TRAIL - DAY

The rough path at an angle bends around the side of a hill offering a postcard-picture vista to the surrounding hills and distant Sierra Blanca Peak. FAINT BIRDSONG silenced by the CUH-CLIP COH-LOP OF APPROACHING HORSES. Sess is the first rider to lead the horse train uphill, followed in line by Claire, Jackie, Hunter, Chloe and Tom, the last of the riders to leave view around the bend. BIRDSONG resumes after the last FAINT CUH-CLOP. 

scene 26

Previous.

INT. GREAT ROOM - DAY

Limestone, fireplace, whitetail deer mounts, pool table, mini-bar, loaded rifle case, Zapotec rugs, leather furniture. Gil sits in a chair near a small table with a lamp and copy of Foglost on it. He looks through the big window to oak trees forever and TWO BOYS, 16 and 14, in shorts, t-shirts and tennis shoes, kicking a soccer ball back and forth, moving farther into the woods. 

MARIA, 40ish - sandals, faded jeans, mustard tee with BROWNSVILLE GRL in brown across the front - arrives in the doorway near the hat rack that includes a sombrero. She watches Gil awhile before speaking.

MARIA: Knock knock.

Gil smiles.

GIL: Who's there?

MARIA: Ida.

GIL: Ida who?

MARIA: Ida forgotten Tom and Wanda arrive today if not for the calendar.

He turns to her.

GIL: Tomorrow. And just Tom. Wanda stayed back with a friend whose husband recently passed.

MARIA: Oh. How's the book?

GIL: Page turner. I'll finish it tonight. Do I have your permission to let Ricky drive the Vette.

MARIA: Oh boy. Does he know about it?

GIL: No. Wanted to run it by you.

MARIA: Of course, dad. But I want to be there when you hand him the key.

GIL: Of course.

MARIA: When and where?

GIL: Out to Vanderpool for lunch. I'll record a little from the passenger seat.

MARIA: Thank you. I'd like that. Fishing still on?

GIL: Still on. You coming?

MARIA: I'm meeting Victoria in Wimberley for lunch and salon.

GIL: How is she? 

MARIA: Pregnant. Very happily.

GIL: Glad to hear it. Pass along my congratulations.

MARIA: I will. Okay with tamales tonight?

GIL: You know the answer to that. Way okay.

She winks, leaves into hall. Gil watches the boys disappear, opens Foglost to the marked page, reads.

SOUND OF WOODPECKER KNOCKING.