Oasis Springs was hot.
No, that was an understatement: it was sweltering.
It was also very dusty and Phil had to pull the gauzy orange scarf around his neck over his nose to stop himself breathing it in.
Eliza walked beside him – she hadn't stopped talking the whole journey – but she didn't seem all too bothered by the heat, but maybe that's because she wasn't the one who had only just recovered from a sickening fever.
"Reckon Summer's already waiting for us?" Eliza asked, kindly, trotting along.
Phil shrugged, nonchalantly, and gazed across to where he could see the bar with its tall palm trees outside.
It was called the Rattlesnake Juice Bar and it was probably the smallest building on the row of shops. It had red and white stripy canopies over the windows and a terracotta tiled roof. The brickwork was white and the whole thing seemed to wobble with the hot air.
"I certainly hope so," Phil breathed, regarding Summer waiting for them, his voice slightly muffled by the fabric of his scarf, "I don't fancy sitting about for ages if she's not."
"Me, too," Eliza agreed.
Even though she was very talkative, Phil didn't find her to be annoying. She was less of a pain than when she used to stalk Dil, anyway. Maybe she was alright after all – perhaps she just needed a friend.
If that was the case, Phil found himself willing to fill that role.
As he and Eliza wandered up onto the porch and pushed open the doors to the bar, feeling as if they were in a Western movie, they found themselves looking straight across the room to the very table where a blonde girl was sat, patiently.
The lights in the room were all set to different colours and Summer was cast in a pink glow, giving a reddish tinge to her clothes and everything around her.
Phil took the time to look around before going up to her, and so quickly took in as much as he could.
The inside walls were white brick and the floor was wooden – sticky, too, from things spilling onto it – to match the top of the bar to the right and the seats of the ornate chairs.
The table Summer had chosen was the only one with 3 chairs exactly, pushed up against the far wall under a menu that was hanging on the wall.
To the left of the door was a counter with a coffee machine and beyond that was a jukebox, facing the couches in the corner, set around a red striped rug.
The whole place smelled of strong cologne and old beer mixed with the bitter scent of coffee beans drifting through the air.
It was even warmer inside than outside and so Phil pulled the scarf back down to around his neck and breathed a long sigh, swallowing the lump in his throat and fixing his glasses so they sat straight.
Summer had noticed him and Eliza by then and was now enthusiastically waving them over, so, preparing themselves, they went to greet her.
"Hi, Summer!" Eliza smiled, though Phil only gave a tiny wave as he sat down opposite Summer, letting Eliza fill up the gap between them (he definitely didn't want to sit right next to Holiday).
"How've you been?" Summer asked them both, though she seemed to be mostly addressing Phil. Of course, she would be.
"I've been good, thanks," Eliza replied.
Phil gave a short laugh,
"Average," he replied, though the truth was probably 'less than average'.
He wasn't about to tell either of them about the fever or finding Tabitha or stressing out over any minor aggravation, so he stuck with 'average'.
"How's being back in town going?" Summer asked, casually, leaning back in her chair a bit.
"Uh…" Phil mumbled, trying to think of a way to describe the week without using the words 'stress', 'chaos', or 'mistake'.
"It's been eventful," he settled eventually, hoping that he hadn't made himself sound too suspicious.
"Looking after Dil and Tabitha's son alright?"
"Dab? Well, yes, I suppose. He seems happy."
"I bet you'd make a great da-"
"Actually, Dan did most of the childminding, I usually just looked after the house. Dan is better at interacting with children than I am, after all."
Summer seemed to frown at the mention of Dan's name, which frankly wasn't a very great sign.
"How have you been?" Phil inquired, shifting the attention onto Summer before she could ask any more questions that could lead to awkward half-hearted 'explanations'.
"Me?" Summer stuttered, taken-aback, as if she was questioning whether she was being addressed, even though Phil was looking straight at her.
"Yes, you," Phil nodded, "Last time I saw you was the masquerade. Everything been OK since then?"
"Well… yes," Summer replied, "Just the usual – more drama with Travis and Liberty."
"Drama?" Phil repeated, raising an eyebrow. He should have expected Summer to be the sort of character to gossip about drama. She certainly seemed the kind of person.
"Yeah, Liberty's partial to Travis, but I know he likes me more, though she won't admit it, so I'm trying to get her to realise he doesn't want to be with her-" Summer rambled on, quite happily, as Phil and Eliza exchanged knowing glances.
Phil hadn't really been listening to Summer, but he was soon brought back to reality when she leaned her elbows on the table and gave a sly smirk, fluttering her eyelashes like she always did.
"I bet Liberty would like you," she whispered.
Phil couldn't help but make an uncomfortable expression and lean more toward Eliza like he always did to Dan, hoping for some sort of reassurance that he wasn't the only one who had found this statement a bit odd. He felt that Eliza agreed with him, though, even though she didn't say a word.
He really felt he ought to have prepared a script because this peace-making endeavour was going just as he had expected and dreaded.