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Soot back to his offices, but for now, he’d settle for arranging a tow At least, that was the plan until he discovered his phone had died soht fro for a charger It wasn’t in the side pocket as it was supposed to be He fished around the other pockets, even e defeat He must’ve left it in his car in Denver
“Perfect Looks like I’”
Thankfully, Wishful was only a couple of miles away He’d have probably been there by now if he hadn’t felt compelled to take the scenic route from the airport in Lawley But he’d wanted a chance to unwind froht Seeer to accomplish that every time he came here to check on his assorted ventures
Trey thought about finding the coner to let them know their animal was loose, but he didn’t see a driveway or a house anywhere Better to get on into town and arrange for the tow truck Somebody there would likely knohose land this was and who needed to be notified
Locking the car, he set out for town, grateful for the round in Colorado, but this far below the Mason-Dixon, it felt like Indian summer At this hour, the locals were already at work, their kids at school, so nobody drove by as he walked It felt strange to be so wholly disconnected No texts No calls No e and sunshine Trey felt the layers of city start sloughing off and slowed his pace as he reached the outskirts of town and the first s of houses As he took the turn onto Maple Street and cut toward don, he felt the years peel away too
The houses in this part of toere tiny Boxy little two- and three-bedroom houses built in the sixties They’d been old and a little worn around the edges when he’d seen theht dilapidated Still, others had been fixed up with fresh paint, new shutters, updated landscaping Trey i Maybe first-tile parents He liked the idea of that—fresh starts, new beginnings He hadn’t been so lucky This place had been an ending for him
He ally, sandstone brick had been painted a fresh cream The front stoop had been expanded, replaced with slate, and the roofline had been extended to ave the house more presence than the squat square had on its own The azalea bushes, which had been newly planted last ti up the flowerbeds all along the front of the house He i hung fro all those years ago, and a little girl’s bike lay abandoned in the front yard, as if its rider had just run inside for a snack Someone had turned this place into a home
But it hadn’t been her
Trey didn’t kno to feel about that Since he’d started doing business here in Wishful, he’d avoided this place, just as he’d avoided the wo here now, it was all too easy to get caught up in the storm of old emotions, too easy to look at the old pictureand see the ht in two
He’d been eaten up orry by the ti here She should’veshe needed to start over packed
When she didn’t show, he’d feared the worst—that her deadbeat husband had found out and stopped her froot out of the car, but it h the illuminatedstand out with all the clarity of aoff with the man who’d made her life hell Trey had already been on his way up the walk, headed for the door, when her husband kissed her And she hadn’t fought hihed and sreat crisis had been averted She’d chosen the prison of her e instead of Trey
The wound had never really healed in all these years He’d expected the er he did business here—a sort of e he felt was as strong and steady as it had been for thirty years Trey didn’t want to think about what that meant