Page 39 of Snow Creek

As I get up to leave for Snow Creek, Sheriff appears in my doorway.

“Want some company?” he asks.

I smile.

“Sure. I’ll even let you drive.”

As we drive, I tell him about Maxine and her cats.

“Seriously? More than a hundred?”

“I didn’t exactly count them, but that’s my guess.”

“Wife and I are more dog people.”

Second-growth firs are a ribbon of green from my passenger window. The view from where I sit as Sheriff drives is stunning. Really. The forest is a massive green wall on either side of the road, every now and then giving way to the shimmering waters of Snow Creek. We had a small creek in Port Orchard. Hayden loved looking for salamanders there.

Sheriff slams on the brakes as a doe jumps into the roadway.

“Jesus! We almost hit her.”

“We didn’t,” I say.

He looks ashen and reaches over. “Are you okay?”

I exhale. “Fine. We’re all fine.”

“I don’t like close calls,” he says.

I know he’s thinking of the car accident that left him with a metal plate riveted to his skull. He jokes about setting off the metal detector at the courthouse. It’s not really funny. He’d veered off the highway and hit the barrier.Hard.A few in the office gossiped that he’d been drinking at the Indian casino and the state patrol covered it up.

It helps having friends in law enforcement.

Drunks, criminals and people looking for a second chance know that.

Like me.

It was Tony Gray who somehow managed to excise details of my life from law enforcement files. I didn’t ask how. I assume someone helped him. He’s not what anyone would call a digital native. He’s what I call, however, the man who gave me a chance to live a life in which I could be the best part of me. He saw it in me, before I really did.

He eases his foot onto the gas pedal, while I look down at the plat map.

“Slow down,” I say as we start moving. “The Anderson property is right here, on the left.”

We proceed up a slight incline. As driveways go around here, this is the nicest one by far. It’s not paved, of course, but its compacted gravel makes for a smoother ride than the rutted-out ingress of his neighbors.

He studies me. “You sure there’s a house up here?”

“Folks out here have a thing for long, winding roads,” I say.

My eyes widen as the house comes into view.

“I didn’t expect that,” I say.

“Impressive,” he says.

What held our attention wasn’t the Anderson house, though it was nice. It was a small two-story, painted white, with black shutters. More Nantucket than, say, backwoods Washington.

The yard was filled with wood carvings done with a chainsaw. There were bears, eagles, totems, and more. Some were painted with bright colors of marine paint. While chainsaw art isn’t my thing, the collection here was carved by a master—if there’s such a thing. A Smee-like character fromPeter Panlooked like he could speak. I did a double take at a sea otter because I actually thought it was real.

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