Page 82 of The Wayward Son

“You would?”

“Of course.”

She didn’t quite believe him. “You know, it’s okay if you weren’t.”

He dropped down onto his back. “Well, honestly, I’d hate it. But if it made you happy, then I’d fully support it.” He shaded his eyes with his ball cap. “Just don’t disappear on me again. That would not make me happy.”

She reached for his hand. “I won’t. You’re stuck with me until death do us part. Or you know, something like that.”

“I know what you mean.”

She took a few moments before saying, “If you asked me to stay, I would.”

“I’d never ask you to stay, Jade. That wouldn’t be right.”

Of course he’d see it that way. Because he wanted her to follow her dreams. But what if her dreams were now a lot closer to home? What if he was her dream? Could she really leave him again? She wasn’t so sure.

Chapter twenty-four

"I guess we know who the slob was now."

Sawyer pulled off the road and stopped at the end of the driveway next to the rusty mailbox. It sat at an angle, probably due to being hit by the snowplow a time or two over the years. The drive wound through a stand of pine trees, and from where he stopped, they couldn’t see the house.

He looked at Jade. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

“Yes.” She took the key from her purse. “I’m ready. I need to close this chapter of my life.”

Sawyer put the truck in gear. “Okay. Let’s do that, then.” He pulled through the trees and he felt Jade tense up when the house came into view. She instinctively rubbed the arm that had been broken the last time she was there.

She took a ragged breath, then looked at Sawyer. “It looks exactly the same.”

“Has anyone been here since he died?”

“No. The lawyer locked it up and sent me the key. The place has been sitting here, untouched for two years.”

Sawyer parked the truck in front of the house and they both got out of it. He went around and took her hand.

She glanced at him. “I didn’t think it’d be this hard.”

“We don’t have to go in. This was a big step. We can come back another time. We can postpone until we come back from Missoula.”

“No. I need to do this. I don’t want to wait.”

They walked slowly toward the front door. When they got there, Jade took a moment before moving the key toward the lock. Her hand was shaking, and Sawyer put his over it, then took the key from her. He put it in the lock and unlocked the door. He glanced at her, then opened it.

They were hit with a powerful foul smell, and they both took a step back and covered their mouth and nose.

“Shit. That’s bad.”

Jade shook her head. “What is it?”

“It smells like the refrigerator was never cleaned out. Or something died in here. Let me go in and open the windows.”

She nodded and walked a few feet away from the house as Sawyer went inside. The place was a mess and seemed to be exactly how Richard left it the day he died of a massive coronary. He was in town when it happened, visiting the White Buffalo. If he’d been home, who knows how long it would’ve taken someone to find him?

Sawyer opened the two windows in the living room, then went to Richard’s bedroom. The bed was unmade and clothes were strewn about the room. Sawyer opened the window, then went to Jade’s room. It looked the same. Quite neat for a sixteen-year-old girl. It seemed Richard had closed the door and never went into it once she was gone.

Sawyer and Sage had come to get some of Jade’s things the day after the final incident. Richard was in jail, and they took the opportunity to come to the empty house. They’d packed up some clothes, her school backpack, and a book she was reading. She also wanted her old guitar and a notebook with songs and poetry she’d written. He was sure at the time, she thought she’d go back and get more stuff. But she never did.

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