Page 6 of Finding Home

“I didn’t know his name was Clayton.”

“That seems odd that you didn’t know.” His eyes brightened. “Score!The Golden Girlsare on Hallmark. Your aunt says I’m a Rose.”

“I’m a Dorothy.”

“As long as you’re not Blanche.” His arm looped around her shoulder. “Thanks for coming back.”

An emotional lump formed in her throat as she melted into his broad chest.

Elle pulled away. “Enough mush. We have reputations to uphold.”

“I’m a modern man… I embrace the mush.”

“Barf.” She pushed him. “Alright, you takethatmush home to Janet.”

“Yep. Don’t bring anything to the BBQ.”

“Show up empty handed to the house of the woman who pounded it into me toalwaysbring a gift when you are invited to someone’s home? I think not.”

“Text if you need anything.” Pete kissed her forehead, then moved to the door. He paused. “Lock this after I leave.”

“You know I live alone, right?”

“Don’t remind me,” he groaned, stepping out of the door.

Elle locked the door, knowing that Pete would check the doorknob from the other side in 3…2…1…

“Good girl!” His muffled voice wafted through the door.

With that, she was alone. Elle walked up the steps to the large sleeping loft. A queen-size bed with a cream-colored duvet dominated the room. Two dark oak tables that matched the headboard flanked the bed.

A leather-bound copy ofPersuasionlay on one of the bedside tables. It was one of the faux antique looking classics from a chain bookstore. Kneeling on the bed, she grabbed the book and flipped to a random page. A smile stretched across her face as she read the moment Anne Elliot first reunites with Captain Wentworth, her first and only love.

“Austen? This place is perfect. Nice job, Willa.”

Elle placed the book back with a long sigh. The anxiety-tightened muscles of her body screamed for relief. She changed into workout clothes from her suitcase. Tugging on a simple black tank, her favorite purple yoga pants, and sneakers, she headed out.

At the property line, she started a slow jog toward town. As her pace clicked faster, salty sweat stung her eyes and her muscles twitched alive.

With a steady stride, she hugged the narrow shoulder between the blacktop and fenced-in pastures lining the quiet country road. The morning’s coolness morphed into that sneaky New York summer humidity. It wasn’t Birmingham or Atlanta, but the moist air was oppressive, nonetheless.

After running a mile and a half, she stopped and stretched against a weathered fence post near downtown Perry. Lifting her head, she looked past the full parking lot and realized she was at the Owens Family Clinic. The medical practice had always been open on Saturdays, when Elle was a kid.

The once brightly colored clinic had faded to a dull yellow. It looked the same, but different. Patients hurried in and out of the clinic, including a familiar petite woman with short blonde curls.

Mom.A sharp ache burned in Elle’s chest.

She seemed not to see nor sense her daughter who stood mere feet away. If she had turned, would she have recognized Elle? At thirty-six, Elle was so different from the eighteen-year-old girl her mom had last seen. In that moment, she was more teenaged Eleanor than adult Elle.

Her pulse raced.Why is my mother here? Is it just a check-up? Is there something wrong?

“Enough! It’s not your job to worry about her anymore,” she snapped at herself.

With that she turned and jogged away.

The further away she ran from the village, the more her tension uncoiled. Before she reached the Little Red Barn, she slowed to a power walk. Placing her hands on her lower back, she breathed in the grass, weeds, and blacktop’s blended aroma.

A sound drew her attention to the right. A small gray goat had poked their head through a gap in the fence bordering the pasture.

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