Page 1 of Hunter

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SADIE

Today was my first real day of work, and I was a weird mixture of excited and nervous. The steering wheel was damp under my palms, my nerves making my hands a little sweaty as I made the twenty-five-minute drive to Country Crust.

It was a gorgeous day with only a few fluffy clouds in the early morning sky, but the nice weather did nothing to soothe the anxious flutter under my ribs. Everything had happened so quickly that I hadn’t really had time to get nervous until now.

This wasn’t a babysitting gig for one of my neighbors or helping out as a volunteer at the library for a few hours each week. I had actually landed a full-time job doing something I loved, but it came with responsibilities, a boss, and customers.

My phone rang through the car speakers, and I grinned when I saw on the dashboard that my mom was calling. Tapping the button on my steering wheel, I answered, “Hey, Mom!”

“Hi, honey! We woke up early so we could call before you started your big day,” she chirped.

Since they were two hours behind me and I had just talked to them last night, their thoughtfulness meant even more to me. “That’s so sweet, thank you.”

“We couldn’t let our baby’s big day pass by without any fanfare.”

She sniffled, so I changed the topic of conversation to avoid her getting all teary over me having my first real job.

“How's the newest campground?” I asked, turning onto the street that led into the heart of Old Bridge, a few towns over from where I lived with my parents in the same house I’d grown up in.

“Your dad tried to hook up the sewer line to the wrong tank,” she informed me with a giggle.

I laughed. “Oh no.”

“Oh yes. Let's just say he had to take a very long shower afterward,” she added, still laughing. “Poor guy has experienced all the steepest learning curves since we hit the road. The whole thing seemed so much easier from our driveway.”

“I’m sure it did.” Even if the thought of being crammed into an RV for weeks made my skin crawl, hearing about their silly misadventures almost made me wish that I had gone with them. “I miss you guys.”

“We miss you too, honey. So much.” My mom’s voice turned wistful as she murmured, “You would've loved Yosemite, you know. The waterfalls were incredible. Your father kept grumbling about the crowds, but I caught him smiling like a kid half the time.”

“Hey!” Dad called out in the background. “I can appreciate nature.”

“Just not the parking lot,” Mom teased as she switched the call to speakerphone.

“Too many damn cars when you’re driving a rig as big as ours,” he muttered.

“But that’s not the part of our trip that you’ll be the most interested in,” my mom blurted. “For dinner last night, we stopped at this little place you'd go nuts for. It’s the oldest restaurant in Arizona, Rock Springs Café. They’ve been open since 1918. Can you believe it?”

“Wow,” I breathed as I turned onto Main Street. “That’s a long time.”

“We tasted for ourselves how they’ve managed to stay in business for so long. They're famous for their pies,” my dad announced. “Best bourbon pecan pie I've ever had. The guy said the secret is the water because the town is right over an aquifer.”

“Please,” Mom huffed. “The mixed berry pie was better.”

“Sadie would have loved the pecan,” Dad insisted.

My mom didn’t cave. “The berry was named Arizona’s centennial pie for a reason.”

Knowing they would bicker back and forth like this for an hour if I let them, I gasped dramatically. “But is it better than my chess pie?”

“Hmm,” my dad hummed, drawing out his answer to tease me.

“Absolutely not,” Mom said loyally. “Your chess pie wins every time, honey.”

I'd made that recipe with her every holiday and birthday since I was tall enough to see the counter. I laughed, warmth blooming in my chest. “I guess I’ll just have to settle the debate myself someday.”

“We should’ve overnighted you a slice,” Dad grumbled good-naturedly.

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