Page 4 of The Leaving Road

The sun streaked through the bay windows in the living room. The sunrise here was always spectacular, and I couldn’t help but smile at the overwhelming feeling of warmth that spread through my veins. It wasn’t quite happiness, but it was the most warmth I felt in a while, and for that, I was grateful.

In the light of the day, the house looked rough, but manageable. I'm sure I could hire a contractor to fix some of the flooring, the porch; I could have a plumber come out to do some checks and possibly an electrician. Winter came hard and fast here, and I needed to wrap this up as quickly as possible.

I wasn’t in a rush to open old wounds, so I hadn’t made it past the foyer and the living room sofa last night. But before I tackled taking stock of the rest of the house, I needed to grab my luggage and most importantly, my cell phone so I could call Mr. Jensen and confirm we would still be meeting today.

The air outside was crisp and fresh, the saltiness in the air was something I didn’t realize I desperately missed until this very moment. It was hard not to appreciate all that Rockland had to offer. It was so very magical growing up here in this coastal town, and there was a point in time I never imagined ending up anywhere else. But now I’d ratherbeanywherethan here.

After grabbing what I needed and heading back inside, I finally made my way upstairs. The door to my room made me pause, considering the rest of the house was untouched, I could only imagine my room was exactly the way I had left it. There was only so much a girl could take, so I would tackle that last. We had two spare bedrooms up here after my parents’ room and my room, so I hauled myself into the one that had a view of the ocean and unpacked my clothes into the dresser. The dresser had seen better days, and I made a mental note to buy some cleaning supplies on my way back because I had some serious work to do.

After a quick shower, applying some light makeup, and realizing there was no way food or coffee were possible here, I picked up my cell I had placed on the charger, still ignoring the texts from Lexie. I opened my call logs, and not so shockingly, Mr. Jensen’s name popped up rather quickly, reminding me of the lack of people in my life.

“Magnolia, dear, I'm so happy to hear from you.” His chipper voice greeted me after the second ring.

“Yes, Mr. Jensen. I got here last night. I was just confirming that we were going to be meeting at the diner in town in about an hour?”

My stomach growled in protest of being kept waiting an hour.

“Yes, dear, that sounds fine…or you know, we could meet at Montgomery’s place for lunch instead if you wanted a few extra hours to catch up?”

Panic and dread filled me. Montgomery’s was, of course, Sloan’s family restaurant.

“I know you all were close back in the day. If a familiar place would make you feel more at ease about going over your father’s estate, I aim to please!”

Now his chipper voice was grating on my anxiety, and it took everything in me not to scream no through the phone.

“I appreciate the offer, but I have a previous engagement at noon.”Big fat liar. “The diner will be fine; I spent a lot of time there growing up, and it’ll be nice to get some of Papa Tucks food.”

Mr. Jensen chuckled so I knew he didn’t pick up on any of my unease.

“The diner it is, Magnolia. I will see you shortly! Bye.” He hung up before I had time to respond.

If my correspondence with Mr. Jensen taught me anything, it was that he was a very nice man, but a very odd one. Lexie had told me it was because he was a genuinely happy guy, and happy people made me uncomfortable. I told her that was false because she was happy; in fact, she wasalwayshappy, and I liked her. I didn’t like to spend much time thinking about how right Lexie was.

It wasn’t that Ididn’tlike happy people. I liked all people fine enough; I just preferred to be left alone for the most part—there was a reason I worked with animals. Sure, I had to interact with the owners, but much of my job was spent treating sick animals and they made mehappy. The unconditional love and devotion animals gave without reservation was remarkable, and it was one of the only things that gave me hope.

Since I was already ready and there was no caffeine in sight, I figured I might as well make my way to the diner. I could get my caffeine boost while waiting for Mr. Jensen, and there was a new book on my Kindle app I could read from my phone.

With my mind made up, I grabbed my keys, purse, and cell phone, then walked out the door. The drive to the diner was quick and easy—a little less than fifteen minutes—and I could drive there with my eyes closed. I dawdled, enjoying the melancholy feel of taking in the scenery that was familiar, yet different at the same time. Parking my truck, I did my best to keep my head down and attempted to use my long hair as a shield.

I cringed as the bell to the diner dinged when I opened the door, but luckily, I was nervous for no reason. The place was busy enough that no one really took note to someone new walking through the door, but it was not too busy that I couldn’t spot an open table toward the back, which was exactly what I wanted.

I thought I was home free as I took my seat in the back.

“Well, hell must have really frozen over.”

Oh, hell.

“You think you can just waltz in here after eight years and not give me a hug? You better get your ass over here, girly, before I get Tuck to tan your hide.”

“Momma,” I said with a cheeky grin. I bussed tables for her as my first job and made my way to waitressing in the summer when I wasn’t working at the local vet clinic.

“You’d better stand up and give this old lady a hug as a proper greeting. Oh, how you’ve grown.” She pulled me into a tight hug, one I couldn’t help but return. When we pulled away, we were both teary-eyed. “It's so good to see you! Let me get you some coffee and we can catch up.”

“You don’t have to sit, Momma, you look busy.”

“Hush now. Give me one second.”

She moved faster than I could have anticipated, and kept looking over at me, almost as if she was worried that if she blinked, I’d vanish into thin air. Before I knew it, we were both sitting in the booth with two cups of hot steaming coffee. One of the things I loved most about the diner were the mugs, which were from all over the world: big, small, funky shape, weird sayings. Depending on how Momma felt about you, that’s the kind of cup you got. Mine was light blue with the word “Wanderer.” Interesting.

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