Page 3 of The Leaving Road

“Lori, it’s nice to see you.” I stood and turned around to face her. I started to walk to the beginning of the dock where she stood, keeping my mask firmly in place the closer I got to her. She had aged, but she was still gorgeous with her light gray eyes and light brown hair, only a dusting of gray was sprinkled through. She was tall—well, taller than I was, anyway.

She pulled me into a fierce hug, and I couldn’t help as my body tensed up. Before I could fake it and return the hug, she stepped back but kept her arms on my shoulders. I couldn’t help but recoil at her perusal.

“Magnolia, it’s just so good to see you.” She was fighting emotions, so much I could tell, her tears were in full display. “You grew up so well. You look so much like Miranda, it’s almost shocking,” she said, choking on her words.

I supposed she was right. I was still very curvy—I’d never fit in any jeans smaller than a size six—but my body was toned, thanks to my job as a veterinarian, which was physically demanding.

In Iowa, a lot of our work came from cattle, which kept me in shape whether I wanted to be or not. My hair fell in long, soft brown waves to the middle of my back, my green eyes were light. My ex-boyfriend had once compared me to a Marilyn Monroe meets Scarlett Johanssen wrapped in scrubs. I’m sure he just wanted to get laid, and with that comment, he did. I might not be the most emotional, but a girl hadneeds.

“Thank you, Lori. It’s nice to see you as well.” I kept my tone as light as possible, but I wanted to keep the distance firmly in place.

“You’ve changed,” she said, studying me more closely. Lori was always good at reading my emotions. She always used to joke about me wearing my expressions on my face and heart on my sleeve for the world to see.

Not anymore.

“Eight years will do that to you…how'd you know I was back?” I wanted to steer the conversation in literally any other direction.

“Jim down at the Pump and Dump said he could have sworn he saw Miranda from her college days, said it about gave him a heart attack. He called me, swearing up and down that Miranda’s ghost was in town…you know how he drinks,” she said with a smile.

Some things never changed, but that explained the emotions playing over Lori’s face. I reminded her of her dead best friend.

“Ah, I forgot the fun a small town can bring.” There was no humor, no emotion in my voice, and that made Lori’s perusal of me continue. I think a part of her wanted to poke and prod at my walls, but something in my face told her I wouldn’t be receptive to that at all.

“Listen…I came here to talk, but it’s clear you don’t want that. I don’t know what happened all those years ago, all I know is that one day the girl I considered a daughter was gone. I would bet my bottom dollar that Sloan had something to do with it.” I winced at the mention of his name. I hadn’t heard it out loud in a long time; Lexie and I didn’t speak of him, and if we did, we called himhe who must not be named.

“Yeah, I figured a mother’s intuition is never wrong. Did you find out about Cassie?”

I didn’t want to have this conversation, I wasn’t ready.

“Look, Lori. I don’t mean to be crass, but now really isn’t a good time. It’s good to see you, but I’ll swing by before I leave town.”

The look on her face was almost as if I had struck her, and the guilt of that look almost had me inviting her in for tea, but I held my ground.

“Leave town?”

“Yes, I have a job back in Iowa. I’m only here for two weeks to settle my dad’s estate and sell the house.”

“You’re selling?” she whispered.

“Yes, there is nothing here for me anymore. Nothing but memories and pain.” The last part slipped out. I could tell she was about to hug me again but before that happened, I stepped around her and kept walking toward the main entrance of the house. I could tell she was stunned at the lack of emotional response.

“Take care of yourself, Lori.” I gave a backward wave without even glancing back to see if she was making her way back to her vehicle.

I grabbed the key from the envelope I had sat on the roof of my car and let myself into the house I wanted nothing to do with.

Chapter 3

Magnolia

Closing the door behind me only offered a moment of relief. Taking in the house around me, I realized it was worse than I thought. I don’t think anyone had lived here in the last eight years. I almost felt a kinship with the house; it lay forgotten, memories lingered on the walls, layers of dust coating something that was once beautiful.

Maybe it could be again…I shook my head as the unwelcome thought made its way in.

In my haste to get away from Lori, I had left my luggage in the car—same with my cell phone, alerting me to the fact that I had no idea what time it was.

I looked down at my black yoga pants and white T-shirt as the chill from the early September air lingered in my bones. I figured I could sleep in this and worry about bringing in my stuff tomorrow morning. I was too physically exhausted from the drive and mentally exhausted from my interaction with Lori, no matter how brief it was. I just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep for the next twelve hours. I briefly considered running out to grab my phone but shrugged that thought off. Lexie knew I was here, and there was no one else who would try to get ahold of me anyhow. Due to my job, I never slept past five in the morning, so I would be awake well enough in time for my meeting with Mr. Jensen tomorrow. Even though being inside this house was significantly less painful than I thought, I never had any intention of staying. I wanted to go back to my life as quickly as possible.

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