Page 47 of The Leaving Road

“She isn’t wrong there.”

“It’s a habit,” he snapped at me.

“Sure, it sounds like it.”

“Sorry, Sloan.” He took a deep breath. “I can’t in good faith give you Magnolia’s number, but I will give you Lexie’s. If she gives it to you, then that’s on her.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks, man. Let’s get some beers this week. We will invite Dexter; I think we need it.”

“Sounds good.”

The line disconnected before I could get another word out, but when Jace was done, he was done. It had just been a while since I had seen that side of him, not that I blamed him. I knew exactly what it was like to be stuck in a horrible situation.

A few seconds later, my phone tinged with a message from Jace, giving me Lexie’s number. I wasted no time creating her contact information, and whofuckingcares how late it is, I’m texting her.

Me:It’s me Sloan. Jace gave me your number in hopes I could sweettalk you into giving me Magnolia’s number.

The blue dots appeared almost immediately, and I went from laying down in my bed to sitting straight up, unable to contain the nervous energy that was bubbling in anticipation.

Lexie:May the odds be ever in your favor.

Me:How can I tip the scales?

Lexie:Answer one question.

Me:Anything.

Lexie:Did you name your place after her?

The cat was out of the bag now and everyone suspected it. Even if it wasn’t officially confirmed,yeah,I did name it after her. She was never far from my mind when I was building it. Truthfully, she’d never been far from my mind the last eight years, even though I did everything possible to bury it.

The twinkling lights that littered the deck of Yuliana’s reminded me of the glow-in-the-dark stars that splayed across her bedroom ceiling, because even at eighteen, Magnolia hated the dark. The wood-stained bar was the exact color of her hair, with lighter pieces of wood worked through matching it almost to a T. The green oak backdrop of the bar was the exact shade of her eyes. I remember when they showed me the color, and how I immediately knew it was the one. The cozy ambiance I had created, that feeling ofhome, I’d only ever felt when I was with her. If she would have taken a closer look, the pictures that lined the walls to the restrooms and back offices were black and white portraits of our favorite places.

It had taken me a long time to sort through those feelings and unfortunately, once I did, she waslonggone, and I carried a lot of misplaced anger at her for leaving me behind. She took the one road out of town,the leaving road, I had called it bitterly. I was ashamed of myself for not using my common sense,knowingMagnolia would have never just left without a reason.

So, I built my bar in her memory in case she ever changed her mind and used the leaving road to come back home.

Me:Yes.

Lexie:555-4576

Me:You’re a goddess.

Lexie:Don’t make me regret this.

Me:I promise.

It was time to get my girl.

Chapter 31

Magnolia

The annoying sound of my phone buzzing from somewhere jostled me from my sleep. In my half-awake state, I saw it was 4:32 a.m., and it was Dr. Lewis calling that pulled me from barely awake to wide awake, wondering why he would be calling at this hour. I felt the familiar zing of anxiety start in my gut and work its way throughout my body.

“Dr. Lewis? Is everything okay?”

“Magnolia, I’m sorry to call you so early, it’s just… Well…they found another site they think was used after we found the last one. This time, it’s just dogs. There’s too much for Ben and me to do on our own, and I was wondering if…”

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