Page 35 of Coach
Until the inevitable happened.
He asked about college.
Every muscle in my core engaged.
My spine fused.
“I didn’t finish,” I told him, hoping he would drop it. “I dropped out.”
Thankfully, Saul wasn’t the kind of person who asked a lot of pressing questions about the decision to drop out. He had that laid-back kind of personality that seemed to inherently accept that sometimes something wasn’t right for someone.
“Do you ever think of going back? Or are you happier on this path?”
“Oh. Um.”
That was a good question.
I didn’t have an answer handy for that one. Because the thing was, I hadn’twantedto drop out. I really loved my classes, my friends, and the whole college experience.
I’d mourned the loss of my college career for years. And not only because I also had a lot of real-world adult job experience that made me painfully aware of how limited my options were without some sort of degree or certificate.
“What were you working to become?”
“I was working on becoming a city planner. My grandfather’s mobility started to decline in my teens. And I was too young to drive still. But we lived so far from any of the stores. It made taking care of us really difficult. I wanted to get involved in city planning to prioritize walkable cities in new construction areas.”
“Maybe that’s what you like so much about Shady Valley,” Saul mused. “You can walk from one end of it to the other without losing half the day.”
“That’s true,” I agreed. “Do you know how long the area has been partially abandoned?”
“From what I hear, a long while. It used to be a manufacturing town. Brought in a lot of families and small businesses. But when the plant closed, the town all but died.”
“Is it the prison that is starting to bring it back?”
“Yeah. Pretty quickly too. I’m sure you’ve seen the men with clipboards and rolling measuring tapes around town. Looks like there’s going to be some development starting. Whether we like it or not.”
“I know how important growth is for a community, but it would be pretty sad to see such a sweet little town get big city treatment.”
“I think the prison will discourage too much building. And I know we could really use another apartment building and some more stores. Maybe some more restaurants.”
“I wouldn’t object to a craft store. And a decent mom-and-pop home improvement one too.”
“I know some of the girls are dying for a bookstore as well,” Saul said. “I wouldn’t object either. I think I’ve read everything that interests me at the library.”
“The library is so cute.”
“A nice way of saying ‘tiny.’”
“I mean, yeah.”
“It’s actually somewhat new. It wasn’t here when I first came to town. Guess a grant came through.”
“I bet if the town came together to fundraise, we could make a big difference.”
“That’s true. There are some heavy rollers here,” Saul said.
“I noticed the, uh, well, mansions.”
“Yeah. Figure every town has its collection of millionaires. Shady Valley is no different.”
