His voice returned to normal levels. “Just sayin’, man. But seriously, take the first step. Ask her out. Both of you.”
The bell on the door jingled as an older couple entered and headed for the counter. John stepped to the side, letting Brad greet them while he processed what just happened.
It almost hadn’t felt real, like maybe he’d imagined the whole thing.
Maybe I did. Maybe he was the one, not his aunt, who needed a mental health evaluation.
Taking the opportunity while Brad was occupied, John hurriedly left the store and returned to his work van. He sat there for a moment, the AC blasting and radio up, while he tried to process the conversation he’d just had.
The very weird conversation, very…well, weird was the only word he kept pulling out of his vocabulary.
Spooky weird.
He stared at the storefront. It felt like he’d been dropped into an alternate dimension for a few minutes and had emerged from the other side.
Kind of like when he and Oscar had dinner at his aunt’s house and she dropped the double bomb on them about dream conversations with her deceased husband, and that Sachi was someone they should look at as a romantic interest.
It couldn’t be that easy. Nothing is that easy. Ever.
After a few minutes, he finally pulled out of the parking space and drove back to work.
* * * *
It was a bittersweet two days in Idaho for Sachi. By the time Ellis and Sachi were ready to leave with the moving truck, Sachi was eager to get back to Florida.
To having her dad there for good.
Even better, the real estate agent was going to be showing the house tomorrow to three people, and had received several other inquiries about it already.
Life was looking up, and Sachi couldn’t be happier.
They had crossed into Montana, Sachi at the wheel as they headed east on I-90.
“You all right?” Ellis asked.
One at a time, she unclenched her fingers from around the steering wheel and flexed her right hand before putting it back on the wheel. “Fine.”
She’d gone through this the last time she’d been this way, too, terrified that she might not make it out of Montana alive.
Paranoid that every state trooper she saw might be a friend of Jackson Clary’s and on the lookout for her. Fortunately, the county she’d lived in before was two south of the Interstate, giving her a modicum of comfort.
This time the stress wasn’t nearly as severe, but the old memories remained.
In fact, this time she needed to chase a ghost of her own. As they approached the turnoff to head toward where they’d lived, she signaled.
“We need gas?” he asked.
“Yes, but I need to do something.”
“Want me to take a turn at the wheel?”
“Not yet.”
They fueled up. She didn’t need a map to find her way south. The drive was seared in her mind.
“Um, wrong way, Sachi.”
“Side trip, chief.”
Apparently he was quick on the uptake, because he didn’t ask any other questions.
It took them nearly an hour, and she stopped at a grocery store on the outskirts of town and bought some flowers from the sparse display in their produce department. When they reached the cemetery, she sat there for a moment behind the wheel.
“Do you want to be alone?”
She shook her head.
He got out and walked around the cab, opening the door for her. She shut off the engine and let him help her down. With him following, she walked a path she knew from memory, even though she hadn’t been there in over a decade.
“I always felt ashamed I didn’t stop when I left home,” she said.
“Why?”
“Because I should have come by.”
“No, I meant why didn’t you stop?”
“Fear.” She glanced back at him. “I didn’t know what to expect. I was terrified enough driving alone through Montana.”
“I don’t claim to understand what you went through, but I know the woman you are now. I want you to know I consider you a friend, even adopted family.”
She stopped and turned, looking up at him. “You’re
The bell on the door jingled as an older couple entered and headed for the counter. John stepped to the side, letting Brad greet them while he processed what just happened.
It almost hadn’t felt real, like maybe he’d imagined the whole thing.
Maybe I did. Maybe he was the one, not his aunt, who needed a mental health evaluation.
Taking the opportunity while Brad was occupied, John hurriedly left the store and returned to his work van. He sat there for a moment, the AC blasting and radio up, while he tried to process the conversation he’d just had.
The very weird conversation, very…well, weird was the only word he kept pulling out of his vocabulary.
Spooky weird.
He stared at the storefront. It felt like he’d been dropped into an alternate dimension for a few minutes and had emerged from the other side.
Kind of like when he and Oscar had dinner at his aunt’s house and she dropped the double bomb on them about dream conversations with her deceased husband, and that Sachi was someone they should look at as a romantic interest.
It couldn’t be that easy. Nothing is that easy. Ever.
After a few minutes, he finally pulled out of the parking space and drove back to work.
* * * *
It was a bittersweet two days in Idaho for Sachi. By the time Ellis and Sachi were ready to leave with the moving truck, Sachi was eager to get back to Florida.
To having her dad there for good.
Even better, the real estate agent was going to be showing the house tomorrow to three people, and had received several other inquiries about it already.
Life was looking up, and Sachi couldn’t be happier.
They had crossed into Montana, Sachi at the wheel as they headed east on I-90.
“You all right?” Ellis asked.
One at a time, she unclenched her fingers from around the steering wheel and flexed her right hand before putting it back on the wheel. “Fine.”
She’d gone through this the last time she’d been this way, too, terrified that she might not make it out of Montana alive.
Paranoid that every state trooper she saw might be a friend of Jackson Clary’s and on the lookout for her. Fortunately, the county she’d lived in before was two south of the Interstate, giving her a modicum of comfort.
This time the stress wasn’t nearly as severe, but the old memories remained.
In fact, this time she needed to chase a ghost of her own. As they approached the turnoff to head toward where they’d lived, she signaled.
“We need gas?” he asked.
“Yes, but I need to do something.”
“Want me to take a turn at the wheel?”
“Not yet.”
They fueled up. She didn’t need a map to find her way south. The drive was seared in her mind.
“Um, wrong way, Sachi.”
“Side trip, chief.”
Apparently he was quick on the uptake, because he didn’t ask any other questions.
It took them nearly an hour, and she stopped at a grocery store on the outskirts of town and bought some flowers from the sparse display in their produce department. When they reached the cemetery, she sat there for a moment behind the wheel.
“Do you want to be alone?”
She shook her head.
He got out and walked around the cab, opening the door for her. She shut off the engine and let him help her down. With him following, she walked a path she knew from memory, even though she hadn’t been there in over a decade.
“I always felt ashamed I didn’t stop when I left home,” she said.
“Why?”
“Because I should have come by.”
“No, I meant why didn’t you stop?”
“Fear.” She glanced back at him. “I didn’t know what to expect. I was terrified enough driving alone through Montana.”
“I don’t claim to understand what you went through, but I know the woman you are now. I want you to know I consider you a friend, even adopted family.”
She stopped and turned, looking up at him. “You’re
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