Chapter 60
Mylie stared down at her suitcase, trying to figure out what to pack. If she was going to make it to Little Rock to catch
her plane, she was going to have to hurry. She considered calling Ben, talking it out. But she was afraid she’d lose her nerve.
It would be too easy to hang up, to not say anything at all. If she was in front of him, though... she wouldn’t be able
to escape it.
Even now, she wasn’t sure what she wanted to say. All she knew was that the last couple of weeks had been the most miserable
of her life. Maybe once she saw him, she would figure out what to say. All she’d done so far was decide she had to go.
It had been the day Courtney came to the house next door and ripped out the for sale sign in the yard. She figured that meant the new owners were getting ready to move in. Something inside of her pulled taught
and snapped.
Jodi promised to take care of the shop while she was gone. Her eyes lit up when Mylie told her the plan. “I hoped you’d go,”
she’d said.
Telling Granny and Cassie had been more difficult, but to her surprise, they reacted much the same way Jodi had.
“How long will you be gone?” Granny asked.
“I don’t know,” Mylie replied. “I took two weeks from work. But depending on how things go, it could be less.”
“I doubt that,” Granny said.
“How do you even know where he is?” Cassie asked.
“I know what city he’s in. I know what university he’s working for,” Mylie said. “But I’m going to call him. I promise I won’t
show up to his workplace like a stalker.”
“Sounds romantic to me,” Cassie replied.
Mylie was grateful that her family and friends were so supportive. It was the only reason she had the confidence to do this—to
take this leap. For her whole life, she’d known that her life was here, in Clay Creek, and she’d always thought that meant
everything about her life should have to exist here, too. But maybe, just maybe, she could have something, someone, who existed
outside of that.
Mylie packed the last of her clothes and was starting on her toiletries when she heard a shriek from downstairs.
“What is it?” Mylie yelled.
“Stanley escaped!” Cassie yelled.
Mylie went downstairs and outside onto the porch, where Granny and Cassie were scanning the yard for Stanley.
“He just started running down the road,” Granny said, throwing her arms up in the air. “Damn dog.”
“I was trying to put his leash on,” Cassie explained to Mylie. “But the second I got ready to clip it, he bolted.”
“Maybe he saw Fat Tony,” Mylie replied.
“If I were Fat Tony,” Cassie said. “I’d probably want to be as far away from the new neighbors as possible.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Granny replied. “I think our new neighbors will be just fine with keeping Fat Tony around.”
There was a twinkle in Granny’s eye that Mylie didn’t quite understand.
Down the road, they could hear Stanley barking, his form appearing and disappearing as he ran back and forth from their line
of vision.
“Is he chasing something?” Mylie asked.
“I think I hear a car,” Cassie replied. “He’s going to get run over!”
All three women hurried off the porch, calling to Stanley as they walked. The noise from the vehicle became louder and louder
until they could see it—an orange-and-white U-Haul truck beating its way down the street. Stanley was running along beside
it.
The U-Haul stopped, idling in the middle of the road. Mylie lurched forward, hoping to catch Stanley and force him back inside
so the neighbors could pull into their driveway. This wasn’t making for very good neighborly relations if the poor people
couldn’t even get to their house without Stanley getting in their way.
The driver’s side door of the U-Haul swung open, and Mylie prepared herself to apologize.
“I’m so...” The words caught in Mylie’s throat when she saw the man jump down from the van—not a new neighbor at all, but
an old one—Dr. Benjamin Lawrence.