The Road Back to Us

One | Lyric

One

Lyric

“The master bedroom is down the hall, and the three guest bedrooms are—”

“Thank you,” I said, interrupting the woman who was attempting to give me a guided tour I hadn’t asked for. “I’m well aware of the layout of the house.”

I hated that I was acting like a bitch, but being back in Willow Falls, in my childhood house, sent an overwhelming rush of emotions that I wasn’t ready to deal with yet.

The last time I had been in this house was right before my parents died, and I had unknowingly said goodbye to them for the last time before I left and moved to New York City.

“I forgot that you grew up here,” she said quietly, tucking her chin as her bangs fell over her eyes.

“I’m sorry. It’s been a really long day. I didn’t mean to be short with you.” I attempted to smile, but it fell flat.

“I can’t imagine,” she replied softly as tears filled her eyes. I looked away, not able to bear seeing them.

She was young, maybe my age or younger. I had no idea who she was, but then again, I hadn’t spent much time in Willow Falls in six years, so it was unlikely I would know many of its residents at this point.

It was a small town, but one that seemed to have grown a lot while I was gone.

I had noticed an increase in shops on Main Street, as well as some chain restaurants that had opened.

The population sign when you first entered the town had also grown over the years, making it almost feel foreign because it didn’t feel like the small town I had left behind.

“I’m going to leave the keys here,” she said, continuing the conversation when I failed to add anything to it. “If you need anything, Cole said to have you call him. He will be by soon to bring over some stuff from... Well, from what they were able to save.”

I heard the break in her voice and looked away because I was not about to break down and cry in front of this random stranger.

I nodded and let out a sigh of relief a few minutes later when I heard her leave and close the door behind her.

I looked around the living room that once had beautiful art hung on the walls and comfortable furniture where we would lounge during family movie nights.

My childhood flooded my mind so quickly that I hadn’t realized I was crying until everything was blurry with tears.

While I didn’t know the residents of Willow Falls anymore, I was currently the talk of the town.

Returning to raise my nieces and nephew was hard enough, but it was nothing compared to the pain I felt with losing my brother in a house fire two weeks ago.

I regretted not checking in on him as often as I should have and for not being there when he died.

Clay had been in the process of restoring our childhood house, but hadn’t finished it before he died.

They lost almost everything in the fire, which meant our childhood house would now be our new home as we all started over.

The few things that had been saved were currently in the possession of the one man I wasn’t ready to see.

My husband.

The one I had walked away from six years ago when I decided I needed a life that didn’t include living in Willow Falls.