Chapter Five

Hailey

“I can’t believe we sold everything,” I say to Blake as I bring my bag to my car and put it in the front seat. He follows, carrying out my two suitcases. I look back at the house with the lights on inside, the sun peeking out from the horizon. The bright red sold sign sticking up. It took three days for a cash offer to come in, and here we are, seven days later as I load my car and make my way down to my escape house. That is what we are calling it.

I donated Eric’s clothes to the homeless shelter and then sold off everything else he had in the house. His tools were the only thing I kept, and I gave them to Blake—under protest, since he didn’t want them. I may have lost a husband, but he lost the closest thing he ever had to a brother.

He shuts the trunk once he places the luggage inside, and I lean in to hug him around his waist. “What am I going to do without you?” I ask him as tears start to form in my eyes.

He smiles down at me. “You know I can be there in eight, maybe seven hours. Just call and I’ll be there.” I nod my head as I hear a car stop behind us.

I turn to see Crystal get out of a strange car. “You came to say goodbye,” I say, wiping the tears from my eyes.

“Pfft,” she blows out. “As if I would let you leave without me,” she says as she opens her trunk and pulls out two large suitcases.

“What is this?” I ask her as Blake grabs them and puts them in the back seat.

“This is me and you taking on the world,” she says, smiling as she wipes tears from her own eyes.

“You can’t come with me; you have a job here,” I tell her as Blake laughs, and I turn and glare at him.

“No, I had a job here. Now, I have a job there.” I look at them in question, so Crystal continues, “I left my job, but good news, I got one in town. It’s a family practice. No gunshot victims and no stabbings, so it will be a walk in the park.”

“You’re coming with me?” I ask her, shocked and happy at the same time.

“Of course, I’m coming with you,” she says as if it’s the craziest thing in the world.

“But,” I say stuttering, “but we had a goodbye dinner last night.”

“Well, it was a free meal. How could we not?” she says as she grabs another bag from her car. “So what do you say? Should we start our new adventure?”

I smile, looking down at my feet. “I have to lock up the house,” I say as I walk up the steps. “Um, if it’s okay, I’d like to do this on my own.” I don’t wait for them to answer as I walk inside the empty house. I’m taken back to when the house was filled with laughter, when it was filled with love, when it was filled with promises. I walk to the kitchen, thinking of the first time I cooked for him, and then he made me breakfast the next morning. I flip the lights off, heading upstairs.

The bedroom door is open with the blow-up mattress that I slept on gone. The room where we spent most of our time, the room where we told each other our dreams and our hopes … gone. I close my eyes, trying to hear his voice one last time, but nothing is there. Nothing but emptiness and silence. I shut the light off before I grab the door and close it for the final time. “Coward,” I whisper, hoping Eric hears me. I turn around and wipe a tear from my face. Walking down the stairs one last time, I turn off the final light and look at the darkness.

I lock the door, making my way to the car with Blake leaning on the back trunk next to Crystal. “Here is the key.” I hand him the key to the house. “The real estate agent will stop by the firehouse at three p.m. to pick it up.” Blake is a firefighter, and he’s on shift this week. He grabs me around the neck and pulls me to his chest where I sob out the pain I’d pushed aside the past two weeks; the pain I thought was gone but was only lingering.

His arms around me comfort me till I’m spent, and my eyes are sore and heavy. “Good thing I’m coming. Who else would drive?” Crystal says as she gets on her tippy toes and kisses Blake’s cheek. “I’ll call you when we get there,” she says as she walks to the driver’s side door and gets in, leaving me standing with Blake.

“How did you do it?” I ask him, thinking of his first true love, Frankie. Francesca came into his life when he was fifteen. In high school, both of them joined the debate team. It was a friendship that blossomed into love until her cancer claimed her five years later, leaving Blake broken. He has not dated since that day. It’s as if he’s stuck in that place.

“Don’t do what I did. Don’t shut yourself off from the world. Live,” he says. “Promise me you’ll live.” I smile as I place my hands over his two hands on my cheeks. “You have to listen to me. I’m older,” he says, causing me to laugh out loud.

“Yeah, yeah,” I say to him as his hands leave my face, and I nod. “Promise me the same.” He nods at me, putting his hands in his back pockets as his green eyes still stay shaded and protected.

“Get out of here,” he says as he walks back to his truck. “See you next month for sure.” I nod at him, climbing in the passenger side.

Crystal starts the car and slides on her sunglasses. “Isn’t this just like Thelma and Louise?” she asks, and I laugh to myself.

“Can we do it without the whole driving off the cliff or shooting Brad Pitt?” I ask her as she pulls away from the curb.

“I say we still shoot Brad Pitt but don’t die either. I mean, imagine if one of us survived without the other.” She shakes her head as I lean my head on the cold window. Basking in the sun, I see a bird soaring in a circle in the sky. “I’d come back and haunt you. Just saying.” I laugh, taking my eyes off the bird to look at her. When I turn back to see where the bird went, it’s gone.

I watch the trees as we make it on the highway on our way out of town, the sign telling us they hope to see us again. “I start work next Monday,” I tell her as I take my phone out and see that my emails have gotten over ten thousand. Before all this happened, I was a highly sought-after web designer. You had a business that needed a website, you contacted me.

“So in four days,” she says. “That’s perfect. I start Monday also,” she informs me. “I spoke with them on the phone, and their practice is family run. A father and son. I spoke with the father, but I haven’t met the son yet. From what I gathered on line, they are the best in the region. It should be fun.”

After four hours of driving, we stop to get gas and use the bathroom. I grab some food for us, and we get back on the road for the rest of the journey. Having both of the windows down allows the country air to settle in with us. My hand reaches outside, and I let the wind blow it back before pushing my hand through it. The mountains in the distance get closer as we make our way there and finally turn off the interstate at our exit. With trees lining the street on both sides, we follow the directions, turning once to go down Main Street. I laugh; it seems every city or town has a Main Street.

Passing over a little bridge, we watch the creek on both sides, the water flowing down. Once we get off the bridge, I see every single shop has the American flag hanging outside. As we slowly roll down the street, I look at my side of the street and the sidewalk consisting of tiny red blocks. The D’Amore pizza place has a red and white sign with green around it. I look inside and see someone tossing a pizza in the air behind the counter in the middle.

Right next door to the pizza place is Sweet Pixie Cuts. I try to look inside, but all I see is white. A small cast-iron table sits in front with two pink chairs.

Next is Grandma Susie’s Kitchen, and looking inside, all I see is red and white. A couple of people are sitting on the stools right at the front. A waitress carrying food with both hands. A billboard in front displays today’s specials written in pink chalk.

A big green awning with white writing hangs in front of the next shop. Tina’s Treasure Thrift Shop has racks of clothing lining the front two windows. A big cardboard BOGO sign in black hangs in the window. People walk down the street and wave to everyone. “I think everyone knows everyone,” I comment. Taking off my sunglasses, I realize more shops are across the street. “We should take a walk tomorrow night,” I say as Crystal turns left in the front of the pharmacy, which just has the mortar and pestle on it. We pass the courthouse, or at least that’s what I think it is because courthouse is written in the middle of it. I see a tavern on Crystal’s side but don’t catch the name as she turns left again to head into what looks like a development of new houses.

We continue down and pass a cul-de-sac with two houses on the street. I see a little girl riding her pink bike with her father chasing after her as she laughs and tries to get away. We turn down a gravel road, and I take in the lush trees on both sides as we get to the house. The white house looks deserted and nothing like the pictures.

“What the fuck?” I say as Crystal puts the car in park right in front of the house. I look up and see that one of the black shutters is falling loose from the window on the second floor. I open my door and climb out of the car, meeting Crystal in the front to take in our new home.

“That picture lied,” she says as she grabs her phone out of her pocket and calls Nanny. “I know you’re not answering because you know why I’m calling,” she says into the phone and then hangs up, turning to me. “Maybe it’s just the outside.” She digs through my purse for the key. “Let’s go inside and see how bad it is.” We walk up the front steps and find one whole step missing.

I shake my head as we make it to the door, turning and seeing that swing that called my name. The chains that hold the swing are rusted and covered in spider webs. The wicker seat is so dirty, and the pink rug that was under it is blown half over. “Okay, so we need to do a couple of projects,” I say as she puts the key in the door and turns the lock. “Well, at least we aren’t locked out,” I say as she pushes open the door and steps inside.

The huge living room is empty. The fireplace has a board nailed over it with a single white chair in the middle of the room facing it. The gray floor has seen better days. I turn the lights on, but they just flicker. We walk in to see the kitchen to our left with a wooden island in the middle and all the cabinets white and lifeless. The brown wooden butcher block counters provide the only color in the room. The white porcelain farmhouse sink faces the window looking out to the front. The windows have no shades. The white gas stove with black burners has seen better days as has the fridge. Crystal walks to it and opens it and groans at the smell. “We need to buy a new fridge and stove,” she says as I look around, thinking with the right couch and table, this place can be perfect.

I follow her down a short hallway where we find a simple bathroom on our left. The black and white flower tiles on the floor dress it up a bit, and a see-through curtain covers the window. I open the door on the right and find a huge master bedroom. Three windows face the water in the distance. Noticing again the white walls, I walk in and open the door to the bathroom. “Why is everything so white?” I say as the floor creaks under my feet. The ceiling in the bedroom was a dark wood, but someone painted over it. As is evident from the brown fan that sits dormant with spider webs hanging from it. Heading out the door in the corner of the room, I take in the covered porch and the other swing that drew me to this house, but I don’t look at it. Instead, I listen to the sound of the rumble of the ocean and the waves crashing on the shore. Looking out, all I see is the darkness of the night. “This is so cool,” I say as I glance at the swing. This one has some padding on it and gold chains holding it up.

“Good. I’m not taking this room,” Crystal says as she walks back inside the house and tries to find light switches that work. I follow her as she heads to the living room and walks up the stairs, where we find two more bedrooms with a huge bathroom with a sunken tube. After we walk to the back of the house, she picks her room, and I decide to make the third bedroom my office. “Fuck. Where the hell are we going to sleep tonight?” she asks as we walk back downstairs, and I turn in a circle.

“We are going to sleep here,” I tell her as her phone rings. She answers right away.

“Nan, you have so much explaining to do,” she starts off, and I turn, looking back at the fireplace, and sit in the chair, almost falling since one of the legs is broken. “It’s empty,” she says. “Like so empty I don’t even think racoons would live here.” She continues as she walks toward the back of the house. “Yeah, yeah. Well, you’d better call your friend and tell her that we need the super of someone to come and clean this shit up.” She presses the button to end the call. “I don’t think there is a super.” She looks at me. “We need to hit up a Walmart or a Target,” she says as she brings up her maps. “What the fuck? The closest Walmart is an hour and four minutes away.”

I nod my head, going outside and grabbing our bags to carry inside. “An adventure,” I tell her as she glares at me. “Come on, we can stock up on all the stuff at Walmart, and tomorrow we can go shopping for a couch and stuff.” I smile at her, and she follows me outside. We get back in the car, and she drives us one hour and four minutes away to the closest Walmart. I look out the window, never once shedding a tear.