By the time I pull out of the lot, I’m on autopilot, heading to Moss & Maple.
Daisy’s at the front counter of the bookshop when I walk in the front door of the old craftsman.
“Carli! What brings you in here?”
“I was in the neighborhood.”
She steps around the counter. “Everything okay?”
“That obvious?” I ask.
She smiles softly.
“I’m okay. Just on pins and needles waiting to hear about the job.”
She pulls me in for a quick hug. “They’d be crazy not to hire you.”
“So everyone says.” I sigh. My chest is tight in a way that won’t loosen even when I take a deep breath. “I think I need a good book to escape into until I hear back from them one way or the other.”
Daisy perks up the way she always does when books are mentioned.
“I’ve got just the thing.”
I follow her through the store and she hands me a new release. I pay for the book and then I drive back home.
I keep my phone with me all afternoon while I’m topping feed and checking water, glancing at message notifications regularly to make sure I didn’t accidentally turn off the ringer. I glance at emails a few dozen times. Still nothing.
Before the sun sets, I take Lark out for a ride. She’s full of energy and I let her loose on a back pasture, slackening thereins enough to let her know she’s temporarily in the lead. My hair billows behind me and I close my eyes. My thighs lock in, squeezing Lark’s sides as we surge forward through the dry wild grass. We run ourselves out. By the time we’re heading back to the barn, my breathing has softened and my shoulders feel lighter.
“You’re a good girl, Lark,” I tell her, pulling a peppermint candy out of my pocket, unwrapping it and tossing it on top of her feed.
Lark’s ears prick up when she hears the wrapper and she eagerly devours the sweet only moments after it lands in the bag.
I walk toward the main house slowly, hanging on to the shred of peaceful stillness I unearthed on the ride.
“Hey, sweetie,” Mom says when I enter the kitchen in my socks, having shucked my boots on the porch. “Want to get the plates down for me?”
“Let me wash up first. I just took Lark out on a ride.”
“I thought I saw you heading out with her.” Mom smiles, her eyes crinkling at the corners.
I wash my hands and grab down plates. Dad and Jace file into the kitchen from the living room. Dinner is filled with a combination of subjects, but most of them rotate around the pregnant hogs and their anticipated litters.
We’re finishing up our meal when my phone rings.
“Excuse me,” I say, making eye contact with each member of my family and stepping away from the table to take the call from an unknown number.
“Carli?” a man’s voice asks.
“Yes. This is she.”
“Hi, Carli. This is Chief Hayes.”
“Hi.”
“Sorry to call you so late. It’s been a busy few days and Iwanted to make sure I got a hold of you before another day passed.”
My mind swirls.
