PROLOGUE
Cody—
It’s late when I cross the bridge over the Tennessee River, headed south on US231. The bridge is old and concrete, with a low railing. The northbound lanes are separated and higher by about ten or twelve feet.
Not many cars have passed me going in the opposite direction. That’s why the woman illuminated in my headlights startles me. She stands in the shadow of one of the steel trusses that hold up the cantilever bridge, her face toward the river. She doesn’t even turn as I approach.
My hand eases on the throttle, and I brake.
Everything about her standing there sets alarms off in my head.
She’s trying to get up the nerve to jump.
I pull over and dismount, yanking my helmet and throwing it to the side before jogging to her. I slow as I approach, not wanting to scare her.
“Miss, are you okay? You need help?” I glance around. Where did she come from? I don’t spot a vehicle. Then I see an old bicycle leaned against the rail ten yards back.
“Go away.”
“Can’t do that. I’d never forgive myself if I rode away and left you standing here.”
“Please. I don’t want you here. I just want to be alone.” She’s in jeans, tennis shoes, and a zip-up hoodie. Her frame is thin,her skin like pearls, her eyes blue. Strands of her pale, fire hair whip around her in the wind.
“Honey, there’s nothing in this world worth taking that jump.”
“Yes, there is.” Her voice is as shaky as her legs.
I hold my hand toward her and inch closer. “Let’s talk. Just for a minute.”
“Please go.”
“Just for a minute.”
“It won’t matter.”
“Can I tell you about my day?”
She doesn’t reply.
I move closer. “Started out pretty crummy. I lost my girl, got an eviction notice in the mailbox, then my boss tells me he doesn’t need me anymore. So, in the span of a day, I lost my girl, my home, and my job. Hell, I’d be on that rail with you, but you know what happened?”
“What?” she whispers.
“I said, fuck it. I’ll just leave… start over. What’s that saying? The first day of the rest of your life? I decided I’d shake all that shit off. God apparently has other plans for me. Sometimes He takes away everything to make room for even better stuff.”
“Like what?”
“Like I stopped to help this guy fix his flat tire, and he ends up offering me a job at his garage makin’ twice what I was makin’, and you know what else?”
“What?”
“It comes with a free place to live above the garage as long as I watch the place. Make sure he doesn’t get robbed.”
“That’s good,” she says, but she’s still starin’ at that water.
“But that’s not all. I stop to get gas and buy me a scratcher ticket. I never buy lottery tickets, but somethin’ made me lookup at them. So, I give five bucks and scratch it right there on the counter. Won fifteen grand.”
“You’re telling me a story. You didn’t really win, did you?”
