Chapter One
Winnie
“I know that this is a big move, but I’m one hundred percent confident it’s the right one,” I say firmly, as I drive a box truck with everything I own toward Wanted, Kentucky.
Making a right turn off of the highway, I misjudge and clip the curb. The truck jostles, and my butt bounces on the hard seat.
“Whoops,” I say cheerfully.
I feel eyes on me.
“Do not say anything,” I warn my companion, who is riding shotgun. “I don’t need to be judged right now. I’ve never driven a truck before. Anyone would have hit the curb at least once.”
I don’t get a response, which is not unexpected.
“You know as well as I do that I had to leave Nashville and start over. It was time.”
This time I get an enthusiastic bark.
It sounds like my dog agrees with me.
And why wouldn’t he?
This is obviously a fantastic idea and is going to be a wild success.
I glance over at Barrel, my rescue dog, who is lying on his favorite fleece blanket on the passenger seat, his ever-present stuffed hedgehog cuddled up beside him. He’s raised his head with his bark and is giving me what I like to think of as a smile of confirmation.
Unable to resist his utter adorableness, I reach over and pet his head just briefly, enjoying the soft and warm feel of his butter colored fur beneath my fingers before I return my hand to the steering wheel. I probably should keep both hands on the wheel.
“Ten and two, baby,” I tell Barrel. “Safety first.”
He barks again.
“But we do need livelier tunes on. Leaving behind my entire life to start over in a small town in the rolling hills of Bourbon country deserves a beat.” I break my rule of hands on the wheel already and raise my phone to command, “Play ‘Good as Hell’ by Lizzo.”
The music starts playing and I bob my head along with it.
“Look, look!” I point excitedly to the right at a green sign.
The “Two miles to Wanted” roadside marker has appeared on the stretch of country rural road, grass on either side of it starting to perk up after a long winter. I roll down the window to breathe in the fresh and slightly chilly spring air.
Anticipation has butterflies jumping in my stomach, but because I’m excited, not nervous.
After I ended a relationship four months ago, I had gone to lunch with my friend, Faith, who had moved to Wanted the year before. She’d made small town life seem so charming and idyllic I’d been curious, so I’d visited her last month.
When I found out while in town that the local animal shelter was hiring, it had seemed the universe had been giving me a clear sign.
I needed a fresh start.
A new life launch because I had stalled out in my hometown of Nashville.
Within days I had the job, rented an apartment sight unseen, and put in my notice at the clinic where I was a vet tech.
At twenty-five, there is nothing preventing me from yanking my roots out of the earth and planting myself somewhere else.
My only responsibilities are me and Barrel and we are clearly ready for an adventure.
Nothing can stop us now as we head into the center of town.
