Chapter 1
Vivi leaned back against her truck, pressing a hand to the top of her hat and sighed. She glanced up at the sky, vibrant blue with lazy white clouds meandering along, blown softly by the breeze that had just begun to pick up, swishing her knee-length black skirt and ruffling her white blouse.
She should have just let Selah come get her.
She would have had the company at least. And probably a jelly roll or two, dusted with powdered sugar and made with all the love she’d missed this last decade or so. She looked mournfully at her dying phone and then up and down the long stretch of road. Nothing, both ways. Nobody. Just wide open fields and road as far as the eye could see.
No signal either.
And one veritable oven of a car to sit in.
She considered walking for a while, and then discarded that thought for the third time. The only thing she had packed, rather impractically for her, was her heels. She hadn’t thought about getting loafers until she’d walked into the station she’d left a few miles back. She wasn’t in the city any more. Nobody cared that she sported the latest fashions.
Life was simpler here – full of hardworking folks with stories to tell, a warm hug and a listening ear. It was why she’d left her imploding life behind and made her way out here. Her things were on the way, she knew, and here she was, stranded for hours with no cell service and no real way to find help.
She considered her options again.
One: get some help from a passer-by. More likely, though, as a (newly) single woman who looked like a city gal with little country experience, she’d find herself on the wrong side of a true crime podcast feature.
Two, hike the five or so miles it would take to the rest stop she’d left behind. Again, not an option.
Three, sit there and sulk. Boy, would Nana June have given her an earful at that one…
The first was her best bet. Too bad city folks didn’t just carry weapons around in their vehicles, or she’d be fine. Although technically her heels counted. She was sure that if she went missing, her ex, Leo, wouldn’t be so cut up about it.
“Jackass,” she said under her breath.
So, that left walking.
If she changed into her more comfortable wedge heels, maybe she could actually make the trip. And she was sure she’d packed a pair of jeans somewhere… the sweltering heat had made her opt against the warm material. They were the only pair she’d packed.
Wow, she admitted, after going back to her luggage for the third time, maybe Leo had been right about her inability to get her things together. In her defence, though, she’d been much too distraught to think about what she was putting in which bag. She had a blanket at least. And some lotion. That was practical… maybe.
She was so glad he couldn’t see her now – imagined his satisfied grin as he told her, once again, how much she’d messed up and how much she…
She heard it before she saw it, feeling equal parts scared and relieved. The low hum of an engine in the distance. She looked up and squinted at the road back the way she’d come.
It could be a killer. Or a Good Samaritan. Or someone who would blow right past her because maybe she was the killer in the driver’s scenario.
Either way, she was juggling several crappy options and needed to make sure this person slowed down to, at the very least, send help from her home town of Serenity Valley.
She was relieved to see that it was a police patrol vehicle. So no true crime endings for her – that was something at least.
As the truck got closer, she flagged it down, and when it got closer, the driver rolled down his window.
“Vivienne Grace Kolu. What a surprise.”
She would recognise that smile anywhere, even though the last time she’d seen it, he’d been congratulating her on her graduation. He had been one among hundreds of others at the time, but it stuck with her… perhaps because it always seemed like there had been something more he’d wanted to say? But that was a long time ago.
“Nate Mensah,” she said, beaming. “It’s been a long time.”
He stepped out of the car, his crisp uniform framing his muscular form. His formerly wild curls were now cropped short – the clear sign of a disciplined man far from his bygone days of mischief. And he was tall. Much taller than he’d been all those years ago as a gangly teen. Of course, he’d grown. And he’d aged well. Clean-shaven, skin dark like burnished oak, deep brown eyes still gleaming with hidden depths. She’d always thought he had a lot going on behind that warm gaze.
“You look like you’re in trouble,” he said, already assessing her vehicle for damage.
“I am, and I’m actually so grateful you’re here. I need a lift into town.” He nodded, understanding.
“Yeah, that’s at least an hour that way,” he replied, pointing down the road. “But I’m sure we can get you situated. Hop in, I’ll take you there.”
Ever the gentleman, he helped her load her bags in the back and then had her sit in the back as well. The rules didn’t allow her to sit up front, and even in this small town, Nate didn’t mess with the rules.
She grinned at that.
“This is the first time I’m sitting in the back of one of these?”
“Really?” he said, carrying on the conversation genially, “Can’t say I’ve had the pleasure myself.”
Chatting with him felt like nothing between them had changed. And why would it? It had only been a twelve-or-so-year hiatus. They hadn’t spoken much during school, although they were friendly, and they hadn’t kept in contact after she’d moved and started her “fancy job” in the city. And here she was coming back to it all.
It felt fitting that they would meet this way.
“I was sorry to hear about Nana June,” he said suddenly. “She was a good woman.”
“Yeah,” she said quietly, feeling the tears she’d been holding in threaten to fall again.
Her grandmother, Annabeth Kolu, had gone by Nana June to everyone in town. After her parents had passed away, she didn’t really have any other family. And now that Nana had passed, just as her life had imploded…
“I heard you were coming back for a while. Planning to stay or just stopping by?”
“We’ll see,” she said, feigning ease. It was a ruse, and they both knew it. Vivi had adored Nana June, and it had only been two months since the funeral. But thankfully, he didn’t say anything more about it, and she didn’t broach the subject either, moving on to safer topics; well, relatively, considering he started asking about her life in the city.
The life she was absolutely running from.
About a half hour later, they were making their way onto the main street of the small town of Serenity Valley.
“Here you go. Safe and sound,” he said as he opened the door for her and fetched her suitcase. A few people saw her and waved, recognising the young woman they had once known. Kwame, the owner of Landings and Loads Hardware at the end of the street, waved her over, and she waved back. She would be putting up with him and his family, which included her best friend Selah, who even now was rushing towards them.
“Thank you so much,” she turned to say.
“It was a pleasure,” he said in that same way that he’d congratulated her on their graduation – like there was still more to say.
“Vivi!” yelled Selah, barrelling into her friend and gathering her into the warmest, tightest hug. It brought all the tears to the fore again, and, noticing her friend’s distress, Selah whirled on Nate.
“You!” she said, pointing a stern finger at Nate, “you better not have been bullying my friend here or I swear…”
Nate, laughing now, lifted his hands in surrender. Everyone knew that Selah didn’t make threats lightly, and Vivi was and had always been the final straw; the line that was never crossed lest you incur her wrath. Vivi laughed, coming to his defence.
“No, no. I’m not crying because of him. I promise.”
She glanced at Vivi, recognising the genuine mirth there, and backed off, her warning frown still on her face. “Good. Now come on. Papa’s been waiting for you, and Mam’s made Jollof to welcome you back.”
Helpless at her friend’s enthusiasm, Vivi sent Nate an apologetic wave and went off down the familiar street to her lodgings for the evening. It felt weird being back here. But, looking at her beaming best friend dragging her into the arms of her waiting family and talking with her like they hadn’t been distant for years… she felt that maybe she could get used to it after all.
