“Honey, if this was the Triple Crown, all my money is on you.”
Peyton had never worked as hard as she did in that next year of her life. She was hustle personified, perseverance in live form. If there was a YouTube video about running a small business, she’d watched it and taken notes probably three different times. If there was a seminar she could enroll in or speaker she could buy a ticket to see, she most certainly did. Not only that, she used her resources, the program for parolees, the bank’s small business arm, and Candy, who was only a phone call away and forty-five miles up the road if she needed guidance with anything related to the business or even how to fix a sink. Peyton didn’t remember much about her own mother, but Candy had become a bright spot in her life, and someone she would consider family until the end of time. She’d saved Peyton. Picked her up and put her back together until she was quite nearly a whole person again.
“How were this week’s numbers?” Candy asked on one of their weekly calls. Peyton was perched on the side of her white and green couch, balancing a carton of yogurt with fruit on the arm before work.
“Much better now that I scaled back on purchases in advance of inventory dip. I’ll see a profitable month and then some. That was good advice.”
“The early bird does not always get the worm.”
“Lesson learned.”
“Now let’s get serious. Did you hear anything from your brother after the letter you sent?” Peyton deflated and set the carton on the table. The letter had been Peyton’s attempt to reconnect, make amends for the stress she’d put on him. The heartbreak. She’d tried multiple times to set up a visit to get to know her niece and nephew more. Each day that passed felt like she’d missed the chance forever. But Caleb continued to brush her off, polite but elusive, probably because he was leery of her. It was hard to blame him. He’d been burned by the younger version of his kid sister too many times and had no idea how far she’d come. If only he’d give her the chance to show him how much she’d grown up in the three years since she’d been out, how much she’d learned and changed.
“He thanked me for sending it, told me Joshua’s T-ball score, and promptly got off the phone like it was burning a hole in his hand.”
“Goddammit. He needs to open up his mind and his heart. It’s been long enough now. I know panties, and his are in a wad.”
“Don’t blame him. This one is on me.” She exhaled, feeling a little shaky. It happened anytime she had to be vulnerable, and discuss things close to her heart. Way out of her comfort zone ever since she’d hit mute on her feelings. “But a part of me can’t let go of the fact that Caleb and his family are all I have left. Well, them and you.” A hopeful smile tugged. “The T-ball score was an upgrade, though. He usually holds all personal details back.”
“Are you sure he’s a good guy?” Candy asked. Peyton could hear the squint in her voice. “Seems against any kind of forgiveness or grace, and sweet baby, that’s not how it should go.”
“It’s going to take time. And phone calls and letters might not be enough.”
“You gonna visit?”
Peyton was actually considering much more but hadn’t yet gathered the courage to voice it. She hadn’t been back to Landonville, Ohio, since she’d been arrested there and sent to Dayton to serve out her sentence. In fact, the concept of returning to the literal scene of the crime sounded downright terrifying. Her stomach churned at the thought. She’d only lived there for a couple of years with Caleb and her grandfather before everything in her life went to hell, with a series of bad decisions. It wasn’t the place that called her back, though, but her one last connection to her family. Her parents were gone. Her grandfather, who’d stepped in to raise them, had passed while she was away. But Caleb was out there, and he used to be her person, the older brother who always had her back. He’d sing her to sleep at night when she was scared. Make her sack lunch. Step between her and any perceived bully. Caleb kept her safe. And after living in an emotional shutdown, Peyton needed to feel something again. Maybe that meant she needed to go backward before she could go forward. She sucked in much needed air. It was too terrifying to consider. The continued rejection. The reaching out of her hand only to have it slapped away.
But with each day that passed, a part of her opened up to the idea of working on rebuilding that connection she’d lost. In many ways, it felt like rebuilding a bridge back to herself. She’d gotten her life in order. She was self-reliant and a contributing member of her community. She’d been not much more than a kid when she’d gotten in trouble, and Landonville was not exactly a small town. People weren’t going to remember her. Except of course for her family, the ones that mattered.
They’d be surprised by the changes in her. She smiled most of the time, found the good in most everything she encountered, even the shitty stuff. She’d lost too much time to take any moment for granted. That wasn’t to say she wasn’t frightened away easily. When things went wrong, she tended to retreat. Ghosted people she was dating. Shied away from anything that made her feel open or exposed or too touchy-feely. Nope. Not for her. She enjoyed people, relished every conversation she had in the store, but she didn’t allow them too close. Candy had been the closest she’d gotten, but it was like that part of her was broken. She kept waiting for the fix. In the recesses of her mind, when the night got exceptionally quiet, she knew what she had to do if she ever wanted to feel whole again.
As she chatted with Candy, Peyton balanced the phone against her ear and watched the sign company replace the neon bulbs from atop a ladder now that the shop was closed for the day. “I have a question for you.”
“I aim to have an answer.”
“How do you feel about me taking Cotton Candy a couple hours south?”
“Sweetheart, that business is yours, and if home is calling your name, I know for a fact you’re ready to make the boobs of those Landonville women say hi to heaven.”
Peyton grinned. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
It was settled. With the last of the roadblocks out of the way, it was time to take her life back.
Chapter One
The Bureau of Motor Vehicles was put on the planet to punish the innocent. Juliette Jennings had the unfortunate pleasure of having her wallet stolen and now faced the long line of car driving consequences, one of them being filing for a license replacement. She bit the inside of her lip to keep from shriveling into a ball and dying of dread. Some things she would just have to suffer through. The goal: get in and out with the minimum amount of waiting and small talk with other human beings. Shouldn’t be too hard. She’d brought her book, the God-given prop that was most instrumental in warding off verbose strangers. She’d also researched what times of day were the least busy and made sure to arrive at ten a.m. as directed by the great and powerful Google.