Page 67 of Home to You

Even though the place wasn't much, it was far away from my ex. At least for now.

The whole place was sort of a cabin type of theme. The furniture was in rustic, log wood furniture. There were cobwebs, but when I walked into the kitchen, it looked like someone had cleaned it.

I opened up the refrigerator and it didn't smell too bad. There was a fresh box of baking soda inside.

I turned to the sink. The water ran. That was good. Shelter and running water.

I moved toward the back door, stumbling as my foot caught on a piece of linoleum floor that the glue had come up.

The back door was a sliding glass back door and it wouldn't open it first. I noted some type of wood thing in the side of it and I popped it up. I unlocked the door and it opened. There was a screen that was difficult to move but I moved it.

The backyard was full of weeds and old lawn furniture that looked in the kind of disrepair that the front looked like.

I noted the barn looked like it was about to fall over. Willow had informed me that there was nothing of note in the barn and I was welcome to use anything I could find.

I turned walked back inside the house. I would check out the barn later.

The truth was, I needed food. I was starving. I felt my blood sugar dipping and it was probably because I hadn't eaten in roughly 48 hours. I'd been running on adrenaline.

My first point of order would be to stop by the grocery store for what I could afford. There wasn't much after giving away that $500 for deposit.

I walked down the small hallway to one of the two bedrooms and noted there was only one bed in one of the rooms. But this bedroom was hooked onto a small bathroom.

I couldn't help notice that there were no blankets. I looked in the closets and couldn't find any blankets either.

I walked down the hallway and opened up another closet and there was nothing.

Okay, I would have to stop at a Goodwill store and figure something out.

There was a knock at the door.

I moved toward the door, tentative. My heartbeat quickly. Had my ex really followed me here? I wouldn't put it past him.

I hesitated in front of the front door, noting I hadn't heard anyone on the gravel driveway. But I had been out back. I looked out the peephole and saw a woman.

She knocked again. "I'm Willow’s daughter.”

I threw the door back and stared into a woman who seemed quite a bit older than myself. I remembered that the Harrington place was a generational ranch. Or had been.

The woman blew out a breath. "Oh. There you are. I saw your car out here, but I've been knocking for a while." She stuck her hand out. "I'm Wendy. Wendy Miller. I'm Willow's daughter."

I took her hand and shook it. "Right. I'm Isla Hamilton." Instantly, I wanted to use my maiden name, but I'd been using my exes last name since we married five years before. Plus, I didn't know if it was better to use my maiden name. I didn't really want to be associated with my parents. And my mother was still in town, at least I thought she would be. My father, well, it didn't matter when your address was prison.

She pulled her hand back and smiled. "You must have just arrived."

I nodded. "Just pulled in and I was checking the place out."

Wendy turned away from me and headed toward her truck. "Follow me. I have some things you might need."

I followed, confused.

She kept talking. "I hope I'm not overstepping, but I was sent by my mother. She remembered we don't have any linens in the house. No blankets. So I brought some."

She flung open the back seat of a truck and pulled out a large cardboard box.

Once again, my heart hammered inside my chest and I thought about the prayers that I been praying the whole wayhere and recently. I choked up, but I didn't want to give myself away.

Wendy held the box out, and then glanced at my face. "Are you okay?"