“It’s quiet. I’m not sure I could live here.”

“My mom swears it’s the best place to raise kids.”

Karen slid her a glance. “Was it a great place to grow up?”

“Yeah. I can’t complain. It’s nice to come home and visit.”

Karen heard an unspoken but. “But?”

“I’m not ready to settle down and raise kids.”

“Of course not. You’re not even out of college yet.”

“But my dad expects me to come home and help with his business when I’m done.”

The more Karen heard about Sawyer Gardner, the more she disliked the man. Talk about mapping out your children’s futures without letting them have any say.

“Let me guess…the thought terrifies you.”

She huffed out a strangled laugh. “More like strangles me.”

“You should talk to your brother. Life is much more fulfilling when you’re living it for yourself than for someone else.”

Judy stared at her now; her tight lips were in a thin line. “You’re deep.”

“Naw…I’m as shallow as they come,” she teased.

Judy slowed her pace and turned around. Karen glanced at the empty fields and followed. “I thought we were going to Beacon’s barn?”

She waved a hand in the air. “Oh, Beacon’s barn burned down over ten years ago.”

“So why do you still call it Beacon’s barn if it doesn’t exist anymore?”

“It’s a small town, Karen. Every street, every burned-down barn, every inch of this town is married to some memory from the past that no one ever forgets. The bench outside the sheriff’s station is the bench where Millie Daniels told her daddy that she was pregnant right before she jumped on a bus and never came back. Everyone calls it Millie’s bench.”

“Poor Millie Daniels. How long ago was that?”

“Six years ago.” Judy ran for a while without talking. They both ran a little slower and talking became less difficult. “There’s a lamppost where Steven Ratchet was caught puking his guts out after an all-night binge.”

“That’s an unusual occurrence? Seems small towns are magnets for underage drinking just like anywhere else.”

“Steven was from a long line of Mormon families. Drinking alcohol is right up there with having premarital sex in the eyes of the church. Poor Steven didn’t have a chance to hide his indiscretion in this town.”

“Puking in public is hard to hide.”

“Especially when half the town is Mormon and the other half is quick to point out who the ‘good Mormons’ are and who the ‘bad ones’ are.”

Karen wiped her forehead with her arm. It was starting to warm up as they crossed over Main Street a second time. “What do you mean good versus bad?”

Judy grinned. “How can you tell a good Mormon from a bad Mormon?”

“This sounds like a joke.”

“You ask them if they drink their caffeine hot or cold. They don’t drink caffeine, or at least, they’re taught not to. Bad Mormons drink coffee, and the good ones drink soda. Most of the kids I grew up with didn’t give a crap and drank what they want. Steven bucked his family most of his life. Left town the day he hit eighteen.”

Karen frowned. “Where did he go?”

“I think he went to Vegas.”

Karen couldn’t help but cringe. An eighteen-year-old in Vegas was wrong on many levels.

“Oh, don’t worry…he came home. Just took him a few years. He has a wife and three kids now.”

That made Karen feel better.

“That’s what’s kind of crazy about this town. Seems a lot of kids run off only to come back when they have a family of their own.”

Karen thought of Michael and how that would never be him.

They turned onto the Gardners’ street just as Zach was pulling out of the driveway with Michael in the passenger seat.

Karen ignored the sweat that was running down the soft T-shirt and the way some of her hair had fallen out of its binding when the two pulled up alongside them and rolled down the window. “Enjoy your run?” Michael asked. He was dressed more casually than Karen could remember. He wore an old T-shirt she’d never seen before, and when she glanced inside the car, she noticed faded jeans. She leaned against the car and peeked inside. Zach gave a wave and then quickly diverted his eyes to his sister.

“Hardly know what to do with the fresh air.”

He laughed. “Call if you need anything.”

Judy looped her arm in Karen’s as if they were old friends. After the run, she had to admit she knew Michael and Zach’s sister a whole lot better. “We’ll take care of her, Mikey. We’re taking her to Petra’s today, then showing her off in town.”

“You are?” Karen sent a puzzled look to Judy.

“Yeah, we have to get you ready for the parade.”

The smile on Karen’s face slipped. “The parade?”

Judy shifted her face to Michael. “You didn’t tell her?”

Michael squirmed in his seat. “You and Mom can give her the details. We’re late…right Zach?”

Karen felt Zach’s gaze before she confirmed with her own eyes that he was looking at her.

Karen pulled her sticky shirt away from her body.

“Yep, we gotta go. See ya later, girls.” Zach pulled away.

She watched the car leave before turning to Judy. “What parade?”

Chapter Nine

“How was it after everyone left?” Zach asked Mike as they left Karen and her nearly bare shirt that acted as a second skin. He really did need to get this ridiculous attraction to his brother’s wife out of his system. He had a girlfriend for crying out loud. He’d suggested Tracey return to her house the night before instead of staying over with him at his. Zach told her that he anticipated Mike and Karen coming over that night and didn’t want to complicate matters. The excuse was lame, but it worked. He’d been dating Tracey for nearly six months. She lived in Monroe, the next town over, but nearly everyone knew her in Hilton before Zach started dating her.

They got along well enough, liked the same movies, and laughed at the same jokes. Yet neither of them had ever suggested the other move in or elevate their relationship to anything more than what it was. He cared for her, but there wasn’t a zip of chemistry that ignited with a look.

His mom had asked once if he saw himself settling down with Tracey long term. He hadn’t considered moving toward forever with Tracey. Somewhere in the back of Zach’s head, a tiny voice kept asking three little words. Is this it? Is this the kind of relationship one looks for all one’s life and can’t imagine living without?