tonyhealey.com

The snow is falling thick and fast. I climb into my jeep and start the engine. As I do, I happen to look across to the corner of the street where the general DIY store is. They usually have a lot of their wares extending out onto the sidewalk, but they can’t do that with the snow, even if they weren’t closed for the holiday.

A girl in a plaid jacket and jeans passes the store entrance.

My heart catches.

Ruth Preston.

She walks down the hill toward the harbor. For a moment, I’m stunned. I don’t know whether to believe my eyes. I could be hallucinating or having some kind of episode. But the more I look, the more I’m convinced it’s her. I know that what I’m seeing is real.

I want to slam the ball of my hand against the horn. Startle her, make her turn around. Demand to know where she’s been. Tell her how her disappearance has reduced Joni to a trembling wreck. Assure her she is loved and that there is no need to feel like the answer to whatever she’s grappling with is to simply disappear.

I run my hands through my hair and try to think. I don’t want to startle Ruth and cause her to take flight. My only option is to follow her on foot. I can’t risk Ruth running off somewhere. But with the snow coming down the way it is, I’m going to lose her if I keep sitting here, wrestling with the decision instead of just acting.

I throw open the driver’s side door and scramble out. I cut across the slushy street. I follow her, keeping a good distance. Far enough that I’m not breathing down Ruth’s neck, but close enough that she’s visible at all times.

She cuts right at the corner of the street, momentarily vanishing from view. For the few seconds she is out of sight, I panic. But when I come around the corner myself, I’m relieved to find Ruth is still there. Somehow she has gained a lot of ground on me. I can just make her out, almost at the bottom of the hill. Conscious of the snow underfoot, I quicken my pace to catch up. Now I really want to call out after her. Get her to stop and wait for me. But I set my jaw and just push on.

The sun burns red behind the falling snow, casting everything in fiery, orange hues and turning the snowflakes to burning embers.

Night is close.

Ruth takes the crossing at the bottom of the street. I rush after her. I’m so focused on keeping my eyes on her, I don’t see the truck coming at me from the side. I hear the scream of its brakes, the sudden roar of the engine.

Startled, I turn toward the source of the sound, the front grill of the truck a mere foot from my face.

Ben storms from the driver’s seat of the truck. “Damn it, Maddie! I nearly killed you!”

Ignoring him, I try to spot Ruth but she’s gone. A split second, that’s all it took for her to get away from me. But she’s been walking towards the harbor the whole time, which makes me think about what Chris’s manager told me back at the store.

“Maddie!” Ben demands.

“Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.”

“That much is obvious. What were you thinking?”

“I wasn’t.”

Ben shakes his head in anger. “I don’t get it. You don’t seem to care I nearly—”

I point in Ruth’s direction. “I was following her.”

“Who? What are you talking about?”

“She went that way.”

He places his hands on my shoulders, holds me there. “Maddie, you’re not making sense. Who are you talking about?”

“I was following Ruth Preston.”

His eyes go wide. “What?”

I shrug him off and head to the passenger side. “Get in and drive. I’ll explain on the way.”

Out in paperback June 30th and on Kindle July 28th