CHAPTER 4
johnnie
NOW
There it is.
Staring back at me, the universe couldn’t possibly yell any louder if it tried.
Behind the large oak desk in front of me, a cork board hangs on the wall, cluttered with neatly pinned business cards. Plumbers, florists, caterers, the kind of local services small towns rely on. My eyes skim over them without meaning to.
Until they stop.
Combs Landscaping.
The card sits front and center like it owns the board, bold blue lettering—three Cs—against white cardstock.
Taunting me.
As I sit here listening to the funeral director talk about cremation options, urn styles, and service packages, none of it is actually registering. His voice fades in and out like the static of a radio station you can’t quite tune.
I’m stuck inside my own head while the rest of the world moves in fast, blurred circles around me.
Nan is gone.
My parents were too busy to come home and handle the arrangements with me. Well, my dad was too busy with work and my mother refuses to go anywhere without him.
So that leaves me.
Back here.
The place I left my heart so long ago.
I flew into Columbus at sunrise and drove straight here in a rental that smells faintly of stale coffee and cheap air freshener. I barely remember the drive into town. The familiar roads passed in a haze of exhaustion and dread.
My teeth feel furry.
My head is too heavy for my neck to support.
My contacts scrape against my eyes like sandpaper every time I blink.
I need a shower.
A toothbrush.
A bed.
Nan is gone.
And I’m back in Laken after a decade of being away.
Ten years since I swore I’d never come back to this town again.
At any moment I could run into the ghosts of my past.
“Miss Hardin, is there anything else I can do for you? All the paperwork is in this folder.” The funeral director gently slides a thick manila folder across the polished desk toward me. “Call me anytime, and we’ll start whatever arrangements you decide on. Again, I’m so sorry for your loss.”
My throat tightens.