Chapter 5: Sign Here

I called Brian from the shoulder of the highway.

It rang four times.

"Hey, you've reached Brian Brennan, CFO, Kessler Freight."

I hung up before the beep.

A second later a text came through.

Brian: No bars up here babe. Barely got this out. Kids say hi. Fish aren't biting lol.

I looked at the pending $40,000.

Then I texted back.

Me: Have fun. Love you.

He sent a heart.

Sunday evening the truck pulled back into the driveway at six.

I was at the stove making spaghetti.

Liam came in first and dropped his duffel in the hall.

"We're starving."

"How was the lake?"

"Cold."

He went straight up the stairs.

Mia came in with a new bracelet on her wrist.

Gold links, with a tiny letter L hanging from it.

"Pretty," I said. "Where'd you get that?"

She covered it with her other hand.

"Gift shop. At the campground."

"They sell gold at campground gift shops now?"

"It's fake, Mom."

It wasn't.

I had worn real gold for twenty years. I knew the weight of it.

Brian came in last.

He had no sunburn. None of them did.

Three days at a lake in the October sun, and not one of them was pink.

"Something smells great," Brian said.

He kissed the side of my head.

He smelled like somebody else's laundry soap.

While they showered, I unpacked the truck.

The sleeping bags were still rolled tight in their factory bands.

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