I’d stood in the exact same spot and seen the exact same thing so many times before.
The relationships that had been destroyed in the last week flashed through my mind.
I had hoped that Carolina and I were repairing ours. But she’d made a promise that she couldn’t keep. It wasn’t so much about anger as it was disappointment. A week earlier, maybe I would have stormed out of the house and made some sort of declaration about a future without her.
Instead, I pulled the blankets over her as best I could and locked the front door to the house behind me when I left.
I looked at Liz sitting in my car. Her head was back-she was probably dozing. There was nothing I could do about Carolina at the moment. But another chance with Liz was in front of me and that was more than enough to satisfy me for the time being.
I got in the car, stuck the key in the ignition, did a U-turn, and pointed us back toward the freeway.
Her eyes on me for a few minutes before she spoke.
As we glided down the on-ramp, she asked, “Everything okay?”
I moved the Jeep into the fast lane, thinking again of Linc, Peter, Malia, Deacon, Lonnie, and my mother. Chances missed and chances taken.
I reached over and covered Liz’s hand with mine, determined to find that sunshine up the coast.