But not much.
She passed the store her family owned and glanced inside. Donnie was standing in the front of the store, talking to another man. He looked like he was having an intense conversation. The other man was a stranger to her, which was odd. She thought she knew everyone in town.
It was of no consequence. She wasn’t going to stop and tell her brothers her plans. She wasn’t even going to tell her grandparents until she heard back from this Edward. She moved on from the store. The post office was just down from it, only four buildings. She rode up to the front and got down from Amazon, satisfied that she was doing the right thing. She had prayed for something to happen to change her life. It was as if God himself had put the paper in front of her so that she would see it and respond.
Was that what the Lord wanted for her?
She looked up just before she went into the building. “I hope so, Lord, because I’m doing it.”
As the train rolled along the tracks and Gabby looked out the window, she thought about what her brothers and grandparents had said when she told them what she’d done. She liked the letter she got back from Edward. He sounded nice. He sounded kind. And he sounded a little desperate. But not so much so that she questioned what kind of man he was. She was certain he would prove to be a good man for her. She had prayed very hard. It felt right to her.
Her Nana had been the only one who really showed any emotion when she announced her plan during dinnertime. Her brothers had spent the good part of the night, even after her grandparents were sound asleep in bed, trying to convince her that she was making a big mistake. She didn’t hesitate to point out that the only reason they were acting that way was because they didn’t want to take on the burden of caring for their grandparents. They had vehemently denied it but they had no other excuse to keep her around and she pointed that out, too. They were not friendly to her, they treated her like a servant and she was done with it. She told them point blank it was time for them to take responsibility and stop trying to ride off the money of the store. She had even taken her middle name to use in Arizona so that she wouldn’t have to worry about being called Gabby or Gabs.
“I won’t need your money, I won’t need the money from the store, I won’t need either of you. I am going to start my life and there’s not one thing you can do about it.” She had told them. “You heard what Nana said before I took her back upstairs…she said that it was about time I made a change and that she thought it was a good idea. They are both expecting the two of you to step up and take charge of this house. They will need to be taken care of and if you have to take some of that precious money and get a nurse to stay here, that’s what you should do. But I’m not doing it anymore and you can guarantee I will be on that train three days from now.”
She hadn’t felt bad in the least when she turned her back to them both and walked out.
“I shouldn’t have to feel bad for getting my life started.” She murmured, not taking her eyes from the passing scenery. “I deserve to be happy and have a good life, too.”
When she reached the train station in Flagstaff, she expected to be met by Edward and took only a few steps onto the platform, looking both ways. She didn’t see anyone.
In fact, the train station was empty. She was surprised by that and stood still for a moment in wonder. No one else had gotten off the train and it seemed no one was destined to get on either. She took a few more steps, noticing that only one side of the platform had a set of steps leading down to the dirt and sparse plants.
When she still didn’t see anyone coming and could think of no reason to go inside the building other than to cool off a bit, she continued to walk in the direction of the steps. She was nearly there when she heard a man’s voice speaking in a tone that made her sure he was talking to a child. She stopped, curious to hear what he said, sure that it was Edward who was speaking. Who else could it be? He must have his son and baby with him.
She listened, a smile growing on her small red lips.
“Come on, son, we have to hurry, we’re already late! We don’t want to make the new lady wait too long out in this heat, do we?”
“No, papa.” She heard the voice of a young boy.
“You are going to be a good boy for her, aren’t you?”
“Yes, papa!” The boy was excited but his voice sounded apprehensive. He was eager to please his father, that was obvious.
She began to walk again, not wanting the man and children to round the corner when she was just standing there, listening.
They met just at the corner. She stopped short and gazed at him. He did the same, looking up at her at the top of the steps.
“Claire O’Reilly?” He said. She nodded, liking that he called her Claire instead of Gabby.