“Right,” he nodded. We were in Halstead for the next three months. A construction crew was coming to build my parents’ new house. My brother and Brett had come along to help me oversee the process. Well, Brett came along to see what kind of trouble he could get into in a small town and Hoyt came to keep my ass in check. Mostly, I think we really were just all looking for a break.
The past season had been a tough one. The level of competition had been heated for both me and Brett. This was the first year we were both racing for the same team: Throttled Energy. The energy drink brand was new to the market and thrilled to have both me and Brett on board. Brett and I were thrilled to have factory Yamahas custom made for us. The salary was pretty sweet too. As long we were winning, they were paying us. I’d taken home the title for 450 racing and Brett had nailed down his second freestyle championship. Both of us had been pushed to the max by the pressure, and while it felt good to come out on top, we needed a break before we kicked off our winter training back in Texas.
I surveyed the land for a long moment, reveling in the memory of what it was like before. Before the money, before the sponsorships and pressure… before the insanity. Fuck. I actually missed this place. Suddenly three months didn’t seem long enough.
Brett rolled his eyes at me. “Well, let’s get started then before you get lost in your daydreams.”
I hadn’t been on the back roads of Halstead in years. There was nothing for me outside of the small town I called home. My family. My boyfriend. My job. Since graduating high school, I hadn’t had a reason to leave the city limits. Occasionally, I would shoot down the highway to the closest town over. They had a mall and the junior college I had attended was there. But the country road I was driving down now? Much less traveled. For good reason. Surprisingly enough, I still knew the way. Down the narrow gravel roads to the unmarked intersection of No Man’s Land and Free Range.
The green fields of corn and beans had faded to harvest brown—a few of them already cut. The only other people I’d met on these back roads were driving a combine and a tractor pulling a grain cart behind it. It might not have seemed like it, but it was a busy time of year out here. The time when the farmer finally returned to the fields after months of waiting for crops to grow.
Straight out past the high school. Left at the Baptist Church at the town line. Follow the winding gravel around for about five miles. You’ll see an old barn, take a right.
When my boss was giving me the directions, I had an inkling of where he wanted me to go. The old Travers’ property. Sure enough, when I looked up the coordinates, I was right.
“Think you’ll be able to find it?” Mr. Hillcrest had asked as he handed me a packet of documents that needed a signature before the sale could be complete.
“I’m familiar.”
“That’s right,” he’d said with a smirk. “You dated one of the Travers boys back in high school. I almost forgot.” No he didn’t. No one did. Typical small town. People remember all the things you want them to forget. And want to forget yourself, for that matter.
“I did,” I’d said, unable to fake the same enthusiasm. I’d dated Reid Travers all right. I’d also had my heart shattered into fifty million tiny pieces by him, but I doubted Mr. Hillcrest knew that part of the story. All anyone knew about Reid now was that he was some big shot motocross racer these days.
Guess he got what he wanted.
I tried not to be bitter when I heard anyone mention his name, and honestly, I hadn’t heard it very often. Sure, he was from Halstead, but it wasn’t like he ever came back around. He left and went on to bigger and better things. Our sweet little town clearly wasn’t big and shiny enough for him.
“I’m just glad that the place finally sold. It’s been in holding for a few years now. It will be nice to finally make some money off of it.” The people who had bought the property from the Travers’ hadn’t been able to keep up with their payments.
“Who am I delivering these to?” I’d asked when he handed me the title.