As she drove, Gayle tried to work out what she was going to say to Lendall when she saw him. And then happened to glance in her interior rearview mirror, as good drivers do. And all she could see were all those garbage bags full of what she had to return to him—and she had a revelation. And suddenly knew exactly what she was going to say to Lendall when she saw him.

And soon, she was passing Skyview Park.

And the old Gallagher Potato Farm.

And St. Mary’s Church.

And Ma Dudley’s.

And the Moose Paddy.

Then she passed the Rec Center—and hoped Dana still had everything under control. And then, just before she got to Lendall’s, she saw the beam from a flashlight shining up ahead.

Someone was out walking on the Road to Nowhere.

Which was a bit unusual, because it was after dark.

Gayle’s first instinct was to check to make sure that whoever it was was okay. Even though she really didn’t want to make sure they were okay—because she didn’t want to get sidetracked.

But she had to see if everything was okay, because that’s what people from Almost, Maine, do. They check in on each other, because if they don’t, who will?

As she got closer to the flashlight beam, she slowed down.

Ginette bristled as she heard Gayle’s Jeep slow down and start creeping along behind her. She didn’t want to be seen out walking by herself on the Road to Nowhere after dark. Because she didn’t want people wondering if anything was wrong. So she kept her head down and walked faster, hoping the decelerating vehicle would just accelerate again and pass her by.

But it didn’t.

Instead, it rode along beside her.

Gayle rolled down her window and asked, “Everything okay?” and tried to figure out who she was talking to.

Ginette recognized Gayle’s voice and turned to her, a sheepish smile on her face.

“Hi, Miss Gayle.”

“Oh! Ginette! Hi!”

“Hi.”

“What’s goin’ on? Where ya headed?”

“Home,” Ginette said.

“Oh. Need a ride?”

“No. Thanks, though.”

“Everything okay?”

“Yup,” said Ginette, still walking. “I just wanted to go for a walk.”

“Okay.” Gayle could sense that everything wasn’t okay. But decided to let it go. Because she didn’t want to pry. So she said, “Well, be careful.”

“I will.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

Gayle rolled up her window and drove off.

As she did, Ginette hoped that Gayle wouldn’t mention to her mom that she had seen her daughter out walking alone after dark. Because then her mom would ask questions—questions Ginette didn’t want to answer.

But Gayle had no intention of mentioning anything to Ginette’s mom. She figured that Ginette was out walking because she had something she needed to work out on her own. And no one—including her mom—needed to know anything about it.

So Gayle forgot that she had even seen Ginette, and she pulled into Lendall’s driveway so she could do what she needed to do.