“Good-bye, Cady.”
“Bye, Mom.”
Her eyes full of tears, Cady hung up the phone. “You know what, Atlas, this whole thing sucks. It really does.”
An hour later, Cady was on her way to town. Her first stop was the bakery, where she sat at one of the little soda-fountain tables with a cup of coffee and a Danish, the morning paper spread out in front of her. When she was finished, she tipped the waitress and walked the block and a half to Andy Hollister’s insurance office.
A bell tinkled overhead. It was a nice office, small but cozy, with a receptionist’s desk, three comfortable club chairs, and three small tables. Shiny green plants decorated the end tables, and a fica tree stood in the corner. Obviously whoever took care of the plants knew what they were doing. Copies of the latest Time and Newsweek and People magazines were in the middle of the low table along with a bowl of hard candies.
The door to the inner office opened. A tall man stood in the doorway. Cady smiled. She would have known Andy Hollister anywhere. His sandy hair was starting to recede at the temples, and his freckles had lightened considerably. His eyes still crinkled at the corners when he smiled. Andy Hollister, grown up, looked exactly like the little boy she remembered. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you come in. Martha is out with a spring cold. Cady, is it really you?”
Cady smiled as she stretched out her hand. “It’s me, Andy. How are you?”
“Everyone in town has informed me that you were back. Tell me, how do you like Indigo Valley these days?”
“It sure has grown a lot. I hardly recognized it when I first got here. I don’t think I would have recognized you if I passed you on the street. You turned into a good-lookin’ guy,” she teased lightly. “By the way, I met your wife the other day. She’s real nice, Andy. I liked her. We met out at the cemetery, then we went to breakfast together.”
Andy shuffled his feet. “I didn’t know that. Jill and I…”
Cady nodded. “She said you had hit a rough patch. It happens, Andy, in the best of marriages. Work it out, and don’t give up. Listen, I really came here to ask you about switching up my car insurance now that I’m going to be living here. Do I do the insurance first or go to DMV first?”
“I’ll take care of it, Cady, but can we do it tomorrow or next week? I have to go to a meeting in Pittsburgh this morning, and I’m already running late. Martha takes care of all the detail stuff.”
“Sure, no problem. I’ll come back the early part of next week.”
“Cady, what were you doing at the cemetery? I know why Jill was there, but why would you go there?”
“I wanted to see Jeff King’s grave. I’d never been to a cemetery before. I don’t even know anyone who has died. I wanted to see if going there would help me with my memory. It didn’t, but that’s okay. It’s been coming back in bits and pieces. Slower than I would like, but these things can’t be rushed. Well, look, I’ve held you up long enough. It was nice seeing you again, Andy.”