Harley ended the call, then immediately began looking at flights. She still wasnt sure how she was going to face her father again, but it wasnt like she had any reason to stay in Massachusetts. If shed had any doubts about how serious Rob was, the divorce papers on the table had dispelled them.

She set the glass of wine aside, rose, and took a quick look around, preparing to let go of the house she had shared with Rob for the past six years.

At least I dont have to unpack, she thought.

CHAPTER THREE

Harleys unease grew as she flew into Albuquerque International, as if she were not just crossing the country but traveling back in time as wellas if being a scared little girl again was a prerequisite for facing her father.

For that reason, she booked a hotel outside Flor Blanca, the town in which shed grown up. The hotel was close enough to visit the hospital but far enough to feel like she could still breathe. She needed time to collect herself. She didnt hold out hope of ever truly seeing eye-to-eye with her father, but if he could just acknowledge the pain he had caused her by his neglect and later his control, if he could finally just recognize his failures as a father, she could let the bitterness go and say goodbye.

That was all she needed. She hoped it wasnt too much.

After showering, changing, and brushing her teeth, she called Greg.

Im back in town, she said, staring out her window at the Sandia Mountains in the distance, mountains she had hiked and biked years ago. Despite her dread of seeing her father again, the sight of those familiar peaks stirred a buried longing she did not entirely understand. Maybe it was a longing for home.

I cant tell you how happy it makes me to hear that. How does it feel to be back?

She had felt numb since the night before, but she figured he didnt need to know that. A little strange. The warm air is nice.

Yeah, those northern winters are for the birds. Listen, theres a diner in townthe Wayfarer.

I remember it.

Meet me there in, say, half an hour?

Harley glanced at the clock and uttered the old familiar catchphrase. Be there or be square.

As she drove into Flor Blanca, she felt as if the world of her childhood had been frozen in time, like a fly caught in amber. The same mom-and-pop stores lined the road, the same smalltown gas stations, the same looming mountains. The only real difference was her. She was no longer the wide-eyed, pig-tailed girl whose favorite dessert was a sundae with gummy bears on top and who imagined growing up to be a paleontologist.

What changed? She mused. What happened to that little girl?