Although she had no idea how long she’d be gone, Emma was already itching to go back home—ever since she set foot in the airport thirty minutes ago.
The line in front of her snaked around a corner, filled with both eager and tired-looking parents, red-faced children in tow. She wheeled her bag behind her and paused to check her phone again, realizing that only ten minutes had passed. With Jules already on a plane high in the sky and no one knowing she was coming, Emma had the strange sense she was well and truly on her own.
After downing an entire bottle of water, she leaned against her bag and took out her phone again.
She was knee-deep in emails when the person in front of her stepped forward, and she breathed a sigh of relief. After a quick cursory glance at her ID and driver’s license, she handed the thin-haired man behind the counter her credit card and waited. A short while later, she was walking out of the double glass doors of the airport, the crisp air making her eyes water, and scanning the parking lot for a silver Toyota. Her breath crystallized in front of her as she lifted her collar and paused to rub her hands together.
It had taken her too little time to get on a plane to Rockport and finalize the rental car paperwork—not nearly enough for her to get her thoughts in order and prepare herself for what lay ahead.
Emma needed a while longer.
Then, she saw the car wedged between two trucks.
Emma shoved her bag into the passenger seat, hurried to the driver’s side, and stuck the key into the ignition. It started with a roar, and she fumbled with the vents, shivering as she waited for the hot air to hit her face. As soon as it did, she rubbed her hands up and down her arms and waited for the feeling to return to her toes.
She had almost forgotten how cold it got.
Through the windshield, she peered at the half-empty parking lot and tried to imagine what her parents would say when she showed up on their doorstep.
Slowly, Emma slid her seat belt into place, switched on the engine, and backed out of the parking space. She drove slowly, with both hands on the wheel and her phone propped on the dashboard, indicating the smooth path ahead. As soon as she left the airport behind her, the dark and empty road ahead stretched for miles on end, illuminated by the soft flicker of streetlamps on either side of her.
Several towns glistened and sparkled as she raced past them, festive music playing through the radio. Halfway there, Emma’s phone rang, startling her out of her reprieve. After ensuring it was connected to the car’s Bluetooth system, she pressedanswerand breathed a sigh of relief when Jules’s voice filled the empty spaces in the car.
Her daughter always had a way of chasing the demons away.
“Okay, we just landed, but they’re not letting us off the plane yet,” Jules said, her voice drifting in and out of range. “Did you manage to find a car?”
“I did, but I wish you’d let me wait for you. I wouldn’t have minded.” Emma placed both hands back on the wheel, leaving her phone propped against the dashboard, and her gaze darted to the map displayed on the GPS. “I’ll be there in about twenty minutes or so. The roads are pretty clear.”
“Be careful. I heard there’s going to be a blizzard later.”
Emma frowned and gripped the wheel tighter. “Do you want me to turn around and come get you? I’m not too far away.”
Jules chuckled. “No, Mom. I’m fine—really. This way, you’ll have a chance to get some time in with Grandma and Grandpa before I get there.”
Emma made a face. “I don’t know if that’s the best thing since it’s late and all. We should just stop by tomorrow.”
She hadn’t even told them she was coming, so she wouldn’t talk herself out of it.
Hearing her mother’s silence on the phone would’ve been too much to bear.
Showing up at their doorstep was like ripping off a Band-Aid, and she wanted to get it over with—though maybe not tonight.
It wasn’t time just yet to go waltzing down memory lane.
Jules said something else, and her voice was muffled.
A heartbeat later, she hung up, and Emma was plunged into silence again.
Must be the weather. I’ll try her again later.
She hummed along to the music and tapped her fingers against the wheel. It wasn’t until she saw Rockport in the distance, covered in a thin layer of white, that she realized she’d been lost to her own thoughts. As she slowed to a crawl, she took in the buildings leading up to the town square, all glistening underneath the moonlight.
Emma smiled as she drove past Long Beach, drenched in snow.
She turned down the music as she drove down Thatcher Road and continued onto South Street. Her knee began to bounce up and down as she took a right onto Main Street and peered at Saint Joachim Church, burning brighter than any of its surroundings. When she pulled onto Railroad Avenue, her stomach in tight knots and a low buzzing in her ears, Emma was sure she was going to throw up.
The town looked the same as it always did, a perfectly preserved snow globe untouched by time, every inch covered in dustings of white. Garlands and tinsel decorated every streetlamp, and small trees were on display in the glass windows of shops.
