Then I made a choice.
I asked that Colton be told I was in Holdrege.
With his brother.
After ending the call, I turned toward Heath.
He stood in the kitchen doorway.
“You sure about that?”
I shook my head.
“Not entirely.”
He waited.
I continued.
“But I’m tired of being part of a family where people disappear and everybody is expected to accept the explanation they’re given.”
He looked at me for a long moment.
Then he nodded.
“Okay.”
We spent the afternoon at Heath’s repair shop.
It was a small business with three service bays, a waiting area, and a coffee pot that seemed to have been there forever.
Farmers came in with trailer tires.
Families brought cars needing repairs.
Heath moved through the shop with calm efficiency.
He explained problems clearly, gave customers reasonable options, and never made anyone feel foolish for asking questions.
I sat near the front counter with Bandit resting beside me.
Watching Heath work reminded me of my own job.
He was patient.
He paid attention.
And he seemed to believe that people deserved information rather than pressure.
Late in the afternoon, Colton’s gray Equinox pulled into the parking lot.
A silver sedan followed.
Sherry.
My stomach tightened.
Heath looked through the window.
He put down the paperwork he’d been reviewing and slowly wiped his hands on a clean shop towel.
Then he walked toward the entrance.
I stood.
Bandit rose beside me.
Colton got out of the Equinox first.
He looked exhausted.
His hair was uncombed, and his shirt was wrinkled.
For a moment, he stared at the sign above the shop.
Then Heath stepped outside.
“Hey, Colt.”
Colton stopped.
He looked at his brother.
I watched his face change.
Twenty-three years had passed since they’d seen each other.
Heath was older, broader, and beginning to gray.
But the family resemblance was unmistakable.
Colton’s mouth opened slightly.
“Heath?”
Heath nodded.
“It’s been a long time.”
Sherry came around the side of her car.
She looked at Heath for a moment.
Then she turned toward me.
“Callie, let’s stop this nonsense. Colton has been worried.”
I stood beside the doorway.
“I’m safe, Sherry.”
She adjusted her sunglasses.
“You’ve made a very dramatic situation out of something small.”
I looked at her.
“Your son left me at a gas station two hundred miles from home.”
“He was teaching you to respect his time.”
I felt the old pressure rising.
The expectation that I would apologize.
The certainty in her voice.
But this time, I didn’t feel the need to defend how long I’d spent in the bathroom.
“I didn’t agree to be left there,” I said.
She looked toward Heath.
“And you’ve been listening to him.”
Heath remained quiet.
Sherry folded her arms.
“Do you even know what kind of person you’re staying with?”
I glanced at Heath.
Then back at her.
“I know he came to get me when your son wouldn’t.”
Her expression tightened.
Before she could answer, the side door of the shop opened.
Ginger Toliver stepped outside.
She had arrived earlier at Heath’s request and had been waiting in the office.
She wore a pale cardigan and comfortable shoes.
In one hand, she held the old reference card from the travel plaza.
Sherry saw her.
For the first time, her confident expression faltered.
Ginger walked past me.
She stopped in front of Colton.
“You’re the younger boy,” she said gently.
Colton stared at her.
“I remember you.”
She nodded.
“My name is Ginger Toliver. My husband and I used to own the travel plaza outside Kearney.”
Sherry looked away.
Ginger continued.
“Your mother left your brother there when he was fifteen.”
The parking lot became very quiet.
Colton frowned.
“He ran away.”
Ginger shook her head.
“No, sweetheart. He didn’t.”
She held out the old card.
Colton took it.
“That’s the reference number from the day we arranged care for him.”
He turned it over.
The date was written clearly on the back.
Ginger spoke slowly.
“He waited outside for hours. He thought his mother would come back.”
Colton stared at the card.
“He told us he wanted to leave.”
Ginger’s expression softened.
“He was sitting beside the ice machine, watching the road. Every time a car came down the ramp, he sat up straighter.”
Colton looked toward Heath.
His brother stood several feet away, hands resting at his sides.
Ginger continued.
“He didn’t leave that place until we helped him find somewhere safe to stay.”
Sherry interrupted.
“He was difficult. You don’t know what he was like at home.”
Ginger turned toward her.
“I know what he was like when I met him. He was a frightened fifteen-year-old waiting for someone who didn’t return.”
Sherry’s face tightened.
“I did what I thought was necessary.”
Colton looked at his mother.