Knowing the circumstances of how she’d been abandoned, it stood to reason that no one had cared. If it hadn’t been for a homeless woman who’d found her in a box behind a dumpster a few hours after her birth, she would have died, so looking for the people who’d thrown her out like garbage was never going to happen.
Lying in her bed on her last night in Albuquerque, Katie wasn’t thinking about offering up a prayer for safe travels. She was just packing up her memories, the same way that she’d packed up her belongings every time she went from one foster family to the next. She didn’t know what Borden’s Gap was about, but she’d find out when she got there, and she would make the best of it. That, she knew how to do.
The air-conditioning kicked on.
She double-checked to make sure the alarm was set on her phone and then rolled over onto her side and fell asleep.
The next time she opened her eyes, the alarm was going off. She threw back the covers, turned it off, then leaped out of bed.
It was the second day of July, the day of new beginnings.
Chapter Five
It took the movers over two hours to get Katie’s furniture and boxes down the two flights of stairs. She didn’t have a lot. Just living room furniture, which included a desk and bookshelves, plus her small table and chairs from the kitchen, her bedroom furniture, a couple of area rugs, and then the boxes.
By the time the movers were getting ready to leave, all there was left for Katie to do was verify they had the correct address in Tennessee. Before they drove away, they gave her their phone number and warned her it might take up to three days to get her stuff there.
Katie watched them leave, then ran back up to the apartment for one last walk-through. This place had been a good place. A comfortable place, until two men—one who was unfaithful, and one who was a killer—changed her life forever.
She made sure all the lights were off and the air conditioner set at the temperature the landlord requested. Then she left the keys on the kitchen counter and pulled the door shut, making sure it locked behind her.
By the time she got back to the parking lot and into her car, she’d made peace with what was happening and was ready to be on the road. She already knew she’d make better time than the moving truck and intended to get there ahead of them. She had a sleeping bag in her car in case she had to spend a night or two in her new house before furniture arrived, and the rest of what she might need was in a suitcase on the seat behind her.
She wove her way through the city as she headed for the interstate, and when she came off the on-ramp into the flow of traffic on I-40 eastbound, she cut her last tie with Albuquerque.
The air conditioner was blowing cool air in her face. She had iHeartRadio blasting from the dash and a cold drink in the console. All she had to do was stay on I-40 through New Mexico, across the Texas Panhandle into Oklahoma, then on into Arkansas and points east all the way to Tennessee. She planned to spend the night in Oklahoma or Arkansas and then arrive at her destination sometime the next day. Hopefully, her furniture wouldn’t be far behind.
***
Hours later, she’d long since crossed the panhandle of Texas into Oklahoma, stopping only for pit stops and fuel, and was snacking on the road. The downside of sitting behind the wheel for so long was fighting the growing tension between her shoulder blades. She was wishing for a bed so she could lie flat and rest the still-healing muscles in her back.
In no time, she was racking up miles, and as the day moved on, she began racing the sun, wanting to get to her next stop before it sank below the horizon behind her.
It was after 8:00 p.m. when she reached Fort Smith, Arkansas, and she was so tired she could barely think. She stopped at the first decent motel that she came to and checked in. After dumping her overnight bag in her room, she washed up and headed downstairs to the café just off the lobby.
A plate of catfish and hush puppies later, she went back to her room and stripped and showered. The hot water pelting on the sore muscles in her shoulders was heaven, and she stayed in the shower until the muscles finally relaxed. She got out, dried, and dressed in pajamas, then turned back the covers, and after setting an alarm, she fell into bed.
The air-conditioning was humming. The sheets were cool. Katie pulled the covers up over her shoulders, rolled over on her side, and closed her eyes.
All she wanted to do was rest, but before she knew it, she was back in the halls of Saguaro Elementary, marching her class to lunch. Even as they were approaching the place where they had heard the first shot, the muscles in her stomach were beginning to knot. She kept watching her students marching in a tight, tidy line, knowing what was about to happen but unable to warn them to hurry.
Katie moaned in her sleep and rolled over, sensing the need for imminent haste. Then the first shot rang out and she began reliving the confusion and panic and then the race against time before she was shot. She was on the floor, holding the boys and telling them she loved them when the second bullet ripped through her body. She woke up crying.
It was almost five in the morning. Her alarm wouldn’t go off for another couple of hours, but sleep was over. No way did she want to go back to bed and revisit that, so she made coffee in her room and drank a cup as she dressed, then packed up.
The café downstairs opened at 5:00 a.m., and it was already half past. After making sure she had everything, Katie rolled her overnight bag downstairs to the café, ordered sausage and waffles, and then checked her email and messages while she waited for her food.
There was a “safe travels” text from Lila and an email responding to one of the applications she’d sent in, wanting to set up an interview. She answered it, telling them she’d already accepted a position. After that, she scrolled through the rest of the emails and deleted all but a couple she would respond to later.
She sent Louise Parsons a text that she would be in Borden’s Gap sometime today around noon or later, and then her food came. She ate for the sustenance, anxious to get back on the road. As soon as she was finished, she checked out and was back in her car, heading for the on-ramp to I-40 eastbound. It was just after 7:00 a.m. when she reached the interstate and slipped into the traffic flow, driving straight into the rising sun.
***
Louise saw Katie McGrath’s text after she woke up and decided it would not be amiss to have a little welcome gift for the new teacher when she arrived. So she went by the grocery store and got milk and cream, a box of doughnuts, some stuff to make sandwiches, and a six-pack of Pepsi, and then added a small vase of flowers to her purchases before heading toward the house.
Her heart lifted as she unlocked the cottage door and began carrying things in. She loved the little cottage and hoped Katie would be happy here. She set the flowers in the middle of the kitchen island, put the little bit of groceries in the refrigerator, and set out a package of paper plates and cups and a box of plastic cutlery. Then she checked to make sure the ice maker was putting out ice, set the air conditioner on 70 degrees so the house would be comfortable when Katie arrived, and walked out. Louise locked the door, then put the key under the front mat and sent Katie a text telling her where the key was so she could get in and saying they would meet another day.