Page 22 of A Midlife Vanishing Trick

Allison let out a breath. “It’s more complicated than that. It’s a long story, really.”

“Well, now you’ve got a listener. I’ll pour you a drink, and we can talk. How’s that?”

Allison frowned. “Aren’t you supposed to be working?”

The barmaid gave a wave of her hand. “Everyone’s already drinking. I don’t think I’ll be getting any requests in a while. Hang on.”

She headed back to the counter. A couple of minutes later, she returned to the booth, holding a bottle of whiskey and a pair of glasses. A bottle of water was tucked under her arm. She set everything down and sat across the table from Allison, pouring her whiskey and pouring herself some water.

“Don’t want to drink on the job,” she explained before Allison could speak. “Now, I’m all ears. What’s the matter?”

Allison didn’t respond right away. She raised her glass to her lips and took a sip, then set it down with a sigh.

“It’s my husband. He’s back.”

Penny frowned. “I’m not sure how that’s a bad thing.”

“No, you don’t understand. He disappeared four years ago. We argued, and he went for a ride on his horse on the ranch. That was the last I saw or heard of him until the night I left this bar. He was standing in the middle of the road when I saw him. Almost ran him over.”

“Whoa.”

Allison gave a tiny shrug. She wasn’t sure whether she should be telling all this to Penny. The barmaid was practically a stranger as far as she was concerned. If anyone at all, she should be talking to Celine. But Allison went on, staring down at her glass as she spoke.

“He’s been telling me that he never meant to leave me,” she said. “He said he got lost, trapped on some mountain. The whole thing sounds like a cock-and-bull story to me, but I can’t help wondering ... I mean, helookeddifferent than when I last saw him.”

“Different?” The barmaid had a look of unwavering interest on her face.

Allison nodded. “Shaggy hair, no shirt. He looked ... bigger, and there were these scars all over his body.”

“What in the ...?”

“And his eyes ... I’m not sure how to explain it, but they look like they’ve seen things. He’s still the same old Stanley, but he’s also changed. I told him to stay away from me, and he’s been living in our barn without complaining. He’s never done that before.”

She sucked in a breath. Was the barmaid human or supernatural? She couldn’t quite tell. Whatever the case, she should probably try not to say anything that might suggest it.

“That’s not even the main problem. I was supposed to be over him. After everything I went through after he left, Ishould’velost any feelings I had for him. But now he’s back, and it’s been ... well, chaotic. I want to let him in—at least, that’s what my heart wants—but that would be foolish. He abandoned me before. I can’t just pretend that it didn’t happen. I can’t risk him breaking my heart all over again.”

Her words faded into silence, and she realized her breathing had quickened a little. Across the table from her, Penny took asip from her glass, frowning like she was trying to make sense of everything Allison had just said.

“I’m sorry,” Allison told her. “I’m dumping all this on you, and—”

“No, don’t apologize.” The other woman gave her a lopsided grin. “I did ask you to talk to me. But something you said made me wonder ...”

“What?”

“Something tells me your husbandwasn’tlying about not leaving you on purpose. You said he vanished.”

“Without a trace.”

Penny stared at her glass for a moment. “It happened to someone I used to know.”

Allison sat up a little straighter. “Really?”

The barmaid nodded, brushing a few strands of red hair out of her face. “His name is—was—Adam. We were supposed to be together, and one day, he just .. .vanished. I thought he’d abandoned me or something, but my pack—I mean, myfamily—did everything they could to find him. When even they couldn’t, I knew something worse had happened. There was no trace of him anywhere. No sign that he’d taken off or been dragged away. He just ...”

“Vanished,” Allison said. That sounded a lot like what had happened in Stanley’s case. Except for one thing. “He still hasn’t returned?”

Penny had a sad expression on her face. “It took me a while to accept that he was gone. It still hurts, but not as much. I don’t know if it’s the same thing that happened to your husband, but I hope he’s doing okay wherever he is.” She reached halfway across the table as if to touch Allison’s hand, then seemed to change her mind. “I’m happy for you, anyway. And you should be, too. If I were in your shoes, I’d be more than grateful to have him back.”

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