Page 3 of New in Town

Mind reeling, Maddie presses her fingers to her forehead in disbelief. She’d met Henry only a handful of times. A present sometimes arrived at Christmas and on her birthday, usually not even accompanied by a card or call. By the time she was in high school, she had stopped seeing or hearing from him altogether.

With shaky hands, she opens the box to find a stack of letters sitting on top. She flips through them, noticing each one addressed to her. “He wrote to me?”

Charlotte pats her leg then stands to leave. “I’ll give you some space. Call me if you’d like.” And with that she is gone.

“Mom really isn’t one for emotions, or talking about Henry,” she mumbles and Jules slides over and wraps an arm around her.

“Want to read one?”

She nods, pulling the top one out of the twine holding them together. She holds it up so Jules can read it too and then begins.

Madelyn,

If you’re reading this I either got up the nerve to talk to you again, or I’m gone. Just know, it wasn’t ever you, it’s me. I’m a cowboy, and I made a choice to keep being a cowboy. Denver was never somewhere I belonged. I always dreamed of sharing this place with you, but that wouldn’t have been fair to your mama, and I’d never force her hand to come here with you. So here I am, a stubborn old man with a bit of regret and a whole lot of cancer. They always did call those things cowboy killers. But I think you would love Sterling Ridge, it’s impossible not to. Now the choice is yours. You have a home here, do what you wish with it. I think about you every day.

Henry

She reads through the letter a second time, the heaviness that had taken up space in her chest constricting now. Charlotte had never wasted an opportunity to speak negatively about cowboys, their inability to stay, and the disappointment and heartbreak they bring. But Henry had stayed. He stayed in this town Sterling Ridge, and he wanted her there with him.

“I have to go there.”

She looks up at Jules, suddenly overcome by how important her words feel. She has to go to Sterling Ridge. Her best friend smiles and nods in agreement.

“You have to go there.”

* * *

It is a shining spring afternoon when Maddie departs for Sterling Ridge, Wyoming. She’d called off work for the next few days before she could change her mind and found the key to Henry’s apartment in the box. With the wooden box in the passenger seat, she jumps into her white Jeep Wrangler, and hits the road.

She cranks up the Tom Petty as she trades the gray of the congested city for the green of the Laramie Mountains. Passing through uninhabited country on the open road, everything starts to become alive again after the long winter. Then, winding around the base of a mountain, a quaint town unfolds before her.

A small white church appears first, standing alone on the outskirts of town. As the road slopes further down, a grid no larger than five square blocks of classic buildings comes into view. Maddie drives up the Main Street, taking in the pretty, quaint storefronts. Brick buildings are mixed in with pastel-colored ones, never taller than two or three stories. In the center of town now, she smiles as she drives on a brick roundabout encircling a fountain, the charm wafting off the scene around her.

Henry’s address is written on a tag on the key and she had entered it into the map app before leaving. Following the app now, she exits the roundabout on a side road. She notices a diner with a wall of glass windows and a pale blue and white striped awning, a leather goods store with vertical wood siding, and then finally a bakery comes into view exactly where the map is telling her to stop. She parks in front of it and strides up the walkway only to find the bakery closed.

She looks up from the small business to the windows above on the second floor. “I wonder,” she murmurs to herself, following the walk around the side. There on the side of the building is an alcove to another door. The address number on the door matches the tag on her key. “This must be the place.”

Key in hand, poised in the air, she hesitates.What will it be like on the other side of that door, she wonders.What was he like? Hesitation gnawing at her, she deposits the key back into the pocket of her blue jeans and turns to face the town. “I just need to walk around, see town more, find a coffee,” she determines. “Then I’ll be ready.”

Adjusting her aviator sunglasses and flipping her wavy brown hair over her shoulder, she sets off on foot for the center of town. Turning onto Main, she notices a white brick building across the street. The COFFEE lettering on the front window looks promising and she quickens her step. Up close, she steps into the alcove to a large, wooden arched door. West & Honey Coffee Shop is stenciled above the entrance and the aroma of fresh brew fills the air.

Inside, an older woman with frizzy black hair and an apron leans against the counter she’s behind, deep in conversation. The customer she’s speaking with is accompanied by a dog, a concerned look on her aged face. The barista looks up at Maddie and waves her in as the other woman continues speaking.

“I’m worried about him. But is it worth a trip to Arlo?” she asks, picking up the black paper cup holding her coffee.

“I’m no vet, but I would go see him if you aren’t sure. Rashes certainly don’t sound good.”

Maddie’s ears perk up at the conversation and she steals a glance at the German shepherd beside the woman. Without hesitation, she speaks up. “German shepherds are prone to skin problems. It may be something as simple as needing more fish oil, but it wouldn’t hurt to get it checked out.”

The two women eye her curiously.

“I’m sorry, I am actually a vet, in Colorado. Just visiting town today.”

“Oh that’s wonderful, I will take him to Arlo then,” the customer replies with a smile. With that, she retreats out the door.

“She’s a worrier, you had convenient timing. What can I get for you, dear?”

“Just a hazelnut coffee please,” Maddie replies, turning to check out the coffee shop. The walls are painted white brick like the exterior, with a butcher block counter and matching wood top tables. The brightness is contrasted by black seating and she marvels at how cozy this town feels.

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