Page 10 of Your Every Wish
“Sorry.”
The sides of the highway are lined with pine trees and the silhouette of mountains loom large in the distance. Soon, they’ll be snowcapped from the first winter dusting. We cross a bridge over a creek, where two fishermen are standing at the water’s edge, casting a line.
“According to the directions, we’re less than three miles away,” Kennedy says, and for the first time, I hear excitement in her voice.
“It’s pretty here, right?”
She shrugs. “It’s kind of in the middle of nowhere.”
I want to ask her if she saw the Taco Bell and Burger King we just passed less than ten minutes ago. Hardly the middle of nowhere. But it’s obviously more small town than what either of us is used to.
“Wait until you see Ghost,” I say. “It’s like a postcard picture.”
“I think our turn is coming up.”
That’s when I see the sign off the highway that advertises Cedar Pines Estates. I wait for a tractor trailer to pass in the opposite direction before hanging a left onto a rutted dirt road, then bump along through a rotted ranch gate. The letterLis missing on the welcome sign, so it just says, WE COME.
I’m pretty sure this is wrong. It looks nothing like the pictures. “This can’t be right. Are you sure you have the right address?”
“Very sure.”
I follow an arrow to the office only to find a ramshackle doublewide. I park in the gravel driveway, rest my arms on the dashboard, and stare out the windshield at the trailer, which according to the hand-painted wooden plaque on the door is indeed the Cedar Pines Estates office. “This is not what I saw on the internet. Nope, this isn’t it at all.”
“That son of a bitch,” Kennedy hisses. “He left us a goddamned trailer park!”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” I say. “This has got to be a mistake.”
Kennedy gets out of the car and heads for the office. I race after her but not in time to stop her from banging on the door like a crazed lunatic.
“Calm down,” I say, afraid that we’re making a scene and will be kicked off the property before we get answers. “I’m telling you this is the wrong Cedar Pines.”
“How can it be? This is the address the lawyer gave us. I don’t know what you saw on the internet, but this is it. This is the piece of crap that useless excuse for a father left us.”
“Shush.” I put my finger to my lips. “Everyone can hear us.”
A small crowd has started to assemble in the driveway next door and they’re all staring at us.
“Can I help you?” A woman in a robe, slippers, and hot curlers, holding a cat, crosses the driveway to join us. “No one’s there. The office has been vacant for months.”
Before Kennedy bites her head off, I quickly intercept the lady. “I’m so sorry if we disturbed you. My, uh . . . sister . . . and I are probably in the wrong place. Our father recently passed away and he left us . . . well, he left us a place called Cedar Pines Estates, but I think it’s another Cedar Pines Estates.” I quickly cue up the website I found on the internet and show it to her. “Would you happen to know where this Cedar Pines Estates is?”
She turns my phone sideways and gazes down at the homepage of a beautifully manicured planned community that looks nothing like this Cedar Pines Estates. “That’s up the highway, on the other side of Ghost.”
I shoot Kennedy a look as if to say,I told you so.
Kennedy shoves the lawyer’s letter at the woman and points to the address. “Is this where we are?”
“Yep.” She gives Kennedy a once-over, then turns her gaze on me, then flashes both of us a toothy grin. “Looks like you’re in the right place.”
The cat squirms out of her arms, jumps to the ground, and takes off.
The woman doesn’t seem concerned, so I don’t offer to go after it. The crowd has grown since I last looked. It’s a motley group of senior citizens that has assembled around our car.
“You moving in?” asks a skinny man in a pair of swim trunks, flip-flops, and nothing else. Judging from his pale concave chest, he hasn’t seen much sun in the last decade. And though it’s a nice day, it’s a little nippy for lounging poolside.
“Harry, put some clothes on, for God’s sake.” This from the woman in the robe and slippers, who turns to the rest of crowd. “They’re the new owners.”
An excited murmur goes up in the group.
