Page 7 of Just a Plot Twist
I drive to my childhood home, where my grandparents moved in after their only child died. As soon as I graduated from high school, they moved back to their old life, wanting me to follow. But Sophie and I stayed at the house in between college semesters.
She’s married and has a daughter now, so it’s been just me at the house for the past few years. We tore up the old kitchen before she married Oliver…Sophie always has way too many projects. And when she left, I coped with the empty house by finishing the kitchen remodel.
I get home, fire up a microwavable meal, something with turkey, mashed potatoes, and peas, and settle into a binge watch ofNew Girl.
I’m alone on a Friday night, doing the same things I always do, but it’s okay. Because as the assistant city manager for Longdale, I sort of feel like the whole town is my family. A crazy, mixed-up family. But a family, nonetheless. So how can anyone feel alone?
And to become the city manager in the wake of Inez’s legacy will be a dream come true.
It’s been us against the old boys club for years, and we’ve taken that solemn oath very seriously.
Now that Inez will give birth soon, it’s my turn to step up. I’m sad to see her go, but to be honest, she’s had a hard time getting her usual stuff done. Well, wouldn’t you if you had two babies kicking your insides twenty-four seven?
I was born to be Longdale’s city manager. It has to happen.
There’s an echo that sometimes scratches my brain, though. It tells me I want to be a mother someday. And a wife. I don’t make a habit of saying it, but I really would.
Sometimes I wonder, if push came to shove, if I would give it all up to be madly in love with a husband and have a whole gaggle of kids. I’m only thirty-three, so I’ve got time.
But still. I’m thirty-three and the want for it never goes away. I never really had a family with a mom and a dad. I want a chance for a do-over—to have the family I never got.
At the same time, my grandparents say I’m too smart and clever and ambitious to settle down.
I owe it to them to pick up where they left off.
I owe it to them to make them proud.
Chapter 3
Claire
The next morning, as I pull up to the Silver Elk Trail, northwest of Longdale, Inez texts.
Soooo sorry! I woke up a lot in the night and I’m still not feeling well this morning. Go on without me, though, and have a blast!
I send her my condolences and groan, resting my head on the steering wheel. She’s pregnant. I understand. But I was hoping for Inez’s peppiness to get me going today because I had a restless night.
I kept dreaming of my grandparents’ big anniversary celebration coming up—the one that I’m helping them plan and am semi-responsible for. In my dreams, there was a swan attack, where mutant swans with pulsating orange eyes and razored beaks ravaged the whole party, leaving my grandparents collapsed on the floor.
Yeah, I can’t even bring myself to text Sophie about that one.
Bloody, violent nightmares aside, I have to do this hike. I’m hard wired to go, go, go. I always have been.
I sigh, rubbing my eyes and covering a yawn with the back of my hand. I can do this. It isn’t just for my health and well-being. It’s for the health and well-being of our trailways project and Longdale at large.
I stare out of my windshield at the small crowd gathering in the makeshift parking lot at the base of the mountain. My mountain.
I love Longdale with a fierceness that’s hard to describe. It’s the kind of place where everyone knows your name, but they also know that your mom’s aunt’s cousin once held the high school state record in the long jump.
It’s special. Comfortable. No fuss, no muss. A winding, fraying rope connects me to this mountain and the people living at the base of it, and nothing can sever it away.
Darkness still licks around the edges of the scene, but the first light of dawn is visible in the east. Rich McClain is here. He and his wife, Leisel, have actual hiking backpacks on. They’re holding hiking sticks and are even wearing those legit, khaki wilderness hats.
For a hike that’s a couple of hours round trip, tops.
Geez, Rich. You’re not some wilderness guru on a week-long survivalist journey. This is the local hiking club. We got some people solidly in the retirement crowd and even a few kids. It’s family-friendly, not an episode of a wilderness survival show.
Rich is, for all intents and purposes, my only real competition for Inez’s position. He’s made it clear that he wants to be the city manager. And I’ve also made it clear that I will annihilate him on my way to victory.
