Page 65 of Serenity Falls

‘I know how quickly they can get away from you.’

‘Yeah.’ Her face clouds, and then she smiles again. ‘I guess in Serenity we get a little complacent. I mean, he has the bracelet—’

‘Kids wear the bracelets?’

‘Yeah, they get them when they start pre-school. Just so you can track them and they don’t get lost.’

‘Right.’

I guess it makes sense, but it also seems a little over-reaching.

‘How old did you say your daughter was?’ Hailey asks.

‘Sadie? She’s fifteen now, almost sixteen.’

‘Man, I’m sorry.’

I chuckle. ‘Yeah, teenage years. But mostly she’s a good kid.’

I can’t help thinking that Hailey can’t be that much older herself.

‘How’s she finding Serenity?’ she asks.

I make a so-so movement with my hand. ‘Jury’s out.’

‘I guess you guys didn’t have the best start.’

‘You heard?’

‘Oh, the whole town heard.’

‘Right.’ Again, I feel that inkling of discomfort. ‘Well, it was a shock – and tragic, obviously.’

‘I’m surprised you didn’t think about catching the first flight back to the UK.’

‘Oh, I thought about it.’

‘But?’

‘We can’t.’ I hesitate, and then decide I might as well be honest. ‘I lost my job. We were struggling financially. So, when we heard about the inheritance—’

‘You thought you’d won the lottery?’

‘Something like that.’

‘But then they hit you with the no-sell clause, right?’

‘Yeah. So’ – I spread my arms – ‘here we are.’

She nods. ‘Trapped by circumstance. I get that.’

‘You do?’

‘Oh. Believe me. When I was in high school, no way was I hanging around Serenity. Soon as I got my driver’s licence, I was outta here. Sixteen years of Serenity Falls was sixteen years too many in my book.’

‘So, what happened?’

She smiles a little wistfully. ‘Too much beer, too hot a guy and a positive test too late.’