Page 105 of Dreaming of Home

Beau reached out and patted Lettie’s shoulder. “We promise.”

She reached up and patted his cheek. “You always were such a good boy. Don’t forget to stop by the diner. We all want to see you.”

“I’ll stop by, I promise.”

“Got any bright ideas for a game plan?” I asked as I drove my supposedly shitty truck through town.

“Take the next left up ahead,” Beau said.

“For someone who hasn’t been here in fourteen years, you sure know your way around.”

“Had a friend who lived here for a while. His name was Nolan O’Rourke. Best kid you could imagine. He had it really rough.”

I nodded. Old friends weren’t anything to sneeze at.

“Okay, we’re coming up on it.” Beau laughed. “I see the sign has finally given up the ghost. Not surprised nobody’s fixed it.”

A blue sign hung crookedly from one metal post. It read Welcome To Blue and that was all. The rest of the sign had broken off.

“Okay, Via’s in Lot 41. If we go knocking on her door, the bastard isn’t going to come out easy,” Beau said.

I pulled over to the side of the road, right before the entrance to the mobile home park. “That’s why we call her. We tell her we’re the gas company and there’s a problem with her meter. She needs to come outside so we can show her what’s wrong.”

Beau looked over at me. “I’m supposed to be the oldest, and therefore the smartest.”

“I’ve spent damn near a year plotting on my computer. Makes a mind agile.”

“I guess so.”

“Plus, I was Delta. We have it going on. You Raiders are nothing but brawn.”

Beau flipped me the bird, and I smiled.

I took out my phone and held out my hand for the piece of paper that Lettie had given Beau. I made the call and prayed that she would answer.

“Hello?” It was a man’s voice.