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Two weeks after making their decision to strike out alone, Tiffany drove the rental van into a small town about forty miles outside Boulder, Colorado.
Zoe had seen images of Cedarton online and it wasexactlyas advertised. With picturesque mountains in the distance and trees everywhere, the welcome sign at the city limits claimed a population of thirty thousand and growing.
“Bigger than our town but small enough to navigate,” Tiffany told her with a smile. “You made a good choice.”
Zoe agreed and tried to calm the butterflies in her stomach.
It took them a while, but they finally located the furnished rental house Tiffany had negotiated for her over the phone.
“Oh, my god, it’sadorable!” the blonde said the minute the vehicle was stopped. “Let’s go check it out.”
The home was small and neat. It fit her perfectly.
After walking the house, they unloaded Zoe’s few personal belongings and Tiffany insisted on helping her get the basic things put away.
When they were done, Tiffany suggested, “We need showers and then we should check out the town. You need groceries and other stuff. It wouldn’t do for you to start your new life without toilet paper. Priorities. We got ‘em.”
Of all the people Zoe said goodbye to in Georgia, she was saddest when Tiffany drove away two days later, waving madly out the window.
For the first time in her life, figuratively and literally, Zoe was completely alone.
It was terrifying and magnificent all at once.
Chapter One
February 2011
After spending almost three years in the lovely Colorado town, Zoe was settled into a routine she loved.
The locals in the shops and diner knew her and smiled when she visited them. Her landlady was a kind older woman who picked up some basic signs after a few months.
It was calm, nice.
She didn’t have friends in town since no one understood sign language except for one little girl who visited the library with her school class. Zoe was always excited to see her walk in with the rest of the students.
Zoe’s mother and sister visited once a year and the three of them struggled through communicating as they had for years.
Zoe remained cheerful, genuinely happy to see them, but admitted relief when they returned to Georgia. MaryAnn and Megan never hesitated to leave her with several passive-aggressive suggestions to move back where shebelonged.
The moment they were headed to the airport, she aired out her little house, put away the air mattresses she and her sister used, and did a cathartic cleaning. By the time she finished, she felt like herself again.
Not verybravebutindependentall the same.
Tiffany came to visit twice and they’d laughed like old friends. She was performing in a Vegas cabaret that she couldn’t say enough good things about.
Zoe stared at the professional photos of the show with wide eyes and eventually signed, “You’re even prettier than I realized.”
Waving her hand and rolling her eyes, she replied, “Stop that. I’m just me. Always just me.” The gorgeous blonde asked her about any interesting men Zoe might have met but she just blushed and shook her head. “Just wait…it’ll happen when you least expect it.”
It was sad to watch Tiffany leave but they were good about staying in touch through email and texting. The woman was a true friend. One Zoe never expected to have in her life.
The cottage was decorated minimally with prized possessions she’d collected from local shops and yard sales. On her back porch, she refinished a couple of them herself, following instructions from a book she found at the library.
Never a fan of clutter, believing less was always better, there was a painting she found at a gallery in town that she fell in love with.
A detailed landscape of the mountains around Cedarton, it hung above her fireplace and filled her with joy whenever she looked at it. It was one of only a few pieces of décor she simply had to have.
She’d only had a driver’s permit in Georgia before the accident and she didn’t have her own car yet. It took a while to get her Colorado license, so she walked or rode her bike everywhere. There was one cab company when the weather was bad.
