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Prologue
Claire
It'stimeformeto hit the road and leave the city.
Myhome.
Time to go home to Fern Hollow.
I take Route 224 out of Portland and up toward the Cascades, through the flat country toward the mountain peaks. This is where I grew up, in a small town surrounded by evergreen forests, where the air smells of pine and the river runs clear and cold.
As I drive, memories of my childhood flood my mind. I remember playing hide and seek in the woods with my friends, fishing in the creek for trout, and exploring the abandoned houses on the outskirts of town. I also remember the day I left, ten years ago, to chase my dreams in the big city.
I was so ready to leave--convinced I would never look back.
But now, as I approach Fern Hollow, I feel a sense of contentment wash over me. The town hasn't changed much since I left, but I have. I've seen the world, experienced heartbreak and triumph, and now I'm ready to settle back into a simpler way of life.
I pull up to my childhood home, a cozy two-story house with a wrap-around porch, and feel a sense of relief. The house is exactly as I left it, with the same furniture and photos on the walls.
Exactly as I left it...except that Grandpa's gone.
I step inside, breathing in the familiar scent of my childhood. Memories of Grandpa flood my mind - his gentle smile, his warm embrace, and his endless stories about the town's history. It was just the two of us when I was a kid, my parents gone too soon, his wife too.
Tears prick at the corners of my eyes as I realize that I'll never hear his stories again.
I should never have left. I should have come home earlier.
I told grandpa that I didn’t like that persistent cough of his but he just dismissed me. I should’ve known he wouldn’t go see a doctor by himself, and by the time I got back to town, it was too late.
But all of that is in the past now, and my latest visit home, as bittersweet as it was, showed me one thing for sure: Fern Hollow is where I belong.
I make my way up to my old bedroom, where I find a note on my bed. "Welcome home, sweetheart. I left something for you in my study. Love you more."
Oof...that's always what he said to me.Love you more.
I think he did, otherwise I would never have gone to Portland.
I blink away tears as I clutch his note to my chest. My heart races when I make my way down to Grandpa's study. The door creaks open, and the familiar smell of old books and leather envelopes me. I see his old leather armchair, and the table where he used to write his stories.
On the table, I find a worn leather journal with my name on it. I pick it up, feeling the soft leather cover and flipping through the pages. Grandpa's familiar scrawl greets me, and I feel a lump form in my throat as I read the words.
I wanted you to have the cabin. Welcome home, bunny.
I read on, all the memories he shares of us cooking together, watching old movies, weathering snow storms and lightning strikes. I start to cry as I read, covering my mouth with my hand and wishing he was here.
Because I didn't plan on staying here - I thought I might just flip and sell the cabin.
But now...I'm not so sure.
I miss Grandpa. I miss my life. And things aren't good in Portland. I want something simpler.
I thought the city was all I wanted, but my ex, Harvey, has been horrible. We were going to get married, we were going to have a baby...and then we tried, and I couldn't.
I couldn't get pregnant.
And Harvey blamed me. He said it was because I was too fat, because I didn’t take care of myself. Even when I was the one carrying our household and trying to make ends meet, he blamed me.
We had tedious sex over and over, and wecouldn't have a baby.Six months of IVF and nothing.
