Room at the Inn

“You’re from a great place. You’re in love with a great woman.”

“Knock it off.”

“Are you ready to hear my theory yet?”

“No.”

Leo twisted sideways and draped his arm along the back of the seat, watching Carson with those eyes that saw too much. “Okay, here goes. I think you decided at some point a long time ago that small accomplishments don’t count. Only big, impressive stuff. And you didn’t think you could ever impress anybody in Potter Falls because of the way your dad is, so you made up your mind to leave.”

“I don’t even like you,” Carson muttered.

“Of course you like me. You can’t quit liking somebody after you grow up being best friends with him. It doesn’t happen. You stopped being my friend because I disagreed with you, and you found it threatening.”

“Is that the whole theory?”

“Pretty much.”

“It’s dumb.”

Leo smiled. “Maybe.”

The driver finished his phone call. Leo leaned forward and put his elbows on the back of the front seat. “I’m Leo,” he said. “You want a lift back home?”

“No, thank you. The tow truck will come.”

“All right. Keep warm.” Leo turned to Carson. “What about you?”

Even if he grew wings and flew, he was going to miss his flight.

He couldn’t muster up the energy to care.

“I guess so.”

They clambered out of the car. Carson retrieved his backpack, which seemed to weigh three hundred pounds, and they crossed the slick road.

After stowing his pack in the trunk, Carson got into Leo’s car, and the engine came to life with a purr and a blast of heat.

“Where to?”

“My dad’s, I guess.”

In silence, they drove through downtown Potter Falls. The lights were out at th

e diner. Three of the storefronts were boarded up, one with windows that had been soaped opaque back when Carson was a teenager.

It hurt him to look at it.

Leo turned right on the far side of the bridge and drove down to the water to park beside the factory.

“What if I gave it to you?” he asked. “Would you stay?”

“I don’t want it.”

“You want it.”

He wanted it so badly, he ached.

He didn’t want it nearly as much as he wanted Julie.