The Hero (Thunder Point #3)(17)

“If I manage to find a job, I will,” she said. “How long have you lived here?” Devon asked Lou.

“Here? A little over four years, but I grew up not far from here in Coquille and lived there all my life until Mac took this assignment. As I’m sure you’ve been told, he’s the law in this little town—Sheriff’s deputy with a few other deputies that work for him. It’s a little office, right next door. I’ll be honest—I didn’t want to move, but I’m glad I did. I love the school where I teach and I’ve made good friends.”

“I don’t suppose they’re looking for a kindergarten teacher?”

Lou put a hand on hers. “Not that I know of, sweetheart. But there are a lot of schools in other towns not too far away.”

“I’ll have to call around. I’ve been at Rawley’s house for almost two weeks. I’d better either find a job or move on.”

“Where would you go?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“Not back to Seattle?”

“No. I don’t have any family there anymore. I think it’s time for a fresh start. Somewhere.”

“A fresh start as a single mom,” Lou said with a warm smile. “How exciting!”

Devon felt her stomach clench. “Exciting?”

“Yes, exciting!”

Devon just shook her head. “I don’t know. My future looks pretty uncertain right now. And before my daughter came along, I had some pretty lean times....”

“In my life, there seemed to have been cycles—for five to ten years things were up, then followed a long struggle, then things would swing up again. Up and down. I don’t think life is very consistent. But the secret is knowing there’s no limit to the number of times you can reinvent yourself!”

* * *

As the little doctor’s office got busier and more crowded, Devon excused herself and told Sarah she wanted to walk around the town a bit and would be back.

It wasn’t a new or highly polished town, but it was pretty. Devon walked down the sidewalk in one direction then crossed the street and went the other way. She passed lots of small shops, taking note of a store that sold secondhand clothes. There were pots of geraniums hanging from lampposts, window boxes holding roses, and while some of these stores had peeling paint, others looked freshly scrubbed and painted. She peeked inside the diner, an old-fashioned establishment with booths and counter stools. All that seemed missing was a jukebox. She headed down the street toward the marina.

All she had seen from Cooper’s was a marina with some boats, but it was so far across the beach she wasn’t sure what kind of boats there were or how many there were. She was surprised to see big fishing boats, trawlers, sailboats, crabbers. She walked down the street that led to the boat launch and dock. There was a big restaurant at the west end of the marina.

She felt the beach pulling her. It was like seeing a movie from her former life. There was a woman jogging down the beach, reminding Devon she used to love running. She ran track in high school. She saw a volleyball net set up down the beach and a few people batting the ball around. Out on the water were a couple of people on paddleboards and one kayaker heading out toward the mouth of the bay where the frothing Pacific waited. The surrounding hills were steep and rocky and beyond this protected bay, mountains rose in the distance.

It felt like a pocket of safety. And people were living. Having fun. Being part of the real world where everything was not limited or controlled. Devon made up stories about them in her head. The woman was jogging on her day off; the paddleboarders were on a date; the volleyball players were high school or college students; the kayaker was... Wow, she realized it was Landon! He was working his arms and shoulders like a demon.

As she traversed the beach and neared the volleyball game, a runaway ball came close to her. She dashed for the ball. She flipped it into the air and served it back to the players with all her strength, sending it sailing a great distance.

“Whoa!” one of the boys shouted. “Lady, you’re on my team!”

Devon laughed gaily and gave them a wave.

In her former life, she’d worked while attending school and she’d lived with Aunt Mary. She had belonged to a gym. She liked to run, play summer softball with friends, go to ball games and clubs. She hadn’t had much of a savings account and she’d had to supplement her scholarships with loans, but that was the life of a student. It was fun and fulfilling and tense and pressured and exciting. It was normal.

In Jacob’s world Tuesday would look like Monday had—the only variable was the weather. They worked. They were not without their own kind of fun, but it was very odd and lopsided. No one pulled on their spandex and went outside the fence and jogged down the road. They didn’t load up in a car and head for the movies or the library or the coffee shop. They were all in good shape because their work was hard and physical but it was rare that they took a break from work to throw a ball around. Sometimes they’d get a little game of hide-and-seek going and let it go out of control. Most of their diversion was just a private thing between the women—popcorn, stories, a food fight in the kitchen while making cookies late at night.

But not only was there very little change, there was very little possible. Jacob’s plan was simple: everyone would be safe and well cared for inside his walls and under his domination. Big Daddy. The world would end, but they would be safe together. They did not need to think as individuals or to have personal goals; they would not experience the heartbreak or the triumph of success in the mean real world.