Page 11 of Finding Noah

Not as nice as Grandma and Grandpa’s. Not as big. But … nice.

Friendly. Like it wanted me to come inside.

The total opposite of that house Dad had taken me to two years ago. Tommy’s house.

That house had felt evil, and every step toward it had felt like a warning I was forced to ignore. But this house …

It felt like home.

And maybe that made me feel a little sad too—that home could be so, so far away from everything and everyone I had ever known.

But maybe … if Mom could do it, then maybe I could too.

Maybe this was one promise she was going to keep.

And maybe we were far enough away that Dad would never find us.

Maybe he was gone for good, and I'd never have to think about him or Tommy or what had happened in that house ever again.

***

AGE NINE

“Hey!”

I was standing outside River Canyon Elementary School, waiting for Mom to pick me up, when a voice from behind grabbed my attention. I turned and saw a boy from my class approaching. His name was Jason, and he squinted at me through the lenses of his thick, dark blue-framed glasses.

“Hi,” I said, lifting my hand in a little wave.

“Whatcha doing over here?” He gripped the straps of his backpack and looked over to the row of school buses and the kids piling into them. “You don't take the bus?”

I shook my head. “My mom picks me up after work.”

“Oh, cool. Why does she do that?”

I licked my lips and tried to come up with an answer when, honestly, I didn't really know. That was just how it always was, even at our old house with Grandma and Grandpa. She would come to get me after school, and if she couldn't make it for some reason, Grandma would be there. Someone was always waiting for me—always.

In fact, this was the first time I had ever had to wait, and I was struggling to think of a reason for that too.

Where is she?

“Because … the bus … is stupid,” I said hastily, already feeling my cheeks heating in the late September sun.

I didn't know if the bus was stupid. Maybe it was the greatest thing on the planet.

Jason narrowed his eyes and looked at me like I had just said something really dumb.

“Why?”

“Because …” I blinked rapidly and shook my head. “It just is. My mom says so.”

“That's weird.”

I thought he'd have another question to ask about the topic, but to my relief, he shrugged and said, “Well, whatever. How long do you have to wait?”

“I don't know,” I muttered, pinning my eyes to the entrance of the parking lot.

She was never this late. Never.