Chapter 34
Chapter 34 — The Old Oak
Alex helps Maya load her truck and says goodbye. She sends him a photo of the bookshelf in her Portland apartment. He helps with breakfast and cleanup at the commune, showers at the open shower, and drives the pickup to Holloway's Hardware. Gene tells Alex he needs him to close the store and lets slip he has a date night with Ruth. Jodie visits Alex at the hardware store. They talk, and Alex learns that Linda Carr — the woman who wanted the shed built — is Jodie's mother. Jodie leaves. Alex closes the store and drives back to the commune. He walks to the Old Oak and finds someone already there.
Maya's truck was idling in the gravel lot at seven in the morning. The sun hadn't cleared the tree line. The light was flat and gray and honest.
Alex carried the last box — books, mostly, and a few kitchen things she'd accumulated over the summer. He set it in the bed of the pickup next to the others. He'd strapped them down with ratchet ties Gene had given him. He checked each one. Twice.
Maya stood by the driver's door. She was wearing jeans and a flannel shirt rolled to the elbows. Her hair was up. She looked like someone going somewhere. She looked like someone who had already gone.
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