Chapter 1

The Day Finally Arrives

Rachel woke up to the beeping of her alarm. She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She reached back and patted her husband.

“You up?”

Jason rolled over, looked down, and grinned. “I’m not the only one that’s up. Come here.”

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down onto him.

“Hey,” Rachel said, laughing. “There’ll be time for that later.” She kissed him. “You’ve got a lot to do today, and I’m so excited.”

“Yeah,” Jason said. “Me too. We can finally have our own place.”

Rachel turned on the shower while Jason got their three-year-old daughter up and fed. By the time Rachel finished showering and dressed for work, the smell of breakfast filled the house.

“Breakfast smells good,” she said. “Good morning, Jo. Good morning, Alice.”

“Momma!” Alice said, reaching for her.

Rachel hugged her tight. “I’ll be getting off work at ten this morning instead of four-thirty, so please be ready.”

She grabbed her purse. “Jo, you going with us to look at the house?” Rachel asked.

“Yeah,” Joanne said. “It’ll be good to get out of the house.”

Rachel kissed Jason and Alice goodbye and headed to work.

At work, Rachel checked the clock more than anything else.

“Morning, Larry,” she said. “You remember I’m taking off at ten today, right?”

Larry nodded. “Going to look at a house.”

“Yes,” Rachel said. “I can’t wait.”

Before she knew it, it was 9:55. She clocked out right at ten and drove back to Joanne’s house.

Jason had their stuff ready as Alice stood nearby, clutching a toy.

“Y’all ready?” Rachel asked.

They piled into the car and drove seventeen miles out of town. The road narrowed, trees lining both sides, until a long driveway appeared ahead.

The house sat at the end of it, shaded by tall trees, surrounded by a wide yard.

“Oh wow,” Rachel said. “Look how big the yard is.”

Jason laughed. “Guess I’ll be push mowing all that.”

Near the driveway sat several white bags filled with weeds.

“Looks like they left trash,” Rachel said.

Jason picked one up and looked inside. “No,” he said. “This is medicine.”

He turned to Joanne. “Mom?”

Joanne nodded. “It sure is. Indian medicine.”

“I could tell as soon as I opened it,” Jason said.

“Well,” Joanne said, “just set it back down. We’ll deal with it before we leave.”

They walked toward the house. The owner, Ivan, met them outside and explained that he and a neighbor had swapped houses—an even trade.

“Here’s the key,” Ivan said. “Go on and look around. Three hundred deposit, three hundred a month. You’ll have lights and water. Propane was filled about three months ago.”

“Sounds good,” Rachel said.

Ivan walked back toward his house.

Jason unlocked the side door under the carport.

The smell hit them immediately.

“What is that?” Rachel said.

The house looked clean, but the air felt heavy.

“Oh my goodness,” Joanne said. “Probably just needs a good bleaching. It’s been sitting a while.”

They walked through slowly. Three bedrooms. One bath.

Rachel and Jason chose the far-right bedroom. Jake would take the room across from them when he came home. Alice would have the room next to her brother.

“I think this will work,” Rachel said.

Jason nodded. “Yeah. I do too.”

They decided to take it.

Rachel paid Ivan, and he handed them a spare key. “Y’all can move in anytime.”

On their way out, they grabbed the white bags from the driveway.

“Let’s get cleaning supplies,” Rachel said. “Whatever’s trash gets thrown away.”

They pulled out of the drive, the house quiet behind them.