The Pink Steering Wheel Chronicles by Laura Fahrenthold

Author:Laura Fahrenthold
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hatherleigh Press
Published: 2018-05-24T09:13:22+00:00

Part III:

When a House Is Not a Home

32

Home Is Where the Heart Dies

“I came across many a lost traveler on the road; we would connect for a brief, necessary moment—to exchange directions, forecasts, or hellos—and then go our separate ways. Other times, we’d travel together for a period of time, each representing nothing more than passing mile markers to gauge our journeys.”

—Excerpted from Mark’s journals

“Ahh, so she returns!” Deli Man said cheerfully. I had forgotten to get eggs, milk, and cereal for the girls’ breakfast.

“I have not seen you in weeks,” Deli Man continued. “Did you go somewhere? To the beaches? To far away?”

He offered me a loosie, but I shook my head no.

“No more cigarettes?” he asked.

“Nope,” I replied, “I haven’t smoked in more than a month. I took your advice, or whatever you call it, and went camping out west.”

“You did it? You went on vacation? And you stopped smoking? No wonder you look better! Put on some weight, look healthier; tan, too. For you, this was good. Very, very good.”

I couldn’t help but smile. This man, this almost-stranger, was really happy to have helped his “disciple.” I told him a little about the trip—how we had climbed mountains, slept out under the stars, rode horses, went white water rafting, explored volcanoes—but didn’t get into the rest of it. You know, the ashes and all of that.

“It did us good, just like you said.”

“You feel good now, I can tell. Were there cowboys and Indians? Pocahontas?”

I had to laugh. It was funny; I hadn’t thought about him on the trip and certainly didn’t miss him, but I was surprisingly happier to see Deli Man than I’d expected. It was almost comforting to find him in the same place, wearing the same thing, standing behind the same cluttered counter, smiling the same happy smile. In a way, his continued presence represented a reassuring timestamp in life. A then and now. A “before and after” for the trip.

I almost...hugged him.

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