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True to Don’s word, Jamie arrived soon after. Not quite the twenty minutes that Don had expected, but it was within the thirty minute time limit that Don had set for her to call him. A tall lanky man with a kind smile, Jamie not only looked like a younger version of his father, but was just as affable as his dad. Surprising herself, Sarah warmed to him instantly. Jamie did most of the talking on the way to their intended destination, including explaining to her that the town of Kiernon that Don had kept referring to, was in fact, the small town of Mount Kiernon. As they drove along he explained the history of the town and how the loss of the mine had affected the township.
Sarah was quite content to just sit quietly and listen as Jamie talked. She silently smiled to herself. She couldn’t remember the last time that she had felt as easy and free with another person as quickly as she had felt with Don. Jamie too, she thought.
As they rounded a long bend in the road Jamie’s glance swung Sarah’s way. “Almost there now,” he assured her. She could spy lights in the near distance as the road straightened out once again. With the sun now fully set, Sarah suspected that the few twinkling lights she could see in the distance might be coming from homes. To Sarah the lights almost felt like the call of a lighthouse, indicating the safety of the shoreline after the sea of stress she had seemingly been in all day. It had realistically only been about four hours or so since she had first spied the needle on the car beginning to slowly creep upwards to indicate the problem with the radiator but it had come to feel like much longer.
Stretching as best as she could within the confines of the cabin of the tow truck Sarah felt her muscles pull with the effort. She dropped her head to her chest to allow the muscles in her neck the opportunity to stretch out. “Been a long day?” Jamie asked.
“Unbelievably so,” she agreed.
“Look, I know you were supposed to be in Franklin tonight,” he began. He noticed the sharp look that Sarah gave him from the corner of her eye. “Dad told me. He called me on his way to his next job to tell me a few things about your car,” he explained when he noticed the look she was giving him. “But before you head off tomorrow you should drive back this way. It’s a shame we’re driving this stretch of road at night. The view down to the beach from here is pretty spectacular.”
“There’s a beach here?” she asked incredulously.
“Sure is,” he answered, nodding in response. “Just down there on the right,” he pointed vaguely out the direction of the driver’s side window.
“I mean, I knew the coastline was along here, but I thought it was inaccessible because of the mountains.”
“Sort of. We have cliffs in Kiernon which means we can’t get down to the beach at all in town. But there are a few places just along the coast here where you access the beach. It’s really nice in summer to come out here.”
“Can you catch waves out here? Is it a surfing beach?”
“Nah. The surfs not good enough for that. Not that I’d really know though, I don’t surf at all,” he added by way of explanation.
“Mountains and a beach. It seems you guys have it all in Mount Kiernon.” Sarah quipped.
Jamie snorted. “Houses that sit empty because people have moved away, not enough jobs for the people who live here, or people working jobs they hate cos they have no choice. Oh yeah, we have it all,” he said bitterly. From the glow of the dull dashboard lights against his face Sarah could see frustration etched across his features as he spoke. “But at least we have mountains and a beach,” he said softening the tone of his voice, before he added, “even if we don’t have anywhere that can give us a decent coffee.”
Sarah gasped and placed a hand on her heart in shock. “No decent coffee in the morning? Whatever will I do tomorrow when I’m in need of a caffeine fix?” she mocked lightly.
“Hey, don’t knock it. You have no idea what I would do for a good cup of coffee. Besides, you’ll be singing the same tune if you decide to buy one from the bakery,” he smiled and laughed. His laugh was warm and friendly, hinting at a similar personality as his father’s.
“I’m sure it’s not that bad,” Sarah laughed kindly along with Jamie.
“Oh, believe me, it’s pretty bad. But when there’s nothing else, you take what you can get.”
Silence descended between the pair as they drove the short remaining distance into Mount Kiernon. As they entered the township even with the shroud of night that had descended around them Sarah was shocked by what she saw. It seemed that Jamie hadn’t exaggerated in the slightest when he had spoken about the town being seemingly empty. The amount of for sale signs that the headlights of the tow truck highlighted in its path as it picked its way through town made her gasp in surprise. Some of the houses clearly still had people living in them, as evidenced by the lights burning in the various homes they drove past. But the overgrown gardens and darkened windows that they passed suggested that other houses had been put up for sale with the owners abandoning them and now living elsewhere.
While Sarah found it sad that some of these houses sat empty, it was the main street of the town that tugged at her heartstrings the most. With so many shops unoccupied she found tears starting to prick the back of her eyes. Turning slowly to face Jamie she took a deep breath, “All of this because a mining company left the town?” she asked quietly.
He didn’t ask her to explain what she meant. He nodded and answered slowly, “Yep.” He was solemn. “If you didn’t live here when all the shops were full, it’s pretty hard to imagine what it was like when they were. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve never been really busy like some of the bigger places, but at least we didn’t look like this.” He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Anyway, enough of all that depressing stuff. We’re here,” he announced as they turned into the driveway of what looked to be the local garage. “Stay put for a second, I’ll just open up and drive the truck in, then I’ll walk you to Betty’s. You’re staying there, right?”
She nodded.
“Won’t be long,” he promised her as he jumped out the cab of the tow truck, leaving Sarah sitting in the silence of the night. She watched as he unlocked and then slid open the heavy door to the main workshop area of the garage. Joining her back in the cab of the truck Jamie slowly inched the tow truck forward before switching the engine off.
“Well, welcome to Mount Kiernon, your new home for the night. Do you need to grab anything out of your car before we head off?” She nodded and walked across to her small car that sat innocently behind the tow truck, not showing any outward signs of the trouble it had given her that day. Reaching in she selected her handbag and a backpack that was sitting in the footwell behind the passenger seat.
“All set,” she announced.
He looked at the few items that Sarah had pulled out from the car with eyebrows raised. “Really? Geez, you travel light. You sure you don’t need your suitcase at all for a change of clothes tomorrow?” he asked as he pointed to the large single piece of luggage he could see sitting exposed through the windows of the hatchback.
She shook her head. “Nope. Got a change of clothes in here,” she lifted her backpack and waved at it.
“Seriously? You could teach most women a thing or two about travelling light,” he joked. He turned his back to her as he reached into the cab of the truck for something.
“Always prepared,” she said in a soft voice.
“Okay then, we are officially done. Let’s head off.” He motioned with a nod of his head for her to follow him as they walked to the entrance of the garage. She took a few steps further forward out of the light spilling from the large open doorway as Jamie began to perform his earlier actions in reverse, first sliding the door shut and then locking the garage.
As Jamie performed his task Sarah found herself shivering slightly. She wrapped her arms around her body in an attempt to hold on to some warmth. It had been a warm day, but the night had brought a definite chill with it. Looking up at the clear night sky, Sarah marvelled at the inky black of night with its diamond studded vista that unfolded in the sky above her. “So many stars,” she said, her voice filled with wonder.
Jamie chuckled a throaty laugh. “You act like you’ve never seen stars before.”
“Not like this, I haven’t,” she confirmed. “Couldn’t really see them from where I used to live,” she admitted.
“Ah, a city girl then, I guess. Where’d you live?” He began walking down the street, and Sarah easily fell into step with him.
She hesitated for a moment fidgeting, tucking her hair behind her ears before announcing, “Burnleigh,” naming one of the larger cities of the country, located on the opposite coast several thousand miles away.
“I went there once to visit an ex-girlfriend of mine. Was never so glad to leave a city as I was that place.” Jamie grunted.
Me, too. Sarah silently added. Me, too.