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“A bit more than that, but yeah.” I slowed down behind and then overtook a tractor, and then we were getting closer to the boulder that marked the beginning of my driveway.
“So you grew up here?” Abi asked. “Like this was your childhood home?”
I cleared my throat. “You could say that. This was my driveway growing up.”
It wasn’t a very long driveway, but with the yard nestled inside the patch of woods, we still popped into the clearing all of a sudden. I parked in the middle of what had been the front yard and turned the engine off. Then I grabbed my phone and navigated to the correct folder, handing the phone to Abi.
“Those are pictures before the demo.”
“Oh, thanks!”
We got out of the truck and Nyx went to do her thing while Abi tried to get her bearings.
I gestured for Milton to walk to where the house had been. “This was where the house was.” Then I pointed toward the path we could see, now well-trampled, pressed into the earth like a tattoo that would never be erased again. “But that’s the path to my home.”
Milton put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed much like Abi had done before as he quietly surveyed the surroundings.
“So, what are your plans?” he asked finally, then crouched to pet Nyx who ambled over.
Abi came to hand the phone back to me. “Yes, tell us more?”
I opened my notebook app and gestured at the open space around us. “I was thinking some sort of a recording studio setup. Merle wasn’t available to come over yet but she’ll help with the actual build of the studio spaces. Well, her and a couple of other people who know their shit.” I grinned. “But you have the knowledge of how this sort of thing goes, what with having the studio on your property. So I wanna learn from you,” I told Milton.
He nodded slowly and scratched his jaw as straightened from his crouch. “Are you going to be living here, too?”
I made a face. “I don’t think so. I’ll figure out something else. Maybe a trailer on the ranch or something. But I want to have a good office that would double as a crashing-for-the-night type space in the main building.”
“Okay… so none of it would disrupt your personal life, then….”
“No, it wouldn’t. I’m also thinking about having a couple of small one bedroom places for young artists. Then accommodations for whoever comes to record. Common spaces. A couple of different studios, maybe a rehearsal space as well.”
“That’s more than one building?” Abi piped up where she was sitting in the dirt with Nyx sprawled on her lap.
“So how about this…,” Milton started, and I began to take notes.
The five days the Wilkinses spent with us were fun. Not only because I got so much done and everyone enjoyed one another’s company, but because I realized that Milton and April with their children had become like family to me.
Not in the way the Harringtons were, but still. Milton felt like an older brother I’d never had, and I was almost sad to see the RV disappear down the driveway on Tuesday morning.
Ville wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “You know you still need to get rid of the Nashville apartment, right?”
I snapped my gaze to his. “What?”
“It’s obvious. It needs selling. We can go and pack up what we want. Then get someone to empty the rest out. Maybe a charity or something.”
Clearing my throat, I admitted, “It’s uh… it’s been on sale for a while now. I just have been putting off accepting any offers.”
He snorted softly. “Yeah. I’m not surprised. When do we go?”
“I don’t want to go back.”
“Alright, then we have everything packed up and shipped here.”
I slumped a little, the relief letting me know how much I’d dreaded going back to Nashville. How it was why I hadn’t accepted the offers. Those poor potential buyers. At least the main contender was a business that wanted it for their clients for temporary stays instead of some regular person, and their interest wouldn’t wane.
“Why did you bring it up?” I asked quietly, not quite following his train of thought.
“I thought we’d be able to visit the Wilkinses when we got back to Nashville, but I suppose we can go later or they can come back on their travels.”
