Chapter 46
Lane (September 2023)
...
There was something different in the air and Lane noticed this as they sat in the passenger's seat of Ophelia's car. She drove at a steady speed and they had the windows rolled down to enjoy the warm breeze. Lane felt a shift while looking up at the sky and clouds; they felt good, like things were finally changing for the better. The fight with Atlas was over and Lane felt the freest they've felt in a long time. The truth was out and Lane could finally put their mind at ease, knowing that Atlas would be serving time in the future. Court dates were set and Lane shook the thoughts of facing him in court from their mind. They just wanted to enjoy the moment, to enjoy the drive they were on with their best friend, and to enjoy the weather which Lane knew was also shifting. Summer was coming to an end and fall was beginning. It was Lane's favorite season. They leaned back in their seat and closed their eyes to relax while they felt the breeze on their face. Ophelia turned the radio on and soft music played. She turned the volume up a bit so it wouldn't be overpowered by the passing winds. They both took the day off from work to drive out in the countryside; passing cows and apple farms and smelling the distinct smell of manure in the farm soils. Lane opened their eyes and looked over at Ophelia. She seemed focused on the road.
"How're you doing?" Lane asked.
Ophelia turned her head to look at them for just a second before locking her eyes back on the road. "I'm good."
"Want me to take over?"
Ophelia shook her head. "No, I'm good for now. Maybe in another twenty minutes. Of course she has to live so far away," she laughed.
"Works for me," Lane chuckled. They looked in the backseat of the car and checked on the old shoebox of letters and the photo album belonging to Carolyn and Nancy. They sat stiffly in the backseat, moving only slightly when they hit bumps in the road.
"I can't believe Phoebe found their address," Lane said.
Ophelia smiled. "I know, it's crazy. She must've had to do some real digging to find out that info."
Phoebe had done a lot of digging in order to find any information on the two women. She only had the names in the photo album to go off of, Carolyn Moore and Nancy Adler, and the fact that they were at the hotel when it was still a hotel with a finishing school on the third floor. Phoebe ended up finding out that Carolyn had two younger sisters, Judith and Shirley, who were still alive and they lived on the same street as neighbors near the Sequoia Bay Apartment building. She contacted them and they confirmed their sister's address; noting that they received letters from their older sister frequently and they also confirmed that Carolyn was alive in good health and did indeed live there with Nancy Adler. Lane and Ophelia wanted to return the box of letters and the lost photo album and when Phoebe told them that she had found an address, they were both ecstatic.
"I wonder if they'll be happy to see these letters and the pictures," Lane said while stretching their arms forward.
"I'm sure they would," Ophelia replied. "It's been so long. I'm sure they thought they would never see these again."
"I would be a little freaked out if I was old and two weirdos rolled up to my house and said they had a box of my old things that they found," Lane laughed.
"They must be very old. I hope you don't scare them." Ophelia smirked.
"Me?" Lane scoffed. "What about you with your platinum hair and black lipstick?"
Ophelia laughed. "Oh, they'll love it!"
They continued to drive down the winding country roads, taking in the scenery and breathing in the fresh air. Lane messed with the radio and couldn't settle on a station. "We don't have an aux cord?" Lane asked.
"Oh, I did have one," Ophelia replied, "but Wheatly chewed it up."
"Uh, who's Wheatly?" Lane chuckled in confusion.
"Shit," Ophelia giggled. "I was going to surprise you! I got a dog."
"You got a dog?"
She nodded. "Yes, and he's just the cutest thing!"
"Will he get along with Petri?"
"We'll just have to see. Petri is super friendly and so is Wheatly but I don't know how they'll be together."
"Can we try? I wanna have a playdate."
"We can try but if Petri uses claws, I'm fighting her."
Lane laughed. "Well I hope Wheatly doesn't bite or bark too much. I can't believe you didn't tell me!"
"It was gonna be a surprise! I was gonna introduce you later today after we got back."
"Do you have pictures?"
"Yeah, on my phone. You can see if you wanna spoil the surprise."
Lane picked up Ophelia's phone from the cup holder and looked at the photos of Wheatly. He was a tiny yellow puppy with floppy ears. "Oh my goodness, I love him," Lane sighed.
"I knew you would."
After a while, Ophelia pulled over to the side of the road so she could stretch and Lane took over driving the rest of the way. The sun in the sky was slowly blocked by clouds and the warmth from its rays disappeared, leaving Lane and Ophelia with cooling winds blowing into the car through their open windows.
"It got chilly all of a sudden," Ophelia said.
"Want the heater on?" Lane asked. She nodded.
They rolled up the windows and realized how loud the radio really was. After turning the volume down, Lane switched on the heater to its lowest setting, making the inside of the car toasty. Ophelia fell asleep for a while before waking up at their destination. She looked around and noticed that they were parked in front of a large and quaint house. There were other houses on the road but they were spread out, giving each home plenty of space.
"Are we here?" she asked.
"Yeah, this is the address," Lane said as they pointed to the house with a clean-cut yard featuring a vegetable garden and clothesline. "It's cute!"
"Are you ready?" Ophelia asked.
Lane nodded. "Let's go."
The two friends got out of Ophelia's car and retrieved the box of letters and photo album from the back seat. They looked at the cottage for a moment before walking up the garden stone path to the front door.