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That afternoon, Carrie stopped to pick up some things at River King Grocery in Clear River.

Paying close attention to prices, she realized most items were less expensive than they were in Los Angeles. Eggs, bread and milk each cost less—a good thing, and she’d welcome all the good she could get after her sobering visit to the cemetery.

While shopping to the strains of the store’s soft background music, Carrie weighed her psychologist’s advice to let things unfold naturally with everyday matters. She was doing that now, finding joy in cheaper groceries for her family.

“Well, this is nice,” Carrie said to Emily, who was strapped into the child seat. “Even the rice costs less here.”

Placing two packages in her cart, she noticed a woman nearby. They’d happened upon each other in previous aisles, with Carrie catching the trace of her stare each time. Carrie continued to the next aisle, stopping to select salad dressing. Putting a bottle in her cart, she turned to see the woman suddenly standing beside her.

“Excuse me. I’m so sorry, but are you Carrie?”

She looked the same age as Carrie. She had nice hair and makeup, and there was something familiar about her. Carrie was trying to place her when the woman said, “Carrie Hamilton?”

“Yes, but it’s Carrie Conway now.”

“Oh, my goodness! Carrie, it’s me.” The woman placed her hand to her own chest. She had beautiful nails. “Lacey! Lacey Lee! We went to high school together!”

Recognition dawned.

“Oh, my gosh, Lacey! Yes! Hi!”

They gave each other an awkward hug.

“So, it’s true,” Lacey said. “Clay told me it was happening.”

“Clay?”

“My husband, Clayton Smith. I’m actually Lacey Smith now. Clayton’s a deputy. He works with Luke. That’s how I knew you were moving back.”

“Ahh, I see. Yes, it’s true. We moved back.”

“You look good, Carrie.” Lacey lowered her gaze to Emily. “Oh, and this must be your precious little one. What’s her name?”

“Emily.”

“Welcome to Clear River, Emily. What an angel. She’s so sweet.”

“Thanks,” Carrie said. “I love your hair and nails.”

“You’re too kind.” Lacey grinned with a modest wave. “Had it all done at the Always Charming Salon.”

“They do nice work.”

“They better. I own the shop.”

“Oh, wow.”

“It’s a little place in town. Got one in Lufkin and one in Nacogdoches. But we’re busy and we have fun. Drop by some time, we’ll give you a discount.”

“That’d be nice, thank you.”

“Were you working in movies and TV in California?”

“I did graphic design for program and film promotions. Still do—the company’s been great, arranged for me to work remotely.”

“How long have you been back now?”

“Not long, a couple weeks.”

“Clay said you guys were in Cedar Breeze?”

“We are.”

“Looks pretty there. I was going to drop by, but I figured you were busy.”

“Yeah, still got things to unpack, still settling in.”

“Listen.” Lacey blinked several times. “I’m sorry about Vern.”

Carrie paused, realizing that in a small town few things were kept secret.

“I mean, with him being the former sheriff, most all people at the sheriff’s office know.”

And likely everyone at your hair salons, too , Carrie thought, nodding with a weak smile while caressing Emily’s hair.

“I mean,” Lacey continued, “I’m sure it’s the best thing that you’re back even though—”

“Even though” hung in the air when Lacey stopped herself, and Carrie looked at her to finish. Lacey cleared her throat. “It must be hard for you, what with your dad’s condition and, well, you know, with all that you went through back then with the case, and it still being unsolved.”

The warmth of their meeting started to melt, with Carrie turning from Lacey to Emily, brushing her cheek.

“Nice to see you, Lacey. We should be going,” she said.

“I’m sorry for prattling on. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“No, it’s okay, really.”

“Wait. We’re having a party at our place this weekend. Why don’t you and Luke join us? So many people will be happy to see you and catch up. Please, come.”

Carrie looked around, pushing down the emotion rising in her, and began to shake her head.

“That’s lovely, but I don’t know.”

“It would be really nice if you could come.”

In hesitating, she noticed Lacey’s overflowing cart. Lacey followed her gaze and they both smiled.

“You got a lot of stuff there, Lacey.”

Lacey rolled her eyes. “Tell me about it. This is my second trip to the store in two days. We’re catering, but I like to have plenty of extras. We’re good at parties.”

“I’ll talk to Luke and let you know.”

“Good. You can reach me through the shop.”

Lacey gave her a hug, then a wiggly finger wave to Emily.

***

At home later, as Carrie was feeding Emily a spaghetti dinner, she told Luke about her day.

“Guess who I ran into getting groceries?”

Luke didn’t answer. He was engrossed in his phone.

Wiping Emily’s face, Carrie turned to him and, from what she could see, he was scrolling through news sites.

“Hello?”

“Sorry.” He put his phone down. “Who was it?”

“What’s so important?”

“Nothing. Who did you run into?”

Carrie let a few seconds pass.

“Lacey Smith. Clay’s wife.”

“Oh, yeah. You went to school with both of them. Clay was telling me she has a couple of hair salons and they’re doing well.”

“Lacey invited us to a big party at their place.”

“A party?” Luke’s face softened as he took stock of Carrie. “What did you say? Do you want to go? I mean, how do you feel about that?”

As Carrie resumed feeding Emily, she considered Dr. Bernay’s suggestion that embracing new experiences and creating memories could give her a sense of control, make her more confident about living in the community again.

“I think going to the party could be a good thing.”