Dead Woman Crossing J.R. Adler (early reader chapter books txt) 📖

over at David who appeared more comfortable. His raised shoulders had fallen. One hand had released itself from its steering-wheel death grip and was now fiddling with the radio station.

“Sorry about that.”

“It’s quite alright. It’s not the first time she’s heard someone raise their voice in front of her,” Kimberley admitted.

David glanced over at Kimberley and then back at the road again.

“Don’t worry. Jessica’s too young to remember anything that happened between you and that ex of yours.”

Before she could say anything, like thank him for saying exactly what she needed to hear, he changed the subject.

“You like country music?”

She didn’t but she said yes anyway.

David turned the radio to an oldie’s country station. A song by Alan Jackson played softly, while David tapped his fingers on the steering wheel to the rhythm of the music. He wasn’t a man that could sit still, always fiddling with something.

When the song ended and a loud commercial started up, David turned down the volume slightly.

“I think you and Jessica are going to like living on a farm,” he said.

“Yeah, I think so too. I know Mom loves it.”

With Oklahoma City behind them now, all that lay ahead was a long stretch of highway that seemed like it had no end. Kimberley looked out her window. The wheat fields were a blur of gold. When she thought of the country, she thought of the color green. But not here in Oklahoma. It was gold. Heck, New York City had more greenery than this.

“The farm’s been in our family for generations and generations,” David said with a pleased smile.

“That’s impressive.” She knew that tidbit already, but she let David think it was the first time she had heard it. He was clearly proud of his family farm.

“I’m glad my daughter Emily found a man like Wyatt who was willing and wanting to take over the farm. Most men these days are soft. Buncha whining pussies, if ya ask me.”

“Based on my ex, I’d say you were right,” Kimberley joked.

David gave a wry smile. “I think you and my daughter will get along real well. You’re both about the same age.”

“I hope so,” she said with little conviction in her voice. Kimberley had never been good at making friends. She was a bit of a loner, but she knew she had to change. Keeping everyone at arm’s length wasn’t doing her any good and it wouldn’t do her daughter any good either.

“The Thunder Rolls” by Garth Brooks came on the radio, and David turned the volume back up. He clearly liked the song as he began to sing along with it, tapping his fingers on the wheel. Kimberley looked back out her passenger window at the big blue skies that were slowly cascading into hues of pink, yellow, and orange, thanks to the sun that was falling behind the horizon. Everywhere around them was wide-open spaces and far-reaching fields that appeared to go on and on forever. For many, they would see this as nothing. But Kimberley saw something. She saw opportunity, a new life, a fresh start. She now knew what the frontiersmen must have felt when they “headed out west.” Hope. This would be her better life.

On top of a slower-paced life, she expected her new job as chief deputy would also be less time-consuming and demanding, allowing her more time to spend with Jessica. Her life in New York had become near impossible, but in Oklahoma, there was possibility. She’d miss the energy that the city radiated, the hustle, the fact that anything she could ever want was available like Chinese food at 3 a.m. However, she had learned that New York City couldn’t give her everything she wanted. It couldn’t give her time with her daughter or a close relationship with her mother. She needed it now more than ever. She tried to make the city work while being a single mother, and she had for sixteen months… barely.

The song ended and once again, David turned down the radio.

“How ya feeling about the new job, Chief Deputy King?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Good. It’ll be different than the city, but I’m looking forward to a change. Sheriff Walker seemed great during my phone interviews.”

“He’s a good man… His views are a bit modern for my taste. Regardless, he does a good job at keeping our town safe.”

“Modern?” Kimberley tilted her head.

“Well, he hired you. We’ve never had a female on the force before.”

Kimberley bit her lower lip, mulling over what to say in response to his outdated beliefs. This wasn’t a point of view she had ever really encountered in the city, but she was sure it was one she’d be seeing a lot more of in the South.

“We have different definitions of modern then,” Kimberley settled on.

David glanced over at Kimberley.

“Oh, I don’t mean anything by it. I just believe in taking care and providing for my family. I think that’s the man’s job. But you… you’ve gotta step up because your boy stepped back.”

He returned his focus back to the road.

“Well, regardless, I think you’re going to like it here. Us Oklahomans are the salt of the earth, not too good for nothin’ like them coastal elites out by y’all,” David said with a smile.

Kimberley forced a smile back as a new song came on the radio.

“I’m just teasing ya.” He turned the volume back up, his fingers drumming against the steering wheel once again.

The sun had fallen completely below the horizon when they pulled into the town, which was marked by a sign that read “Dead Woman Crossing—Unincorporated.” The town was so small it didn’t even have a population. How strange, Kimberley thought.

“Almost home,” David said over the song.

Kimberley’s eyes followed the smattering of various house styles, all very old and collapsing in on themselves, like a row of dying stars, dim and lifeless. The wheatgrass was everywhere: on the edge of the road, in between houses, running off into the distance across the horizon. It looked like a virus, centered here