Willow Tree

Chapter Two

Vada finally got a look at Merle's house when he started up his tow truck, and the headlights illuminated it. It was a small white ramshackle house that was pretty typical of the deep south.

It took Merle all of twenty-five minutes to get her car hooked up to his rig and towed back to his yard. From there, he led Vada inside and into the house's tiny kitchen. The room definitely suffered from a lack of a feminine touch. There was a small card table in the center of the room that was accompanied by two folding metal chairs, and that was it except for a stove, microwave, coffee pot, and older than hell refrigerator that looked like he had purchased it from Lucy and Ricky. There were no personal touches, no photos on the fridge, artwork on the walls, or even curtains on the small window. There was no doubt that Merle was single.

"You can call who you need to call from here." Merle nodded at the corded wall phone that was reminiscent of the one that had hung in her childhood home. Vada had thought the devices to be damn near extinct.

"You know of any motels nearby?" Vada asked the question before realizing she needed one critical piece of information. "Where exactly in Georgia am I right now? I should probably start with that question."

Merle chuckled. "I knew ya wasn't from 'round here. Well, darlin', the five-mile stretch of land ya on is an unincorporated lil community. That's why asshole kids race that there stretch of road. Cops only come when called. If ya go up that some road a lil ways ya come ta the town of Willow Tree. I think the motel may still be open. The recession hit that town hard."

"Are you kidding me?" Vada blurted out.

"I don't know what I'd be kiddin' 'bout darlin'," Merle looked confused.

Vada chuckled tiredly. "Not you. I guess I meant the universe. I'm moving to Willow Tree, and my damn car bites the dust when I'm almost there. It's just my luck."

Merle nodded. "I get it, darlin'. What I's don't get is why anyone would wanna move ta a dyin' town like Willow Tree." He grabbed one of the metal folding chairs and pulled it out from the table and nodded for her to take a seat. He walked to the fridge and pulled out two beers, setting one in front of her before taking a seat in the chair across from her.

"I was offered a teaching position at Willow Tree Elementary School, and I really needed out of New York. I have something called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. It's a disorder that causes sensitive, elastic-like skin and overly flexible joints. The winters were becoming hell for me. My joints would lock up, and my skin would actually hurt to the touch."

"Damn, woman," Merle whistled. "Sorry ta hear that. Ya don't gotta worry 'bout bad winters down here. Rarely snows and it don't stay cold long...if ya consider forty-five degrees cold. Where in New York ya from, the Big Apple?"

"Oh, God, no," Vada laughed. "I can't stand big cities."

Merle reached across the table, grabbed the beer bottle, and popped the top on it before passing it back. "Me and ya got that in common, sugar. I try ta avoid going through Atlanta whenever I's can. Where are ya from than?"

"You've probably heard of it before. I'm from a small upstate hamlet called Sleepy Hollow." Washington Irving had made the town famous way back in the 19th century. If a person hadn't read the original story, they usually had at least seen a film or television adaption.

"Ichabod Crane goes lookin' for the Headless Horseman there." The teacher in her wanted to award him points for knowing the name of a character from the story who wasn't missing his head. "And if ya like small-town livin' ya will like Willow Tree well enough," he assured her. "My lil brother, Daryl, lives there with his family. His lil girl, Sophia, goes ta the school you's gonna be teachin' at. Listen, darlin', it's real late. Even if the motel's still in operation ain't no one gonna be at the desk this time of the night. You can rest ya pretty head in the spare room tonight. I'll drive ya into town in the mornin' and see what I's can do 'bout ya car."

Most people would have turned down his offer one the ground of safety concerns. Still, Vada didn't feel threatened by Merle in the least, and she had always considered herself abnormally cautious, not mention a good judge of character. She agreed.