As soon as I get out of my rental car, the Alabama heat smacks me in the face. Though I’m used to it and have been in worse conditions, it’s still a shock after driving in the air-conditioning for hours.
I haven’t been home to Lawton Ridge in four years, and now that I have my discharge papers from the Army, I’ll stay here until I decide my next move. I’m hoping I figure it out within the next few months because this small town doesn’t have much for me here. Most people I went to high school with work for their family’s business, left for college and never returned, or got married and settled down. Truthfully, none of those options had any appeal, especially with an addict for a mother and a father who abandoned my little sister and me. Everleigh is four years younger, and she was the onl
