Chapter 3
At eight the next morning, I placed the drive-in’s purchase offer on the kitchen table and called the number at the bottom.
“Is the offer still valid?” I asked.
“Until tomorrow evening,” the buyer’s agent said. “The sale itself will take several weeks.”
“Send me the letter of intent.”
My mother had left the land to me. I had used the rest of her estate to save the theater when it was weeks from closing.
Ethan maintained the projectors and managed the equipment.
His name had never been on the deed.
The letter arrived ten minutes later. I left it unsigned while I made another call.
A film distribution company in Los Angeles had offered me a job twice. Both times, I had said I could not move because my husband and daughter needed me in Arizona.
“Does the position still exist?” I asked.
There was a pause.
“If you still want it.”
I looked toward Rosie’s bedroom.
“I do.”
By evening, Rosie’s fever had broken. She was still tired, but when I asked if she wanted to see her birthday video, she sat up beneath her blankets.
“Will Daddy give it to Caleb again?”
“No,” I said. “This one belongs to you.”
My sister parked in the center of the empty drive-in with Rosie bundled in the back seat. I went upstairs and loaded the video Ethan had removed.
This time, Rosie pressed the button.
The screen filled with photographs of her first five years—sleeping in my arms at the ticket booth, taking her first steps beneath the screen, losing her first tooth in the concession stand.
Her laughter came through the open car windows.
Then the video reached the space I had reserved for Ethan’s message.
He had sent me seventeen seconds recorded inside his truck.
“Happy birthday, kiddo,” he said on-screen. “I can’t believe you’re six already.”
Rosie was five.
I stopped the clip. The giant screen turned white.
“Is that where Daddy was supposed to be?” Rosie called.
“Yes.”
I did not tell her he had been busy. I did not promise he would fix it later.
There would be no more later.
After the screening, I signed the letter of intent. The sale would take weeks, but the buyer’s inspection could begin immediately.
I suspended theater operations and disabled Ethan’s administrator access.
Then I authorized the locksmith to change the locks on the projection booth, equipment room, and ticket office.
Each click sounded louder in the empty theater.
My sister helped me place two suitcases in her car. I packed only what Rosie and I needed. Everything else could be handled after we were safe.
I removed my wedding ring and slipped it into my coat pocket.
My phone vibrated.
Megan and Caleb need somewhere to stay tonight. I told them they could use the guest room behind the ticket booth. Don’t make this difficult.
Ethan had offered another woman space on land he had never owned.
I typed one word.
No.
He called immediately.
I let it ring.
The locksmith closed the last equipment-room door and handed me the new keys. My sister waited with Rosie near the exit, the car running.
Headlights appeared on the desert highway.
Ethan’s truck turned toward the drive-in.
Megan sat beside him. Caleb was visible in the back seat.
Ethan slowed at the entrance and reached toward the remote clipped to his visor.
The gate did not move.
He pressed the button again.
I stood on the other side with the only working key in my hand.