The lawns became smaller.
Paint peeled from porch railings.
Several cars sat under faded covers.
A bicycle without a front wheel leaned against one fence.
The dog crossed another street without pausing.
I hurried after him.
"Where are you going?" I whispered.
Of course, he didn't answer.
Nearly 20 minutes later, he stopped in front of a small, run-down house at the very end of a dead-end street, scratched twice at the front door, and sat down and waited.
I stopped near the sidewalk.
My heartbeat had picked up.
The house was narrow and weathered.
One shutter hung slightly crooked.
The porch steps were cracked along the edges.
The dog looked completely at ease.
Like he had done this before.
I almost walked away.
Whatever mystery I had invented in my mind suddenly felt intrusive.
Maybe the dog belonged to an elderly person.
Maybe somebody simply let him roam.
Maybe there was nothing unusual about any of it.
Then I heard movement inside.
A floorboard creaked.
The dog stood.
My stomach tightened for reasons I couldn't explain.
The door creaked open a few inches, and I stopped walking entirely.
Standing in the doorway was someone I never in a hundred years expected to see.
"Ms. Diane?"
I stared at her.
It took me several seconds to place the face.
"Sadie?"
Her eyes widened.
Sadie had dated Caleb during his last year of high school.
She had been 17 then. Caleb had been 18.
For almost a year, she had been everywhere.
At our dinner table.
On the couch during movie nights.
Sitting beside Caleb on the back steps while they whispered about whatever teenagers believed adults could never understand.
Then they broke up.
Caleb barely talked about it.
A few months later, Sadie disappeared from our lives completely.
Now she stood in front of me, three years older, thinner than I remembered, with her dark hair tied loosely behind her head.
The dog pushed past her legs and walked inside.
Sadie looked from him to me.
"What are you doing here?"
I swallowed.
"I followed your dog."
Her expression changed.
She glanced toward the house.
Then back at me.
"You followed Jasper?"
