Chapter 55

He walked in the opposite direction than he’d gone when he’d headed to town, looking for new sites to see. He took one block after the next, not caring how far he went, simply trying to get away from his thoughts. The night was quiet. Except for a dog barking and the random car passing, he felt as if he were alone in the world.

He’d been walking about thirty minutes when he started to hear the sound of constant traffic. When he walked around the corner, he came face to face with a small strip mall. It was hard to tell what shops were in it from where he stood, so he continued heading toward it.

By the time he was in front, he realized a large part of the building housed a bar. That was exactly what he needed. He stopped and patted his pockets, making sure he had his wallet.17

Mason regretted leaving Noah on his own. But he couldn’t help it. He had a lot of thinking he needed to do and not a lot of time to get it done, especially with them leaving to go camping the next morning.