Finally, just after four, they drove to Watauga in a rental Tesla. As they drove into the small town, Tali was washed over with an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia. She had only been here in the summer, so it was much less green than she remembered. Still, she kept swallowing to combat the lump in her throat.

Had it really been three years since she was last here? It was incredible how familiar the place felt. There was the church, the little Country Diner, and all the houses spread out and divided by immaculate lawns. She had missed all the trees and phone lines and white houses and wooden fences. It was a stark contrast from the crowded hustle and bustle of downtown Seattle.

Pabi's house wasn't actually in Watauga, but just outside it. Tali directed Ben through town and down a familiar little dirt road with no sign and no name. The tires slipped into worn grooves until they crunched over the driveway gravel. Behind a few trees and shaded by the giant oak climbing tree was Pabi's house. It looked exactly as she remembered it, with the gabled roof, full-length covered porch, white aluminum siding, and gabled dormer windows lining the top floor. A dusty blue Dodge Ram was parked out front, next to a silver Honda Accord. Ben parked the Tesla alongside them.

"We're here," she said, turning to look at Ben. His eyes were shining with excitement that unnerved her.

"Where's the bridge?" he asked. 

"Um, don't you think we ought to get permission from the current owners first?"

He came back down from his euphoria. "Right. I suppose you're right."

Tali opened the door to step out and immediately shivered in the cold. She was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and infinity scarf but had removed her coat and left it in the backseat after lunch. She grabbed it and pulled it on to shield herself from the cold. The air was filled with the fragrance of fall, the lovely smell of decaying leaves mixing with the crisp smell of woodsmoke from a wood-burning stove. Tali and Ben walked up to the front door, their feet crunching through the fallen leaves.

She knocked on the door, smartly rapping her knuckles directly on the door, despite the engraved brass knocker that said "Bronson" in large, defined letters hanging in the middle of the door. Immediately after knocking, Tali pulled her sleeves up over her knuckles, trying to keep her hands warm. Ben shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

The door opened and a young woman of about twenty, with light-brown hair in a ponytail, looked out the door. "Yeah?"

"Um," Tali licked her lips. "I'm Natalie Barbetti, Nicholas and Diedre's daughter, and I was just wondering--"

"Tali?" the girl asked, opening the door wider. She threw her arms around Tali, nearly knocking her backward off the porch. "Tali!"

"Um, hi?" Tali was at a loss. The girl looked vaguely familiar, but three years was long enough for Tali to forget her name.

"Stay here." The girl stepped inside, leaning in and holding on to the door frame. "Ethan! Come here! Tali's here!"

Ethan lived here now? Suddenly Tali figured out who the girl was. "Diane?"

"Oh my God, it's so good to see you! It's been what, three years?" Once again Tali was embraced in a giant hug as Diane squealed in excitement. "Since Pabi's funeral, right?"

"Wow, you've really grown since I last saw you!" Tali returned Diane's hug. "You were still in high school then, weren't you? I didn't recognize you at first!"

"Haha, I know, right?" Diane released Tali and stood back.

"Tali?" Ethan came down the stairs. He was a lot taller than Tali remembered, but she hadn't had much of a chance to talk to him at the funeral. He was wearing a white t-shirt and jeans and holding a cup of coffee.

"Hey, Ethan," Tali said, wondering why she suddenly felt bashful.

He peered closer, then grinned. "It is! If isn't the Gnat!"

Tali rolled her eyes. "We're not kids, Ethan. Or should I call you Wheat Thin?"

He came down to the door, setting his coffee on the entryway table. "Hey, you can call me Wheat Thin all you want." He leaned down to envelop her in a hug that was not quite as strong as Diane's but still very tight. He released her. "What brings you here?"

"Oh, um..." Tali had been rehearsing all afternoon what she was going to say, but learning that Ethan and Diane were living in Pabi's house had thrown her for a loop. Ethan would never buy any crap she tried to sell him.

Ben placed an arm around Tali's shoulder, making her jump. "Natalie wanted to show me around her great-grandfather's place. She told me so many stories about it, I just had to see it."

Ethan's expression darkened. He braced himself against the door, stuffing a hand in his pocket. "Who are you?"

Ben kept his arm around Tali's shoulder, holding his other hand out to Ethan. "Ben Sorrelman. I'm Natalie's fiancé," he said without blinking an eye.

Tali jolted at Ben's bare-faced lie. She would have to slap him later for that.

"You're engaged?" Diane said, her voice taking on a bit of a squeal. "Show me your ring!"

"Oh, I...don't have one yet," Tali said.

"We only just decided," Ben said, covering Tali's awkwardness so smoothly Tali held back a gag of disgust.

Ethan stared at Ben's outstretched hand. "I see," he said. Tali winced.

Tali coughed to divert his attention. "I didn't know you guys inherited Pabi's house. Where's Uncle Blaine?"

"Actually, Ethan's the one who got the house," Diane explained. "I'm just here for the weekend. Dad's living in Johnson City."

"Really?" Tali turned to Ethan. "You inherited the house?"

He shrugged. "House, property, everything," he said. "Probably because it's such a big job taking care of this place and Pabi knew I love working outdoors."

That was true. Even during the summer she spent here, Ethan was always outside. Even when the humidity made it so hot it drove everyone else inside, he was galavanting around the woods. And Pabi had always had a soft spot for Ethan.

"Why don't you come in? I was just about to make dinner," Diane said. "I bet you guys are exhausted from the trip."

"Definitely." Tali shrugged Ben's arm off her shoulder. "I'm starving. I'll help you make dinner if you want."

"Sure," Diane said, heading toward the back of the house to the kitchen. "I'd love your help."

Tali followed, looking back at Ben. "Come in. I'll show you around after dinner." She hoped that would satisfy his impatience.

"I'll help you bring in your luggage and things," she heard Ethan say to Ben.

"I'd appreciate that," Ben replied.

Tali came into the kitchen and stopped just in the doorway. I was just the way she remembered it; everything was colored in blue and white checkerboard. The small kitchen sported several rooster decorations, with Pama's collection of blue and white china displayed on the far wall. Pama was what they called Pabi's wife, their great-grandmother, though she had died when Tali was a baby. And yet, twenty-five years after her death, the kitchen was still Pama's domain. Tali had always imagined Pama sitting at the kitchen table sipping tea, bifocals perched on her nose in front of laughing eyes.

"Sure." The two of them got busy getting dinner. As Tali sliced the cucumber into thin rounds, she marveled at her luck. What were the odds that Ethan was the one living here? Hopefully she could manage to show Ben the bridge without Ethan finding out. She couldn't risk Ben's wrath.