The Way it Happened

Erin Marie Talley was lost. She’s hit about every traumatic major life event a woman could hit. And just on the dawn of turning forty. A cheating husband after over twenty years of marriage, a doctor’s visit bringing a recovery from surgery, and in her old childhood bedroom back at her parent's house, no less. Two kids in tow, a chocolate Lab named Bosco and a very tired old Chevy Impala. Not much more. This wasn’t the kind of mid-life crisis she expected. Her fifteen-year-old daughter helped her find a temporary escape in the form of a podcast that aired an older author's short stories. Listening to those and reading his books seemed to steal her from the boredom of bedbound and drowning in self-pity. His stories made her feel vibrant and happy again. An old high school bestie shows up at just the right time in Erin’s life to prod her on a road trip that may change her life. Sure, there are some quiet warning signs that maybe things aren’t exactly as they appear, but what has she got to lose? Travel along while two forty-year-old best friends reconnect and discover that life doesn’t have to end at that dreaded pre-determined number. In fact, it might just be a new beginning.