Free A Change of Heart by Philip Gulley Page A

camped out. They drove home on U.S. 40, the National Road, stopping in Independence, Missouri, to shake hands with Harry Truman, who was shorter than they’d imagined. They pulled in the driveway late Saturday night, in time for church the next morning, which had been Ellis’s mother’s only stipulation. That, and not to get themselves killed.
    Ellis has never forgotten the trip. It is the farthest he’s been away from home. Every now and then, while sitting on his front porch of a summer evening, he watches an occasional car speed west on Highway 36 and yearns to follow it, to retrace his steps from years before. Maybe see if the tourist home in Lebanon, Kansas, is still open and what it costs to stay the night in the Brown Palace Hotel.
    He was thinking about it again as he pulled into the driveway with Miriam and Amanda. He considered taking Amanda away for a week or two, just the two of them, like he and his dad had done. And when they returned home, Ralph and Sandy would be gone, and their problems with them.
    Their dog came running from the porch and trotted alongside the truck until Ellis rolled to a stop underneath the oak tree next to the clothesline. He turned off the engine, and they sat in the truck, quietly, listening to the engine clicking as it cooled.
    “I think they’re staying at the old tourist cabins,” Ellis said after a while. He turned to look at Amanda. “Would you like me to go back and tell them you’d like to see them?”
    She thought for a moment. “I just don’t want to be kept in the dark, that’s all. I’m old enough to be told these things.”
    Miriam reached over and patted her on the knee. “We know you’re old enough, honey. You’re a fine young lady, and we’re very proud of you. This is just new ground for us, and we need to feel our way along. Ellis did what he thought was best.”
    “That’s all I was doing,” Ellis echoed.
    Their dog was sitting next to the truck, studying them. The sun was setting in the western sky, a swirl of reds and yellows. The bullfrogs and crickets were starting their evening song.
    “Maybe we could have them over for supper one night soon,” Amanda said hopefully.
    “We surely can,” Miriam said. “How about the day after tomorrow? Ellis will go invite them first thing tomorrow. We’ll have supper. Then we can sit on the porch and visit, and you can tell your mom and dad everything you’ve done. I’m sure they’d want to know. We can do that, can’t we, Ellis?”
    “We sure can,” Ellis said, trying to sound sincere.
    “It isn’t that I don’t appreciate all you’ve done for me,” Amanda said. “I just want to see my mom and dad, that’s all.”
    “I just don’t want you to be hurt again,” Ellis said, reaching over and pulling her to himself.
    “Maybe they’ve changed,” Amanda said. “Maybe they’re not drinking anymore.”
    “That would be wonderful,” Miriam said, “but you probably shouldn’t get your hopes up.”
    They made their way inside. Amanda went straight to her bedroom. Ellis and Miriam came back outside to sit on the porch swing.
    “Just what did Ralph say to you?” Miriam asked, when they were alone.
    “That he and Sandy were going to AA, had found a church, and straightened out their lives.”
    “Don’t you believe him?”
    “My brother would lie to the pope to get what he wanted,” Ellis said. “If they want Amanda back, it’s only because they’ve found some advantage in it. I wish you hadn’t told her we could have them for supper.”
    “Ellis, you know how teenagers are. If we forbid her to see them, she’d be bound and determined to. This way, it’ll be in our home with us there.”
    Ellis thought about that for a moment. “Yes, I suppose you’re right.”
    Miriam stood and leaned over to kiss Ellis on the forehead. “I think I’ll go check on Amanda. Are you coming in?”
    “Not yet.”
    He sat on the swing, reflecting on that day and dreading the next one, wondering how