Dead Woman Crossing by J.R. Adler (best management books of all time txt) 📕

Emily rocked in her chair while glancing between Kimberley and the endless fields that made it look like there was nothing else in the world but rolling golden wheat.

Loud footsteps pounded inside the house faster and faster, and suddenly the porch screen door burst open. Two young boys ran across the porch, down the steps and toward the field, laughing and yelling at one another, one saying “Slow down!”, the other saying “Hurry up!” They were both lanky with tanned skin, which Kimberley presumed was from playing outside on their big farm all the time. The older one had brown hair and the young one had blond hair with a splattering of freckles on his face. It looked as though they each took after one of their parents.

“I said no running in the house,” Emily called out, but they were already too far away for them to hear her.

“Those are my boys. Jack’s five and Tom’s seven. I love them, but they’re making me go gray already,” Emily said with a smile.

“Jack seems to be feeling better. My mom mentioned he had a fever.” Kimberley nodded.

“He is. I swear he just works himself up at bedtime. That boy’s scared of his own shadow. Thinks there’s some sort of boogeyman living on the farm. Says he hears things outside at night.”

“Kids have quite the imagination,” Kimberley said as she watched the boys run around in the tall wheat grass.

“I think he’s been watching too much TV. We should have never let him watch Stranger Things.” Emily shook her head.

“I’ll be sure to keep that off the watch list for Jessica,” Kimberley said with a smile.

“Oh yes. Where is your little girl?” Emily’s face lit up. “I’ve been dying to meet her.”

“Over in the cottage with my mom. She’s getting her ready to go visit the daycare center.”

“The boys and I’d be happy to tag along if you need company. They have the day off school today because of teacher conferences. They love Happy Trails Daycare and were devastated when we pulled them from the after-school program. Didn’t make sense to spend the money anymore now that they’re a little older and there’s four adults here on the farm.”

“Makes sense and, yeah, that’d be great.”

Kimberley had wanted it just to be her, her mom, and Jessica, but she wanted a close relationship with Emily and her boys more. That was, after all, why she had moved here… for family. She’d have to put her loner tendencies aside.

They sat and rocked in silence for a few more moments looking out at the field where Jack and Tom ran to and fro, kicking up dirt and wheat and crying, “You’re it!” as they tagged one another.

“What’s it like?” Emily interrupted the silence, turning her head to look directly at Kimberley.

Emily’s eyes were as large and blue as an Oklahoma sky. And she looked at Kimberley like she was a young naïve girl that hadn’t set foot out of her town but daydreamed regularly about what the world was like outside of her own bubble.

“What’s what like?” Kimberley asked, taking another sip of lemonade.

“New York City. Is it like the movies?”

“Depends what movies you’re watching.” Kimberley smirked.

Emily looked up and twisted her lips, trying to recall the films.

“Is it dangerous?” she asked.

“No. I mean, parts of it are. But, overall, it’s a safe city, especially for its size,” Kimberley said proudly as she had been a part of keeping that city safe.

She had seen the ugly side of NYC, the underbelly of the beast, but she had also seen its beauty. New Yorkers were tough and direct, but these same people were the ones that ran toward two falling towers. They were the same ones that rebuilt, that mourned, that helped their fellow neighbors. They were tough, but they were also real. Kimberley hadn’t lived in New York City when September 11 happened. She and her family lived across the Hudson River over in New Jersey—something more affordable than Manhattan or Brooklyn. But they could see the skyline from where they lived, and especially those two buildings. How could you not? She was sixteen when the towers fell and remembered it vividly. What happened that day changed New Yorkers and they were certainly close enough to feel that. Heck, people in Alaska were close enough to feel what it had done to the city, how it had changed the people… how it had changed every American. It was the first time in their lifetimes that they were truly “One Nation Under God” or whatever god you believed in. You were one nation under something. But what mattered was the one nation. Nineteen years after the attack, she could still see the effects it had on the people, whether they were there or not. It made you walk a little faster. Be a little nicer. Take a second look at something out of place. The city radiated energy and strength. She had fed on it for a decade and in Oklahoma, Kimberley would have to find a new energy to feed on.

“Are the people mean?” Emily asked meekly.

“No, not at all. They’re busy and direct but not mean. They just say what they feel. It may seem mean if you aren’t used to it, but the good thing is you always know where you stand with someone. No sugar-coating anything.” Kimberley nodded. “What’s Oklahoma like?” she asked, changing the subject.

“Well, plain, I guess. You’ve probably already seen everything we have to offer on the way in. But we do get tornados. Lots of ’em. Ever seen one of those?” She widened her eyes.

“Only in the movies.” Kimberley smiled.

“Fairly accurate if you’ve seen Twister. They’re scary but they pass quickly.”

Kimberley nodded. She had described her own father like that at one point. So, she too had experienced a tornado.

“Your mom tells me you’ll be working with Sheriff Sam Walker?” Emily raised an eyebrow.

“That’s right. Got any intel on him?”

She had spoken to Sam on the phone a couple of