School.
Military life.
And how difficult it could be to return to an ordinary routine after spending years moving between assignments.
Renee laughed when Marcus told her he sometimes missed fixing engines more than anything else.
"You sound like my grandfather."
Marcus smiled.
"Was he a mechanic?"
"No. He just liked things that made sense."
They married the following year.
Their daughter was born two years later.
They named her Sophie.
By the time Marcus returned permanently to Bellhaven, Sophie was eight years old, with bright curious eyes and an endless supply of questions.
She loved reading.
Drawing.
And helping her father organize tools in the garage.
Her favorite possession was a small red toy pickup he'd bought her when she was five.
She kept it beside her bed.
And whenever Marcus worked on the Silverado, Sophie insisted on bringing the toy outside so the two trucks could be repaired together.
Marcus adored her.
He wanted her to grow up believing she could ask questions without being punished for being curious.
That belief would become painfully important after the incident on Main Street.
The Chevrolet Silverado had belonged to Marcus's father.
It was a black single-cab pickup, older but carefully maintained, with silver alloy wheels, large all-terrain tires, and a metal toolbox mounted behind the cab.
Marcus had helped restore it during the final summer before his father became ill.
They spent weekends replacing worn components, cleaning the interior, repairing electrical connections, and restoring the faded black paint.
His father insisted that the truck still had years of useful service left.
Marcus joked that the vehicle might outlive both of them.
His father laughed.
"Then somebody better keep changing the oil."
When his father died, the truck became Marcus's most treasured inheritance.
Not because it was valuable.
But because almost every part of it carried a memory.
The driver's seat had a slight indentation from his father's work belt.
The toolbox still held a few old sockets.
And beneath the dashboard was a tiny photograph of Marcus and Sophie standing beside his father at a family barbecue.
Marcus could have purchased a newer vehicle.
But he didn't want one.
He wanted the Silverado.
And he wanted to keep it useful.