ASHES ON THE HIGHWAY

Chapter 105

The drive to Arizona State University’s Tempe campus took just under two hours, Cadence’s belongings packed carefully into the truck bed while she sat wedged between her parents in the cab, an arrangement she’d insisted on despite being eighteen and perfectly capable of riding in the back seat alone.

"You don’t have to do this," she said, though her tone carried genuine gratitude rather than actual protest. "I know you both have club business to handle."

"Nothing’s more important today than getting you settled," Reaper said firmly, one hand on the wheel, the other resting briefly on his daughter’s knee with unmistakable tenderness.

The campus, when they finally arrived, buzzed with the particular chaotic energy of move-in day — parents hauling boxes, students greeting new roommates with nervous enthusiasm, the entire scene carrying a kind of ordinary normalcy that struck Rowe with unexpected emotional weight.

"This is really happening," she said softly, watching Cadence’s dorm room gradually transform from space into something resembling home, string lights and carefully chosen decor reflecting her daughter’s distinct, confident personality.

"It’s really happening," Reaper agreed, his own composure carrying visible strain despite his obvious effort to remain steady for their daughter’s sake.

The goodbye, when it finally arrived after hours of settling in and meeting Cadence’s roommate — a quiet, studious young woman named Priya who seemed genuinely delighted by Cadence’s easy confidence — carried the particular bittersweet weight Rowe had anticipated but hadn’t fully prepared herself to actually experience.

"Call us," Rowe said, holding her daughter in a fierce embrace outside the dormitory entrance. "Whenever you need anything, whenever you just want to talk. Doesn’t matter what time."

"I will," Cadence promised, her own composure finally cracking slightly despite months of confident anticipation about this exact moment. "I love you both. So much."

"We love you too," Reaper said, pulling his daughter into his own embrace, his voice carrying visible emotion he made no effort to fully hide. "Proud of you doesn’t even begin to cover it, Cadence."

They drove back toward the compound in comfortable, contemplative silence, the truck’s cab feeling considerably emptier than it had during the morning’s journey.

"I keep thinking about that first ride I took back into town," Rowe said eventually, watching the desert landscape scroll past outside the window. "So many years ago now. I never imagined I’d eventually be driving away from dropping our daughter off at college."

"Neither did I," Reaper admitted. "Back then, I could barely imagine surviving the week, let alone building an entire life stable enough to eventually watch our children grow into remarkable adults."

"Wyatt’s next," Rowe said, the realization carrying its own particular weight. "Five more years, and we’ll be doing this again."

"Five more years," Reaper repeated, something wistful evident in his tone. "Feels both impossibly far away and terrifyingly close, simultaneously."

The compound, when they finally returned that evening, felt noticeably quieter without Cadence’s characteristic energy filling its spaces — no music drifting from her bedroom, no sound of her working late in the garage’s paint booth, no sharp-tongued commentary at family dinners.

"It’s strange," Wyatt observed at dinner that first night, now seventeen himself and increasingly thoughtful about his own approaching transition toward adulthood. "The compound feels different without her here."

"It’ll take some adjustment," Rowe said gently, recognizing her son’s own complicated feelings about watching his older sister’s departure. "But she’s not gone forever, Wyatt. Just building her own path forward, same as you’ll eventually do."

"Do you think she’ll come back?" Wyatt asked. "After college, I mean. To actually work here permanently?"

Reaper considered this thoughtfully. "I think," he said, "your sister will make whatever choice genuinely serves her own happiness and ambitions. If that eventually leads back here, wonderful. If it leads somewhere entirely different, that’s equally wonderful, provided she’s genuinely thriving wherever her path takes her."

Cadence’s first weeks at college brought regular calls and texts, her characteristic enthusiasm evident even through digital communication as she navigated the particular chaos of new academic responsibility, dormitory living, and the broader independence college represented.

"My business law professor is incredible," she reported during one particularly animated call, three weeks into the semester. "We’re already discussing intellectual property litigation, and I keep thinking about everything I learned during the Praxis trial. It’s like I actually have real-world context most other students don’t have yet."

"That’s wonderful, sweetheart," Rowe said, genuine warmth evident in her voice at her daughter’s obvious enthusiasm for her chosen field.

"I miss the garage though," Cadence admitted. "Not enough to regret coming here, but enough that I’m already planning to work there again during winter break, if that’s okay."

"Always," Reaper said, having joined the call from his own phone. "That garage will always have a place for you, Cadence. Whenever you want it."

The academic year progressed with the particular rhythm of college life — Cadence gradually settling into her new environment, building friendships, navigating the genuine challenge of balancing rigorous coursework with her own high expectations for herself.

Daniel, meanwhile, continued his gradual transition toward increased leadership responsibility within the club, Reaper’s mentorship carrying the particular thoughtful patience that had come to define this family’s approach to significant transition throughout their extraordinary shared history.

"You’re doing remarkably well," Reaper told Daniel during one of their regular leadership discussions, both men reviewing the club’s expanding business operations with careful attention. "I genuinely believe you’re ready for considerably more authority than I’ve currently delegated."

"I appreciate that," Daniel said, though his tone carried the particular careful humility that had defined his own remarkable transformation over the years since his brief, misguided tenure as Cutter. "I still feel like I’m learning something new every single week."

"That’s exactly the right approach," Reaper said. "The moment any leader believes they’ve fully mastered everything required, they’ve generally stopped genuinely growing. I’ve been learning something new every single week for over twenty-five years, Daniel. That never actually stops, if you’re doing this properly."

Winter break arrived with genuine celebration, Cadence returning to the compound for three weeks that carried the particular joyful chaos of a beloved family member’s temporary return, the garage’s familiar rhythms immediately reabsorbing her presence as though she’d never genuinely left.

"It’s good to have you back," Rowe said, watching her daughter work alongside the garage’s fabrication team with the same natural competence that had defined her presence there since childhood.

"It’s good to be back," Cadence admitted, genuine happiness evident in her expression. "College is wonderful, Mom. I’m learning so much, meeting incredible people. But this place—" she gestured around the familiar garage space, "—this will always feel like home."

Reaper, observing the exchange from across the workshop, felt fierce, complicated pride at watching his daughter navigate exactly the kind of balanced, chosen life this family had worked so diligently to make possible — genuine ambition and independence, combined with unwavering connection to the family and legacy that had shaped her entire remarkable existence.

Whatever future ultimately awaited Cadence, whatever balance she eventually found between formal education, personal ambition, and this family’s extraordinary legacy, Rowe found herself confident, watching her daughter’s genuine happiness settle comfortably into both worlds simultaneously, that they’d successfully raised exactly the kind of thoughtful, capable, genuinely fulfilled young woman this family had always hoped she might become.

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