Hope things are well with you!
And that’s a kind offer, grazie... I love Italian food
You’re on :)
I ask him to send more details, then slip my phone back under the counter.Focus time.
But first: coffee.
I grab my pink skull-and-crossbones mug and carry it into the kitchenette. I’ve only had two cups, and I need three a day, minimum, to qualify as human. Maybe that’s why I was in such a grumpy mood with Mrs. Horne.
I scoop coffee into the filter and lean back against the counter while it brews. A choked gurgle sounds behind me, and I spin around, gasping at the sludge spurting all over the counter while the coffee machine has a conniption.
“No!” I switch it off at the wall and burn my fingers trying to figure out what’s going on.
I can’t survive without coffee. And I definitely can’t afford a new coffee maker right now.Shit.I head back into the store and down aisle two, grabbing a jar of instant.
I’m stirring a teaspoon into my mug, grimacing at the dirt-water, when my phone rings. After taking a quick sip and gagging, I dash back to the counter and find Hayley’s name flashing on the screen.
“Hey, fancy-pants.” I smirk into the phone. “How’s city life?”
“Hey.” Her voice comes out thick and drained.
“What’s wrong?”
She gasps a sob. “It’s Mom and Dad.”
My stomach drops. “What about them?”
Hayley makes a broken sound, and my breath lodges in my lungs.
“They were in a car accident early this morning on the highway outside Still Springs. It was a head-on collision with a truck, and…they…they didn’t make it.”
My hand flies to my mouth. “Oh my god, Hayley.” I burst into tears. “I’m so,sosorry.”
I slump onto the stool, and for a few stunned minutes, we cry together while painful memories flood my head of the moment I found out my mom had passed. Even though she had terminal cancer, her death was still sudden—she contracted pneumonia while in the hospital and went downhill fast.
There is nothing on this earth that can prepare you for that feeling. And to losebothyour parents at once… My eyes fill up again. Hayley’s parents were always so kind to me—especially her mom, with her infectious smile. And her dad had the quirkiest sense of humor. I can’t believe I’m never going to see them again.
With my phone shaking at my ear, I listen to Hayley quietly explain more about what happened and that the funeral will be here, in Still Springs.
“Would you like to stay with me?” I offer through sniffles. “I’m living at my grandma’s place now that Ruby’s moved out, and there’s lots of room.”
Hayley sighs. “Thanks, but I might need to be at the house with my sisters and brother. But I’ll let you know if I change my mind.”
“Of course.”
She promises to keep me posted on everything, and after I tell her over and over how sorry I am, we say a choked goodbye that leaves my heart burning in my chest.
Holy shit.
This doesn’t feel real.
A sharp need to hug my dad and my sister grips me everywhere. I may be trying to run a business that’s failing, but things could always be worse. There’s nothing like an event like this to put everything into perspective. My gaze drifts over to the framed picture on the wall of Mom and Dad smiling in front of one of those aqua-blue lakes in Alaska. It’s one of the only vacations they ever took together, always agreeing that they’d travel when they retired. Another sob rises in my throat, and I brace my hands against the counter, swallowing it back down.
Any motivation I had to work on the window display evaporates as I brush my knuckles beneath my eyes, my chest aching for Hayley and what she’s lost.
I open Facebook on my phone and swipe through to Hayley’s photo albums. My heart clenches when I reach a family portrait from her oldest sister’s wedding. The bride, Iris, is leaning into her new husband, and to her right stands her parents—Steve and Martha King—wearing proud smiles. Hayley looks beautiful in a blush-pink bridesmaid’s dress, and her other sister, Alex, is grinning playfully in a silk jumpsuit.
