“Now would not be a good time for you to point out my shortcomings,” Leanne snapped.
Nora frowned, then bent down and set her book carefully in the back seat, then straightened and cracked her knuckles. “Good thing Dad showed me how, then.”
Leanne stared at her for a beat. Leanne should’ve felt ashamed. Instead, as her daughter stepped forward, calm in crisis, unfazed by the blistering sun or the ruined plans, she felt…something else.
Pride.
Admiration.
Along with that bittersweet ache that comes with realizing your child might already be braver than you ever were.
Leanne held out her hand. “I’ll hold your sunglasses.”
“Deal,” Nora replied, handing them over like a torch.
Leanne watched Nora head to the trunk and begin to take things out. She had asked her husband a couple of times to show her how to change a tire—usually after a long drive or an ominous crunch on gravel. She’d voiced her concern plainly:What if I run over a nail? What if I’m stranded somewhere?
But Dean always waved her off. Reinforced the idea that she was never far from home. That she was safe.
And yet—he’d taught Nora?
The contradiction stung, even as she was grateful he had, or else they’d be screwed right now.
“All right,” Leanne said as Nora approached the flat with a jack in one hand and a tire wrench in the other. “Maybe you can show me how to change a flat while you’re at it. And I’m sorry I snapped at you.”
“Sure, Mom.” Nora smiled. She wasn’t gloating, but she was proud. Proud of knowing something her mother didn’t.
Leanne didn’t take it personally. She wanted Nora to feel confident. Her daughter had always been a little cautious when it came to her own brilliance. And suspicious of compliments—especially from her mother.
Every time Leanne praised her, Nora brushed it off withYou’re only saying that because you’re my mom.
But Leanne saw her daughter as having a once-in-a-lifetime kind of mind. A force still forming.
Nora set the jack and the wrench down next to the car. “Let’s go get the spare.”
This time the two of them went to stand behind the trunk together. The full-size spare lay there under a thin layer of dust.
Nora grabbed one side of the spare and tried to lift it. Apparently, it was heavy because she didn’t even get it high enough to rest it on the edge of the trunk opening.
Leanne hesitated to step forward, not wanting her daughter to think she didn’t believe she could do it. Then Nora glanced up and mouthed an exaggerated “Help.”
Leanne placed her hands on the other side of the tire and braced her knees to lift.
“On three,” Nora instructed.
Between the two of them, they managed to get the tire out and set it on the roadside like a moon rock. Nora rolled it along and leaned it on the car just beyond the flat.
“Let’s get started.” Nora looked at Leanne. “First, you have to loosen the lug nuts before you jack it up. Otherwise, the wheel just spins.” Nora made a looping gesture in the air with her finger and then by her temple with her tongue sticking out.
Leanne laughed, watching closely as her daughter loosened one nut and then stepped back and gestured for her mother to do the next. Leanne’s hands felt clumsy, but she followed Nora’s instructions and got not one but two nuts off before Nora jumped back in.
Together, they cranked the bumper jack until the heavy Lincoln lifted just enough for the flat to dangle slightly off the asphalt.
They worked in a rhythm that felt natural. Nora positioned the iron, and Leanne helped with the nuts. The spare was fitted in its place, the nuts hand-tightened and then fully secured with the wrench once the car was lowered again.
When they finished, Leanne stood up, brushing dust from her skirt and catching her breath.
“Well,” she said, “that wasn’t so bad. Thank you.”
