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This. This whole thing was out of my wheelhouse. How did I grow up in the country and never learn to change a tire? Because my dad was there. It was his job to do all the car things until I got married, and then I assumed my husband would take over all vehicle issues and maintenance. Though that never came to fruition with Barrett because we moved to New York and never had a car.
Not that he would’ve known how if wehada car.
So, with lack of knowledge and no way to YouTube about how to change a tire, I was shit out of luck.
And fucking cold.
Sliding back behind the wheel, I turned the vents toward me and cranked up the heat.
“Are you not going to change it?” Gracie asked skeptically.
“The only things I know about changing a tire are from watching people do it in the movies. And look at these arms,” I said, holding up my weak bicep. “These are for supporting me while I hunch over the computer, not for twisting iron tires.”
“Tire irons, I think,” she corrected with a twist of her lips.
“Doesn’t diminish the fact that I’m weak.” A part of me assumed I wouldn’t even be strong enough to lift the tire, wherever it was stored.
“So, what’s the plan?”
“If Anne or Grayson doesn’t come looking for us in the next thirty minutes, then I guess I’ll start walking. We’re only a few miles from the ranch.”
“Should give us enough time before starvation sets in and cannibalism becomes an act of survival.”
I barked a laugh. “Or a serial killer comes around and uses us for skin suits.” When she laughed, I leaned back in the seat, rolling my head along the headrest to face her. “Shouldn’t your response be about waiting for someone to save us, like a knight on a white horse or something? Not cannibalism.”
Gracie’s narrow shoulders rose and fell. “I guess your crazy-dark imagination is rubbing off on me.”
“Not sure that’s a good thing,” I muttered, though I was smiling.
“Or I never saw you need saving, or maybe never saw Dad swooping in to save you, so I don’t really think that way.” I swallowed to clear the lump in my throat. “He was never really around. I’ve realized that now that I’ve seen Trap and Shade with us. They act like they want to hang out, be around us whenever they can. Dad always seemed to push me into another activity because he had somewhere more important to be.” When those pale green eyes met mine, my breath caught. “Trap and Shade make me feel like I’m the most important part of their day.” She grinned. “Well, and you too.”
I nodded and rolled my head to stare out the windshield. “They’re good guys, that’s for sure.”
“I never felt like I fit in there, in New York, with my friends or the big city.”
I remained completely still, worried any movement might break the moment and she’d clam up. “I’m sorry. I never noticed you were unhappy.”
“I wasn’t unhappy, Mom. Just not happy.”
“I’m not sure there’s a difference.” I released a slow breath. “But I guess I know what you mean. I didn’t realize what we were missing until now.”
Silence filled the SUV, the wind whistling past the windows the only sound. We sat for a while, neither of us saying a word but comfortably sinking deeper into our own thoughts.
I flicked the phone open every few minutes, hoping the cell service magically worked, only to see the time fly by, shooting past the time frame I had in mind before walking to the ranch. But with the sun setting, it was too dangerous to start that trek, leaving Gracie in the car alone.
Sighing, I tossed the phone into the cupholder and looked at Gracie out of the corner of my eye. “We have some time. Want to tell me what happened at school?”
“Kids are just mean, and some are fantastic at it.”
“What does that mean?” I asked, twisting in my seat.
“It means I’m new meat, and the cool kids will continue to come at me until they find my weakness, and then they’ll exploit it.”
“What?” I shrieked. “Is this what you dealt with in New York, and I didn’t know?”
“Mom, it’s middle school. It’s likeThe Purgewithout death.”
My jaw dropped. “What do you know about that movie?”
