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“Gross.”
I’m so frustrated I could cry. This rain is freezing! My fingers are already numb. I can feel mud between my toes, in my underwear, in my mouth.Oh, gross, it’s in my hair!
I grab onto the slick bumper and try to pull myself up. I slip and fall a couple more times, but I eventually manage to get to my feet.
What if I grab some branches and wedge them under the tires? Maybe my car can drive itself out that way?
I have no other options so I head toward the closest tree and grab onto a thick branch. I push it as hard as I can, but it doesn’t crack.
“Argghh!” I scream in frustration and then let it go.
The tree fights back. The branch swings back and slams into my chest, knocking the wind out of me and sending me stumbling backward.God, that hurt!
“Fuck you!” I scream when I finally catch my breath. I’ll have to remember to come back to this exact spot in December with a chainsaw. I’ll get the last laugh when that stupid tree is in my family room covered in Christmas ornaments.
“This is ridiculous,” I mutter as I gather some sticks off the ground. Why couldn’t Mia and Julian get married in the city like normal people?!
I gather a bunch and then shove them under the tires. They’re all pretty tiny and brittle. When I step back and look at the pathetic pile, I know immediately that it’s not going to work.
I wish I had a Jeep or a truck or anything with some power. This is a city car. It’s meant for paved roads, not slick muddy mountains. When I bought it second hand I was more concerned with the bluetooth connectivity than the horsepower. Well, lesson learned.
The trunk!
Didn’t my dad buy me an emergency kit to use? Yes! He did!
Maybe it has a flare gun or a satellite telephone in it.
But as I’m opening the trunk and pushing my bags around, I remember that I took it out when I helped Mia move. I shoved it into the back of the garage behind my mom’s golf clubs and never saw or thought about it again.
“Damn it,” I whisper as I open the bottom and check where the spare tire is. It’s not here.
Lightning cuts through the air, quickly followed by a deafening crack of thunder. I scream and run to the driver’s door, yanking it open, and jumping inside.
I’m freezing. I crank up the heat as I grab a shirt from the back and use it as a towel. This is so bad. It’s already 4:30 and my…No! I’m almost out of gas!
The little arrow is barely hovering over the line with the big E under it. I’ll never make it through the night.
I have to turn the engine off. If I can get out of this mud, I’ll need the gas to get out of here and away from that asshole tree.
With my heart pounding, I turn the key and everything shuts down.
Lightning slices through the sky and another booming roar of thunder scares me to my bones.
I have to be at the rehearsal dinner tomorrow night. The wedding is the next morning. I’m the maid of honor. I have Julian’s wedding ring in my purse!
I can’t miss this… Mia would never forgive me.
I have to figure out a way off this fucking mountain.
My stomach sinks when I realize the truth.
I have no idea how I’m going to pull that off.
I’m completely and utterly fucked.
ChapterTwo
Tyler
