AllFreeNovel
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Uh-oh.
I’m only about halfway home, in the middle of the woods, with two exhausted kids in the back seat. I’m not even sure anywhere would be safe to stop. Squeezing the steering wheel, I will my car to make it back to town.
It doesn’t work.
After another mile, the clunking gets louder and louder until it finally stops…along with the rest of the engine. Biting back a curse, I navigate the car onto the shoulder and turn on my hazard lights, checking the mirror for traffic behind me.
I’m stuck in a gentle bend in the road with dark forest all around, with no traffic lights and limited visibility. The snow is still falling—melting when it hits the pavement, but how long till it starts to stick? This isn’t safe. Visions of a semi-truck smashing into the back of my car fill my head, until I take a deep breath and try the ignition again.
Nothing. My car is completely dead.
Pawing my purse in the passenger seat, I find my phone and unlock it, heart pounding. Do I call a taxi? A tow truck? My mother?
With a deep breath, I close my eyes and try to relax.
I can do this. Wasn’t it just a few minutes ago that I felt sure I could take on the world? This is nothing. This is a hiccup. A blip.
“Why are we stopped, Mommy?” Katie’s sleepy voice comes from the back seat.
“Everything’s okay, honey,” I tell her. “I just need some help with the car.”
“Is it broken?”
“It’s no problem, Katie. Close your eyes. I’m getting us help. You can go back to sleep.”
Katie, of course, doesn’t go to sleep. She sits up and pokes her brother until he blinks awake in confusion. “Where are we?”
“We’re nearly home,” I tell him. “I just need to make a phone call.”
When I step outside, there’s a definite bite to the air. I face the direction we came, trying to dispel the fear of someone crashing into us.
No, it’s fine. We’re well off the shoulder, I’ve got my hazards on, and everything will be fine. I’ve stopped in as safe a place as I can manage. I take a deep breath and tamp down the panic rising inside me.
This is fine. I’m capable. I’m a strong woman. Accidents and crises will be thrown at me for the rest of my life, and I made a decision to face them alone. It’s a broken-down car, that’s all. Everything will be okay.
Glancing at my phone, I make a decision. I pull up my web browser and send a silent thank you to whatever cell phone provider made sure this particular patch of land had service. Then I look up a tow truck company. I wipe a little dot of water from a melted snowflake off my screen and find the phone number.
My plan is to get the car towed and call a taxi after, so I can take the kids straight home. I’ll deal with the car tomorrow.
The closest result for a tow truck company is familiar—it’s Remy’s garage, the man who fixed up my tire and serviced my car back in August. I briefly consider calling someone else, but my kids are more important than my pride. So what if Mac hears about this? Who cares?
“Remy,” comes the gruff voice on the phone after one short ring.
“Um, yes, hello,” I start, pacing back and forth on the gravel shoulder. “I need a tow truck. Or maybe just a jump or something, I’m not sure. My car broke down while driving and now it won’t start.”
There’s shuffling on the phone, and a noise in the background goes silent. “Where are you?”
“I’m just outside Heart’s Cove, on Seaview Drive. About…twenty minutes from the cannery? I’m in the woods.”
Remy grunts. “All right. I can be there in fifteen. Name?”
“My name is Trina. Katrina Viceroy.”
“That hunk of junk finally gave out on you, huh,” comes Remy’s reply, followed by a soft chuckle. “Don’t worry. I’ll be there soon.”
I let out a long breath and close my eyes for a moment. “Thank you.”
“You on your own?”
