AllFreeNovel
Share Us
This situation sums up ourrelationship.
Bad timing. Unexpected. Not sure what the next moveis.
I run my hands down her arms when her teeth start to chatter. “We need to get you in the truck,” I say, squeezing hershoulders.
I move around her to open the door. She nods timidly, her front teeth biting into her soft lip, and turns her back to me to climb in. I stand behind her, helping her up, and make sure she’ssecure.
“I managed to get one bar in the middle of the field. I’m going to try to get in contact with a tow company, so I need you to refrain from leaving the car. I don’t give a shit if a parade starts coming down the street.” I nod my head toward the dashboard. “Turn the heat on high. I have clothes in my gym bag in the backseat for you to changeinto.”
“Got it. No getting out of the car.” I go to close the door, but she stops me. “What if a serial killer is running toward you with aknife?”
This woman and her fucking questions.Where does she come up with this shit?“You lock the doors and let me deal withit.”
“I’m trained in martial arts, you know. I was a junior green belt. I would be a greathelp.”
“Look at you, badass. Keep your eyes out for killers and promise me you’ll stay in here.” I can’t believe I’m standing in a fucking storm and taking the chance of getting struck by lightning to entertain this conversation. Willow gets me swept up into her world, her words, and I can’t seem to walk away. “Promise me you’ll stay inhere.”
“My promises don’t mean shit,remember?”
“Make them meansomething.”
I slam the door shut and let out a sigh before jogging back to the field. I ignore the rain as I hurry back to the same spot and dial the number as fast as I can, hoping that not only the service stays connected, but also that Willow keeps her ass planted in thetruck.
I make it through and give the tow company our location. Then, I shove my phone into my pocket. I stop to search the dark sky and twist my wedding ring while rain drips from the tips of my fingers to the mud underneath myboots.
I don’t move. I onlythink.
My mind hasn’t been fighting back the painful thoughts of missing Lucy today. I haven’t felt like a failure of a husband since I knocked on Willow’s door this morning. I haven’t cursed the world for my loss. The constant guilt and anger didn’t seep through me when I saw the happy family in the booth across from us at the small diner we ate lunchin.
The presence of Willow blocks out that dark tunnel in my brain and gives me a way toward the light and out of myhole.
I open the back door when I get back to the truck, toss my mud-covered boots in the backseat, grab my tennis shoes from the floorboard, and slide into the driver’sside.
My attention shoots straight to Willow. She’s still in her wet clothes and slipping her fingers through the strands of her dripping hair. She sighs, grabs her purse, and digs through it until she scores a hairtie.
I gulp as she lifts her hair up, exposing her long, sleekneck.
Fuck, she’sbreathtaking.
“You good?” I finallyask.
She bashfully runs a hand along her pale cheek. “Sorry about that. Minor freak-outs tend to be my thing during stressfulsituations.”
Her answer is a shot of relief. Relief of not scaring her away. Relief she’s not broaching the conversation she startedoutside.
“Don’t worry about it. Tow truck will be here in ten to fifteenminutes.”
“They’ll take us back to Blue Beech or fix theflat?”
“Depends. If he can change it in the rain, he will. If not, he’ll take us to the closest repair shop. Flats typically are a quickfix.”
Minutes of silence pass through the cab until Willow says something. “We missed you when you left, you know.” She snorts, and I’m unsure of where she’s going with this conversation. “The temps they sent when you left were terrible, and Hudson was a total asshole for the firstmonth.”
I perk up in my seat. She’s talking about when I quit working for Stella. I didn’t give much notice. I left a day after Lucy told me thediagnosis.
“He was mending a broken heart,” I say, sticking up for mybrother.
“Hmm, so is that what happens when men aremending a broken heart?It justifies them acting like assholes?” Her face is playful, but her tone isn’t. It’s built up in hurt, betrayal, and alsoconfusion.
