AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It’s inescapable.
There are events happening almost every day during the season. I’m not joking.
From the Christmas Tree Lighting and the Christmas Log Parade to the Winter Festival and the Christmas Eve Ball, each day brings festive cheer and lots of traffic from visitors who come to take part in the madness.
Just as I suspected, the people on Main Street are moving slow as molasses this morning. Townsfolk are setting up rows of tables on the green surrounding the gazebo. Directly in the middle of town.
Our little town only has a few stoplights and the population hovers around four hundred. We have no big box stores or chain restaurants. In the morning, if you’re out early enough, you’ll catch the group of old men sitting with the paper and gossiping in Sally’s Diner.
The owner, Sally, is around my age and opens early so the guys can get their morning cup of coffee in before the town wakes up.
As we pass Sally’s Diner, I wave to Mrs. B, the crotchety old woman who’s been alive since the dawn of time. She’s practically a hundred years old and still yells at every kid who runs past her.
“Dad, why is Mrs. B always so annoyed?” Nora asks as my truck crawls by.
“I’m not sure, she’s been like that since I was little.”
“I wonder if she’s lonely.”
“You know, that might be it,” I say as I pat her on the head, ruffling her hair and earning myself another eye roll.
Smirking, I turn back to the road and slam on my breaks. Traffic sits at a complete stop.
What’s with these people? Did they forget that the gas pedal is the long one?
“Hey, Dad, what’s going on up there?” Nora asks.
She’s definitely going to be late for school now. I bang my hands on the steering wheel before unbuckling my seatbelt. If no one else is going to see what’s up, I will.
“Stay buckled, I’m just going to go check it out,” I say as I open my door.
“Be nice, Dad.”
“Aren’t I always?” I answer with a wink.
“Suuuuure.” Nora chuckles into her hands and shakes her head.
I make my way past the line of cars in front of me, mumbling a greeting to each driver.
At the very front of the line, a white Porsche sits turned off in the middle of the road, blocking traffic.
“What the…?” I say as I approach the driver’s side window and peer inside. A woman with brown hair pulled on top of her head, huge black sunglasses shading half of her face, and the fullest lips I’ve ever laid eyes on sits in the driver’s seat.
“Are you okay?” I ask. When I notice the tears falling down her face, I hesitate. “Crap.”
Tears from my daughter? Those I can do.
But tears from a random stranger? I’ll pass.
Chapter Four
Penelope
Drivingwithnocellphone and no destination sounded like a good idea initially.
Now that I’m stuck in the middle of the road in the smallest town I’ve ever seen—inVermont—it might be the dumbest thing I’ve ever done.
I was expecting to stop when I ran out of gas or when I got too tired to keep driving. What I didn’t expect was to break down when I stopped at a red light. When was the last time I had the oil changed or the engine checked?
