A heavy sigh escaped me. “Grab your kid and get in my car.”
“You’re going to drive me to town?” A spark of hope lilted the query.
“Not exactly. My place is close by.”
Her face went pale, making the mottling even more pronounced. “I wouldn’t want to impose.”
“Trust me, I’m not happy about it either, but here’s the thing. I’m, like, maybe five minutes up the road, while town’s a good forty downhill in this crap. I don’t know about you, but I’m not keen on getting stuck or smacking a tree.” The last part hit her like a slap and she recoiled.
Before rallying to blurt, “Who’s to say we’ll make it to your home? Won’t it be worse going upwards?”
“Maybe, but we’re close enough we can walk if needed.”
“We’d get lost in the storm.”
My patience frayed. “Listen, lady, while we’re wasting time yapping, the snow is still falling. Are you coming or not? And let me remind you, once I leave, you’ll likely end up freezing to death in the car, which is your prerogative, but think of the kid.”
The child took that moment to babble and the woman glanced back at her before letting out her own heavy breath. “I’m sorry. You’re right. We’ll go to your house. Just give me a moment to move Zaza to your car and grab our things.”
“I’ll get your stuff. In the trunk I assume?”
She nodded as she emerged from the car. Still just as short, barely reaching my shoulder.
Despite my car already being full of supplies, I managed to move her bags, mostly groceries plus one diaper bag, to my trunk, only to realize while she’d plopped the kid into the back seat of the Panda, she struggled to remove the car seat from her smashed vehicle.
“Is that necessary?”
“Yes,” she huffed through chattering teeth. “It’s to keep Zaza safe.”
“Get in the car where it’s warm. I’ll get the seat.” She opened her mouth, most likely to argue, and I snapped in a tone my drill sergeant would have approved of, “Now.”
I almost felt bad when she recoiled as if I’d slapped her so I added a gentler, “No point in both of us freezing. I got this.”
“Thank you.” A soft murmur as she walked away and got in the Panda.
It took me but a moment to undo the latches and install the seat in my car, the wasted time having dumped a good half inch or more on the ground. Fucking great. By the time my snowy ass slammed into the car, my mood had gone from poor to utter shit.
Percy sat above the steering wheel engaged in a staring match with the woman. The child clapped her hands in the back singing, “Dinosauro.” Me? I craved a bottle of something belly-burning to help me deal with the clusterfuck I found myself in. For a second, I thought about flipping around and driving back to town. I could drop the woman and her kid off and pickle myself in booze while the storm blew over.
Instead, I put the car into drive and inched it upward. The woman thankfully stayed quiet as the five minutes that I could usually do at a decent speed took almost thirty. But before we managed to crest the rise right before the driveway, the tires spun uselessly.
I slammed the car into park and shut off the engine. “Bundle up. We’re walking the rest of the way,” I announced.
This time, the woman didn’t argue, merely zipped up hers and the kid’s winter gear while I snared Percy and tucked the lizard inside my coat. Percy surprisingly didn’t protest.
I exited the car at the same time as the woman unbuckled the child and pulled the kid into her arms. Then, we began to walk. With difficulty for her, I should add. Her feet kept slipping, her boots having shit traction.
I tapped her on the shoulder. “I’ll carry the kid.”
“I can do it,” she insisted.
“Not in those boots, you can’t. If you slip and fall the kid will get hurt.” Apparently, those were the magic words needed.
She murmured to the child before handing her over. Zaza stared at me with big eyes but didn’t protest as I slung her on my hip like her mom had. She didn’t weigh much at all, not to me, at least, but I was impressed the little lady managed to lug her.
Up the hill we trudged, the woman managing to slide twice, once spectacularly enough her feet went out from under her, and she landed on her ass in the snow.
“Oof,” she huffed.
