I expect him to put up a fight, but he does it without hesitation.
“I’m taking your truck home. The snow is bad right now. I won’t make it down the mountain in my car.”
“I’ll drive you home.” Holden reaches inside for his keys like he’s going to help me, but I jog down the steps before he tugs on his boots.
“I don’t want help tonight! You two deserve each other!”
He keeps moving like he’s going to try to out race me to the truck, but I have a head start and he’s not as fast as me on his best day. I make it into the driver’s seat with time to spare and I start the old Ram up with a quick turn and a pump of the gas pedal. I haven’t driven stick in years, but at some point, it’s like getting on a bike. It’ll have to be because I’m not staying here right now.
I can’t. Not when my mind is reeling a hundred miles an hour.
I mean what the hell?What the actual hell?
Of course the nicest guy I’ve ever met also committed grand larceny. I mean, that only makes sense. That said, I remember when Alice was sick. The doctors found a hole in the wall between the upper chambers of her heart. Apparently, she was born with it and didn’t know. She’d been lucky enoughto evade symptoms for most of her life until she was running during gym class and fainted. The doctor heard a murmur, she got an echo, and her whole world changed.
I remember Holden bringing her into the hospital and I remember how scared they were that she wasn’t going to make it. Like Wyatt and I, Holden and Alice were all the family they had.
He did the best he could with her. I know he did because I was there, watching it happen.
I shift gears as I lean forward in the truck, trying to focus on the snowy roads, but my phone buzzes beside me in the console and forces my gaze to the light.
It’s Alice. I totally forgot she said she’d call later. I wonder if she knew about all this.
I answer and attach my phone to the magnetic holder that Wyatt keeps in the air vent. “Hey!”
“Howdy, sweet little Maya Ann Davis. This a bad time?”
“No.” I clip the word more harshly than intended, then make an effort to sound smoother as I say, “Just driving back home. It’s snowy though, so I can’t watch my screen.”
“Oh! Do you want to call me back when you get to the house? I was just going to ramble.”
I consider taking her up on the offer, given the gridlock I’m in conversationally, but the roads are making me nervous, and a distraction might help ease the tension. “No, that’s okay. I’d like the company. How’d the rest of your day go?”
She drags in a deep breath. “It was just fine. I ended up having dinner with the editor again and it wasn’t so bad this time. He took me to this sushi place down by the water and we talked about more than all the awards he’s won. So,” her voice trails off, “it waskind offun. I just… I don’t know if I should even be dating.”
“Why do you say that?” I keep focused on the road as the world blurs to white. I can’t believe how bad this storm has gotten. I’m ready for spring. At this point, I’m not sure who isn’t. We’ve had record snow and cold this year.
A few silent seconds go by before I glance toward the screen to see Alice walking back and forth in her kitchen. I think it’s the kitchen. I only look for a moment before drawing my eyes back to the snowy mountain road. “What’s wrong? You’re pacing. You only pace when you’re worried or trying to make a decision. Did something happen?”
“No,” she sighs. “Not really. I mean, something did happen a while ago, but I don’t know… I think it took me a while to come to terms with it, and now that I have, I don’t know what to do.”
The suspense is killing me. “Okay…” I flick on my blinker and turn left into pure white, hoping no one else is coming. There has to be a better way to do this. Actually, the best way was probably to stay off the road. “What is it?”
I’m halfway through the turn when she finally answers.
“I’m pregnant.”
Pregnant?Did she just say pregnant?
“How pregnant?”
“Four months.”
Four months!
My heart stops, my chest tightens, and suddenly I’ve lost traction with the road.
Of course I have.That’s the most logical next step to a day from hell. First, your brother walks in on you while you’re making out with his former best friend now worst enemy, then your evening date gets blown up with horrid secrets, and finally you crash your car in a slurry of white.
