“Fine, you can drive for a few hours while Vero naps. But I’ll be watching you, so don’t try anything stupid.”
Vero lifted her head as we turned in to the parking lot of a convenience store shortly after three.
Delia rubbed her eyes. “Are we there yet?” she asked in a sleepy voice. Zach began to whine and wriggled in his car seat.
“Not yet. We’re just stopping to use the potty and stretch our legs a bit.”
My mother parked beside a gas pump. Vero helped the children out of the car, and Steven and I maneuvered clumsily out of the third row.
He pulled his wallet from his back pocket and took the fuel nozzle from my mother. “I’ve got this. Why don’t you all take the kids inside and get them something to eat.”
I didn’t have the energy or the money in my account to argue. I slung the diaper bag over my shoulder and hoisted Zach into my arms. Vero bumped into Steven’s elbow, nearly knocking the nozzle out of his grip as she took Delia’s hand and followed the rest of us to the store. When we were all out of earshot of the gas pumps, my mother leaned close and whispered, “Three times? See! I knew Nicholas would be good for you.”
“Mom! Were you eavesdropping?”
“I couldn’t help it,” she whispered. “Steven’s a loudmouth and I was bored. And don’t look so embarrassed. You think I’ve never had decent relations before?”
“I try not to think about you havingrelationsat all.”
Vero shook her head. “Never would have guessed Paul had it in him.”
“That Viagra works wonders,” my mother said. “Like a gift from god. The man can go for hours.”
Vero choked on a laugh.
It was probably a good thing Steven had offered to drive, because I was suddenly ready to open that bottle of gin.
“I’m just saying, a man who can satisfy you in the kitchenandin the bed isn’t one you should take for granted, Finlay. Don’t let Steven screw it up for you.”
She held the door open as I carried Zach through it. Vero disappeared into the snack aisle while my mother and I herded the children into the women’s restroom. I changed Zach’s diaper, then held Delia suspended over the grimy toilet while she peed before using the bathroom myself. We washed everyone’s hands and bought each of the kids a snack before I realized in my sleep-deprived fog that Vero wasn’t in the store anymore.
My mother and I hurried the children out to the gas pumps. The Buick’s hood was open. Steven and Vero were leaning over the engine. I could hear them arguing from across the parking lot.
“I know what I’m doing,” Vero snapped. “I don’t need you to mansplain to me how to check the damn fluids.”
Steven wiped the dipstick and jammed it back in its hole. “If you knew what you were doing, you would have…ouch! Goddamnit!” he shouted as the hood came crashing down on his skull. Vero grinned smugly as she watched him fight his way out from under it. “You did that on purpose,” he bellowed, massaging the back of his head.
“Did I? I could have sworn you just said I didn’t know what I was doing.”
“Everybody back in the car!” I dragged Vero into the SUV before anyone could start throwing punches. We climbed into the third row. Steven and my mother loaded the children into their car seats before buckling themselves in. My mother reclined, spreading her coat over herself like a blanket. It wasn’t long before she’d fallen asleep.
Zach grew unusually quiet.
Vero pulled a face as she sniffed.
I leaned between the children’s heads and called up to the front seat, careful not to wake my mother. “Steven, open Zach’s window.”
His eyes darted to mine in the rearview mirror. “It’s thirty degrees outside.”
“Just until we hit the next rest stop so I can change him.”
“Change him? We just stopped. You were in the bathroom for twenty minutes.”
“What would you like me to do, Steven?”
He grumbled as he lowered Zach’s window a few inches. I shivered, pulling my coat tighter around myself.
“Zach’s putting his blanket out the window,” Delia tattled.
