Chapter 5 Kaci #2
It’s times like these that I wish I was more irresponsible. I’d get in that Uber and follow that bus, but they are going all the way to Burlington, and the expense would kill me. Not to mention, I’d miss my exam.
My exam!
I run my shaking hand through my hair and pivot on my heel.
“I can’t be late for my class.” My mind races a million miles an hour.
I have no idea what to do with Bella while I’m in class.
I don’t exactly have a daycare I can take her to.
I guess I’ll just have to take her to class.
We wasted so much time, I’ll have the Uber take us back.
My brows bend down as my eyes narrow, scanning the street, and my heart slams against my chest.
No Uber.
“Mom, what’s wrong?” Bella’s confusion doesn’t slow her as we retrace our steps back to the school.
“That Uber left with our bags in it!” Her second-grade homework isn’t a big deal, but my super expensive college textbook is extremely important.
Not to mention my wallet with my ID, my debit card, and my keys!
Stupid Uber app! It takes payment directly from my app, and he never had to wait for me. He just left.
Oh, man.
This is getting worse by the minute. I swipe my hand through my hair again. This time, I resist the urge to yank on it and scream as we run all the way back to the bus loop, only to find it empty.
My eyes blur with tears. This has got to be the worst day ever. I turn in a circle frantically searching for a sign of which direction the Uber went.
The loop is empty.
Well, empty except for one car.
One shiny black car with nice silver rims, that just so happens to have a man and small child standing in front of it. A man wearing a Granite Ice jacket.
He waves at me as soon as he recognizes me, and a memory slams to the front of my brain—I’m supposed to give him his glove.
His glove is in my bag.
The bag that is in the Uber.
Uh, I hate this day so much.
I slowly face him, my chest tightening with dread.
“Did you miss the bus too?” he calls from his spot on the other side of the loop.
Maybe it’s the natural lighting, but he looks different this morning.
He’s still handsome, but his face is a tad scruffier than I remember.
I squint but can’t detect the color of his eyes.
They definitely look bright today. Not as grumpy as last night.
I pray he’s not in a terrible mood because if he gives me grief about losing his glove, I won’t be able to hold back. I did everything I could.
“I had a flat tire,” I respond as we pace toward him, lowering my volume when we finally step on to the curb next to him. “I had to get an Uber. We got the one driver who either had dementia and forgot the streets of Mapleton, or it was his first day on the job.”
“It sounds a lot like our morning.” A hearty chuckle leaks out.
I can’t help but picture how that smile is going to deflate when he hears I lost his glove.
Shaking his head, he replies, “Rigsby got a nervous stomach, and we had to stop at the drug store. There was only one checkout lane, and we got behind a woman who paid for thirty-two boxes of mac and cheese with change that she had to count out on the counter.”
“Oh.” My lips form an O and I wince. “That’s painful.”
“So...” His gaze drifts from Rigsby to Bella and back to me. “We missed the trip too.”
“Yeah, I’m not so sure how this is going to work.” I squint as I look down the road I assume my Uber took. “My ride left with my purse that had my college books, my keys, and my wallet . . .” I pause as he looks relatively unalarmed until I tack on the final item. “And your glove.”
He stares forward and calmly blinks as it takes a second to register what I’ve said. “What?”
“I know.” I shake my head, assuming he’ll commiserate with me. There is no empathy infused in his tone. I honestly don’t know how I’m not bawling real tears right now. It must be the shock that’s holding them back. My stomach is in knots, churning with sickness.
“How could you be so careless?” It’s total panic when he blurts out, “Do you understand how important that glove is? It’s literally priceless. The fate of the entire AHL is riding on that glove.”
I’m so taken back that my head jolts in surprise. “Me…careless?” I fumble to motion to myself with my thumb. “You lost that glove.” I fight the urge to jab at his chest with my pointer finger, because he’s acting so insanely rude right now. “I found your glove. Remember?”
A rumble that sounds surprisingly like the sound my dishwasher makes when it’s plugged clears his throat right before he barks, “I lost it by accident.”
“Ope.” I can’t even form an actual word because this dude is so rude.
I take a step back, creating some needed distance, and run my hand over the back of my neck.
I get it. What I did was completely stupid, but he can’t possibly know the insane amount of stress I’m under. “You think I lost it on purpose?”
“I didn’t know it dropped out of my bag. You knew it was in your bag.” He studies me, disbelief etched across his face. “You forgot an entire bag.”
“I did.” I have no problem admitting my faults.
And boy, do I want to go off at the audacity of this man to insult me for not being perfect.
“I momentarily forgot about it in my quest to get my daughter on the bus. I also never instructed the Uber driver to leave. That was something beyond my control.”
“Oh, so you thought he’d just sit here all day waiting on your orders?
” He guffaws, throwing his head back, exposing a scar under his chin.
It’s dark, running almost the length of his neck.
It’s probably from some stupid fight since he clearly has a problem with his personality.
“Figures, you’d think people just do whatever you want,” he mumbles under his breath. “All women are like that.”
“I never said that at all, and I’d appreciate it if you didn't overload your woman issues on me.”
His brow quirks, and he holds it, pausing as if he’s deciding if he should argue back when I clearly know the truth. After a beat, he yanks out his phone. “I need to get a hold of that Uber driver. Did you happen to catch his name so I can request him?”
“Uh.” I stare forward and refuse to answer. I don’t need to be told how much I suck for not catching his name. I’ve had a horrible morning. I’m lucky to remember my name.
“Figures,” he mutters when I don’t say anything.
“Look.” I hold up my phone, relieved I never stowed it in my purse. At least I have one thing to help me out. “I’ll call. I can give more information.”
“Suit yourself.” He drops his phone to his side.
For the first time since we started engaging, he looks at the boy.
“I guess, we missed the bus,” he explains in a much nicer tone than he used with me.
“I don’t know where to take you. I don’t want to call your mom.
I guess you can hang out with me today. I have practice in about an hour. ”
I tune him out because I’m connected with someone with Uber.
I take a minute to explain my situation.
They locate the driver who gave me a ride.
I hang up and blurt out, “My Uber is currently parked downtown in front of the barber shop. He can’t leave because he’s been paid to wait for Mrs. Blanchard to get her hair cut, but we can run over there.
” I drop my gaze to the ground before I mumble, “If you want to give us a ride over there. That might be the quickest way to fix this.” I hate asking for favors, especially from Mr. Perfect, but it’s freezing out, and I don’t want to walk all the way down there, even if I had the time to waste.
“What are we waiting for?” He jerks his head toward the door, and I turn my gaze to Bella.
“See, this isn’t going to be so bad.” I put on the phony smile I’m getting so good at. “Can you hop in the back with Rick?”
“Rigsby,” Bella mumbles as her feet slide forward until we reach the car. I help her in the back seat. One thing about my life is that I never need to look for an opportunity to be humbled. Nope.
I have plenty of those.
Of all the days to not have my car.
I steel my face, sealing off all my anxieties, and take the passenger seat. I have no desire to make small talk with this jerk, so I tuck my chin down and stare out my window. Thankfully, it only takes a few minutes, and we arrive at the barbershop. I easily spot my Uber and point. “There it is!”
Jackson pulls up into the empty spot right behind it, and we both push open our doors so quickly, we practically tumble out of the car.
I wave wildly at the driver as I approach his car and open the back door, and blurt out apologies, “I’m so sorry for bothering you.
” My eyes land on a couple of bags, exactly where I had left them.
One is Bella’s backpack, but the other one is not mine . . . “What is this?”
My heart drums against my ribcage. All background noise fades as I deadpan on the bag that isn’t mine.
It’s a black purse.
Not my black purse.
I slide into the seat, put my hand on the bag, and repeat, “What is this?”
“Those are your bags,” the Uber driver states, his tone losing patience.
“This is my bag.” I pluck Bella’s backpack from the seat and shoulder it before I dare lose it again. Then I grab the purse by the strap and hold it up as evidence. “This is not my bag.”
“That’s not your bag?” His brows furrow. “It’s not your bag,” he repeats, not as a question but as a statement, as it’s finally sinking in.
“Not my bag,” I say again. “Who else was in your car?” My brain is working fast, trying to solve this mystery. “Someone took my bag instead of their purse.”
“Oh dear.” His palm slaps his forehead. “I’m afraid that’s Mrs. Wagner’s purse.”
“Okay.” I take a deep breath and fight to keep my voice even. “Where did you take Mrs. Wagner?”
“I took her to work at the bank. She doesn’t drive anymore since she has cataracts.”
“The cataracts might explain how she took the wrong bag,” I murmur to myself as I try to figure out the logistics.
I blurt out, “I need to get to the bank, but I’m out of time.
” I back out of the Uber, close the door, and yell in, “Thank you!” Then I snap my gaze back to Jackson and repeat, “The bank.”
He winces hard and sucks in a deep breath while he checks his watch. “I’m cutting it so close to practice. Can you grab it?”
“Me?” I’m reminded that I have an exam to take, and I’m also cutting it close. “I have a test I can’t miss, or it will ruin my whole semester. I’m so close to graduating. I need a little over an hour. I can meet up with you after my class to grab it from you.”
“You’re not grabbing it from me, because I can’t go right now,” he says decisively as he crosses his arms over his chest.
“It’s just practice for you. It’s not like a game.” I gesture forward as I’m not understanding what the big deal is. If this glove is so important, he can grab it and be a few minutes late to practice.
“You don’t understand my boss. He has this whole rivalry thing.
This is probably one of the most important practices of my career.
If I’m even a few minutes late for practice, my boss will see it as a rebellion, and I might be thrown off the team.
Not to mention this is your fault for losing the bag. You’re the one who is putting me out.”
“Excuse me?” I fake cough to cover all the choice words I would love to say right now, but with kids in tow, I would never lose my cool. “Putting you out?” I raise a sharp eyebrow and tack on, “Remember, I found your glove.”
He childishly rolls his eyes, checks his watch again, and says, “We are wasting time.”
“You’re right about wasting time. Hopefully, my car will be done by then.
I'll have to grab that, and I still think you might be faster to meet up with her because you have a car. To be safe, do you want to hold on to this bag, just in case you get there first. I just don't see me walking all the way down here going that fast.” He takes the bag, keeping his lip buttoned. I straighten my spine, almost clicking my heels together as I peer down at Bella. I have nowhere to take her since she missed the bus. Even if I had a place, I would not have time to drop her off anywhere. “We’d better get moving. It’s going to take a while to walk back to campus. ”
“You’re going to walk all the way down there?” Jackson’s lips twist with a skeptical slant. “Then you’ll for sure be late. Do you want me to give you a ride?”
I’m not a prideful person, but something about the way he looks down at me with disdain makes me stand even taller.
I’m done owing any man favors. “I think we can both agree that neither one of us wants to ride in a car together. I’m fine walking.
” I pull out my phone, open the contacts, and slide it over to him, “Can you add your phone number?”
“I’m so glad you're finally being reasonable,” he mumbles but takes my phone, inserting his number before handing it back to me.
“Bye.” I shove my phone in my oversized coat pocket and snatch Bella’s hand while lightly pulling her forward in the opposite direction. “We need to hurry as fast as we can. My teacher is a total old hag with a miserable life who hates me.”
My gut fires knots as we race down the sidewalk. Bella looks at me quizzically. “Why didn’t you take the ride, Mom?”
“It’s just…” I close my mouth, and fumble for words.
How do I admit it is not an ego thing? I didn’t like his vibe.
After all the years of overlooking Chase’s rude behavior, I have zero tolerance for rudeness.
“It’s fine,” I assert as I check the time on my phone and see we are cutting it very close.
I hope my teacher didn’t have a horrible morning like I did, or she’s not going to tolerate me arriving late.
Since I can get my test done within the hour, I should be okay.
I hope.