Chapter 2 #2
‘We’re fine,’ I assure her, steering us back in the lane. ‘I drive in this stuff all the time.’
She lets out a breath. ‘I was having a flashback of going in the ditch. I can’t believe that happened. Cam is going to kill me.’
‘That’s his car in the ditch?’
‘Yes. My parents took me to the church this morning. I didn’t want to go home with them so I asked Cam if I could borrow his car.’ She looks over at me. ‘Are you always like this?’
‘Like what? ’
‘Asking all these questions. Most guys don’t even want to talk, unless it’s about themselves.’
‘I was just wondering what your story was. It’s not every day I find a girl in the middle of the highway during a blizzard wearing a wedding dress.’
‘I tried to change clothes at a truck stop but the restroom was closed for cleaning.’
‘So going back to the wedding, did you leave before the ceremony started?’
‘No,’ she says, gazing down. ‘The ceremony had started. We were about to say our vows and .?.?.’ She shakes her head. ‘I just couldn’t do it.’
‘And that’s when you took off?’
‘Yes. Well, I told Cam I couldn’t marry him and then I took off. I know it sounds horrible, but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t marry him.’
‘Nothing wrong with that.’
‘Unfortunately, you’re the only one who thinks that. I’m pretty sure my whole family hates me for leaving and Cam’s family definitely hates me.’
‘Why would you marry a guy just because other people want you to?’
‘I didn’t marry him.’
‘But you almost did.’
‘It’s complicated, okay? Can we just talk about something else? How far is your house from here?’
‘A couple minutes. It’s the next street over.’
‘Is there a hotel I could stay at?’
‘We only have two hotels and they’re both booked with people waiting out the storm. ’
‘How do you know they’re booked?’
‘I heard it on the radio right before I found you. Why are you so freaked out about staying with me? Most people would be happy I offered.’
‘I am. I just .?.?.’ She pauses. ‘You’re right. Thanks for letting me stay. Do you have any roommates?’
‘No, it’s just me. The place has three bedrooms. It’s nothing great, but it’s a place to crash until the storm ends.’ I feel her staring at me and glance over at her. ‘What? Why are you looking at me?’
‘I’m trying to figure out how old you are.’
‘Twenty-six. Why?’
‘That’s kind of young to have a three-bedroom house. I’m sure houses are a lot cheaper here than in Chicago, but still, most guys your age would be living in an apartment, not own a house.’
‘I bought it as an investment, but it didn’t quite work out that way.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I don’t want to talk about it.’
‘Oh, so it’s okay for you to not talk about stuff, but I can’t?’
‘There’s nothing to say.’ I turn down my street, the truck swerving on the ice as I round the corner.
‘Why didn’t it work out? Did the value go down and now you can’t sell it?’
‘I could sell it, but I need to fix it up before I do. If I sold it like it is now, I’d lose money.’
‘So fix it up.’
‘I can’t, at least not right now.’
‘Why?’
I look at her. ‘You ask a lot of damn questions.’
She smiles at me. ‘Annoying, isn’t it?’
‘It’s the gray one,’ I say, pointing to my house. The plan was to finish the renovations last fall but so far all I’ve done is fix whatever was broken, or broken to the point I couldn’t use it, like the kitchen faucet that wouldn’t turn off.
When I bought the house last October, I imagined it looking totally different by now. I had so many things I wanted to do to it, but none of those things happened, and given how things are going, I don’t think they ever will.
‘It’s cute,’ Kate says as I pull up to the driveway.
‘I’m going to plow a path to get to the garage. I can give you the house key if you want to go in.’
‘That’s okay. I’ll wait.’
I press the button on the snowplow controller, but the blade doesn’t lower.
‘What the hell?’ I press the button again but nothing happens. I try the other buttons, but they aren’t working either.
‘What’s wrong?’ Kate asks.
‘The blade isn’t lowering.’ I open the door. ‘I’ll be right back.’
I walk in front of the truck and check for any damaged wires leading to the plow. Everything looks okay.
‘That’s just fucking great,’ I say, getting back in the truck. I grab my hat and put it on.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘It’s broken. I’ll have to shovel a path to get us in.’ I get out of the truck and stand at the door. ‘You sure you don’t want to go inside?’
‘I can wait. The blanket’s keeping me warm. ’
I shut the door and reach into the bed of the truck and grab the shovel. I have a snowblower but it’s being repaired. It was supposed to be ready to pick up this week, but the part didn’t come in.
How did this happen? I just did a thorough check of my equipment.
Maybe it’s something minor like a loose wire.
Right now, the plow is too covered in snow to see anything.
I’ll park it in the garage, let the snow melt, then come out later and see if it works.
If it doesn’t, I’ll call Nick and see if he can figure out what’s wrong with it.
The plow has to work. It’s my only source of income and today is the first big snowfall of the year. I’ve gone months without making money because the stupid weather hasn’t cooperated. This blizzard is my chance to finally bring in some income and now my freaking plow won’t work.
And if that isn’t bad enough, I suddenly have a roommate.
A girl who ditched her own wedding. She’s trying to keep it together, but I can tell she’s about to break down.
She’s just got that look. It’s understandable.
I’m sure running out on your wedding messes with your head.
But the last thing I need right now is some girl on the verge of an emotional breakdown living in my house.
I have enough drama in my life. I don’t need this girl giving me more.