Page 35 of Steadfast

“I love it,” Richie confirmed.

“Good. Figure out your shit so when I end up with a plumbing problem you can come and fix it.”

“I’ll do that,” he replied easily.

They were so smooth about it, chatting like best friends, that I didn’t realize Richie had paid for the groceries until I had everything bagged and made my way back to the keypad.

“What did you do?” I snapped in exasperation, looking up at him.

“Don’t worry,” Jasmine said smugly. “I took off your employee discount.”

“Traitor.”

“Pfft. You know I’m gonna let my girl’s guy pay if he wants to. Say thank you, and get outta my lane, you’ve got people behind you.”

“I’ll see you Tuesday,” I grumbled with a wave, hip-checking Richie out of the way so I could push the cart.

“Don’t be mad,” he crooned in my ear as we walked out of the store.

“I saved up,” I bit out. “SoIcould pay for Cian’s birthday stuff.”

“I know, but now you don’t have to.”

“I don’t need you to pay for things.”

“I know that, too,” he replied, stopping me at the trunk of my car. “I like helping you out. It makes me feel good to know I’m taking a little of the load off your shoulders.”

I clenched my jaw, trying not to explode.Thiswas what I could do for Cian’s birthday. It wasn’t huge or elaborate, but I’d worked for it and planned it. And maybe that made me petty or ungrateful or rude, but I was angry that Richie took it away.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly, his eyes searching my face. “This isn’t the normal pissed you get when I pay for things. I fucked up, didn’t I? You wanted to get Cian’s stuff.”

In an instant, my anger was gone. I hadn’t had to say a word, and he understood. He knew me better than I knew myself. Sometimes, I forgot that. The remorse on his face made me feel like an asshole.

“It’s okay,” I replied with a sigh. “I’m still getting his skateboard. I already paid for that, so you can’t sneak attack.”

Richie smiled, threading his fingers through my hair so he could pull me in for a kiss. “He’s gonna love it. Meet you back at the house?”

“Yep.”

We put the groceries in my trunk, and then I watched with a small smile on my face as Richie returned the cart and sauntered over to his truck. I wasn’t the only one who felt settled lately. We’d found a rhythm that worked, and both of us had a little extra bounce in our steps.

Richie was right behind me when we pulled out of the parking lot, and I couldn’t help but check my rearview mirrorover and over again to see him. I used to hate when he drove behind me, watching my every move. I knew I drove like a little old woman, I didn’t need him observing me while I did.

Richie waved at me, and I laughed. He could see right in the back window.

We got stopped in some traffic about a mile from my house, and I did an obnoxious dance in my front seat to make him laugh. When I stopped to look at him in the mirror, he was dancing, too. I laughed until my eyes watered as he just kept doing it, his lips pursed into a look of mock concentration.

We finally got moving again, slowly, so I kept my eyes on the road as we rolled forward. There was an accident up ahead, and where there were normally four lanes, people were being routed into two. Usually, I tried to keep my eyes off of whatever was happening in those closed-off lanes. It didn’t feel right to witness what could potentially be the worst day of someone’s life—but something caught my eye as we got closer.

My heart started pounding so hard I could feel it in the base of my throat, and as we reached the accident, it took everything inside me to keep my hands on the wheel and constant pressure on the gas pedal.

My hands started shaking as I took in the scene. A blue car had been so smashed by a semi-truck that it was almost too pretzeled to recognize the make and model, but I knew. The driver of the truck was standing by the front of one of the police cars, tears rolling down his face. A group of firefighters were moving around the two vehicles. An ambulance sat with flashing lights, but no sirens on the shoulder.

There was a black body bag on the ground, and I knew exactly who was in it.

The sight was like a punch to the sternum, and I tried desperately to pull air into my lungs as we passed the accident and cars started to speed up again. I couldn’t look up to findRichie in the mirror. It was a struggle just to keep my attention on the road.

Less than two minutes later, I pulled into the driveway and slammed my car into park. Before I’d even opened the door, Richie was there.

---