Page 13 of Loving Hard on the Highway

“Oh, my gosh.” Gabbie stroked my arm. “I am so sorry.”

“I told him I was going to cut my vacation short and head home, and he suggested I stay on vacation. Things with my family are pretty complicated. And when I get back, everything is going to change for me. Staying in Miami didn’t feel right, so he suggested the long road trip to get myself together before seeing him. I love my grandfather, and I want to do whatever I can to help him, but my dad is hard to deal with. They’ve always clashed.”

“I hope I’m not getting in your way,” she said sincerely.

“You’re kidding.” I glanced over and smiled at her. “You are the best part of the road trip.”

She shook her head and smiled in this adorable way that was completely endearing. She was making it hard for me to keep my eyes on the road.

“How about some music?” I said, turning the radio on.

“Yes!” Gabbie agreed eagerly.

A song was ending, and the radio chimed, “99.6 coast to coast hits,” and then a commercial break started.

“I have some decent playlists on my phone if you want to put something on,” I offered, then gave her my password.

“Okay.” She seemed surprised. “What music app do you use?”

“It’s the Lyrix app,” I said, without mentioning that I basically owned it.

“Okay, not bad,” she said, musing over my playlist before hitting play and letting the Bluetooth connect.

She started humming and lightly singing along, and I swear her voice was enchanting.

“So, what’s your favorite song?” I asked. “Last night you said your favorite song wasn’t on the karaoke playlist.”

“It’s a song from this singer from Water’s Edge. Mateo Solis. He’s one of my twin sister’s husband.”

“You have a twin?” I asked, unsure I had heard her right over the music.

“No,” she laughed. “My older sisters are twins. One of them is married to Mateo, and he sings a song called‘Holdin On’. He originally wrote it for my sister, but he dedicated it to my parents when they died.”

I hadn’t realized she lost both her parents. I was curious about what happened to them, but I wasn’t sure she wanted to talk about it.

“Sean! Stop the car!” Gabbie screamed out of nowhere.

I swerved, a bit startled as she repeated in a begging tone. I quickly pulled onto the side of the road, and she had the doorunlocked and jumped out before I had even brought the car to a stop.

“Gabbie, what is it?” I called after her, but she didn’t stop. Vehicles whizzed by down the highway as I made my way out of the car.

“I saw something.”

“You jumped out of the car because you sawsomething?” I followed the road’s edge to where Gabbie was. Somewhere beneath the rustling leaves and the roar of the occasional vehicle passing by, a thin, whimpering sound emerged, almost like a whine, but weaker.

That’s when I noticed what Gabbie was reaching for. Near the edge of the road, where the curb met a patch of tall, untrimmed grass, something small moved. She had pulled off her sweater and grabbed the little creature. It was all ribs and oversized ears, with one eye crusted shut and fur matted with dust. It looked up at her with wary desperation, whimpering again.

“It’s a puppy,” Gabbie said in the cutest little voice.

“Are you sure?” I raised a brow.

“Yes.” She peered up at me as if I’d insulted the thing.

“Is it hurt?” I asked.

“I don’t think so, but we need to get it to a vet,” she said, letting the little pup collapse into her arms.

“Okay.” I took a deep breath and followed her back to the car. “I guess we have a dog now.”

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