Page 3 of Wrecked
Instead of dialing Dean, I punched in my best friend, Zoe's number. She answered on the third ring.
"Kenz, hi." She sounded a bit breathless, and I was terrified to ask what I'd interrupted. Zoe was all for living in the moment; she even had the words'carpe diem'tattooed on her wrist.
"Uh, is this a bad time?"
There was shuffling, I heard faint whispering before Zoe said, "Don't be silly."
"My car broke down right in front of Willow Creek." The words came out along with the whoosh of breath that left my lungs. Zoe was the only person who knew why being stranded in Willow Creek, even just for an afternoon, was mortifying.
"What? Okay, you have to backtrack… I thought you were flying down on Monday? What's this about your car breaking down?"
I ran my thumb over my lip and stared at the endless amount of blue stretching as far as the eye could see. "Dean wants me to move in with him."
"Oh. And your natural reaction to that was to jump in your car and get as far away from him as possible?"
Hearing it like that made me sound like a bad person. "I'm horrible," defeated, I dropped my head to the steering wheel.
"You're being dramatic," I heard the smile in my friend's voice. There was a short moment of silence before Zoe continued, "Maybe this isn't such a bad thing, Kenz."
"Yeah?" I asked, my voice thick with sarcasm. "How do you figure that?"
"Look—" not fazed by my mordacity, Zoe went on, "—first of all, there is a hell of a chance that you won't be in Willow Creek long enough to run into him—"
"But—"
"If you do, you might be able to finally get some closure. Kenz, I know you don't want to hear this; but I'm gonna say it, anyway."
I lifted my head and stared at the endless stretch of land before me while I waited for her to continue.
"You need to let go of the past, so you can focus on your future."
She was right. Keeping tabs on your old boyfriend wasn't healthy. In my defense, I was only doing it so I'd know which towns to avoid.
Yeah, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
"Kenz, you still there?"
"Mmm hmm." A rumble drew my attention to the road just in time for me to see a truck come to a standstill in front of me. "I think help has arrived. I'll call you as soon as I know what's happening."
A giggle filtered through the line before Zoe's reply, "Uh, maybe text first."
I couldn't help but laugh as I shook my head and hung up. Most people thought of Zoe as an easy girl, but the sad truth was her level of detachment stemmed from something that most people wouldn't survive. I didn't always agree with her choices, but hell if I was going to condemn her for them.
I had all the hope in the world that one of these days a guy worth her time was going to stick around long enough to be the salve that heals all her broken pieces. The slam of a door pulled me from my reverie and drew my attention back to the problem at hand.
A giant of a man, covered in tattoos emerged from the truck. I was about to lock my doors and dial 911 when the excited squeal of a child stole my attention. Where the tattooed man was big, with tanned skin, dark hair, and an even darker beard, the little boy bouncing up and down next to him was the exact opposite.
A mop of winter-white hair covered his head, and his pale skin made me want to offer him a tube of sunscreen. As striking as their differences were, it was the undeniable affection between them that stole my breath.
The man crouched before the boy and said something that had his smile growing by the second. After a quick ruffle of the boy's hair, the man stood and pulled the boy in for a hug.
I didn't know why my mind went where it did when I saw that, but the only thing I could think of was how my relationship with my father wasn't anything like that. Another laugh broke free as I imagined how my mother would react if I brought a guy home that looked like that man.
I stepped out of the car when they reached me. I wasn't a short girl, plus I was wearing four-inch heels and still the guy towered above me.
"Hey there," I gave them a small wave.
"Hello," the excitement I saw on his face came through in the boy's voice. Tattooed Giant lightly nudged the boy with his hip which prompted him to add, "Ma'am." This child was way too cute for his own good.
