Page 39 of Rich Girl
“A pickup truck tried to switch lanes not realizing the lane he was going into was ending in the next hundred feet.” The firefighter turns to point in the direction where the action started. “It hit the wall and bounced back, landed on a limo full of people. The next fifteen cars after that all ran into each other at high speed.”
“Fuck.”
I shake my head in shock. I’ve been at plenty of accident sites over the years, but this one has to be in the top three of the worst.
“What’s going on with all the people in the cars?”
When I arrived, my guys told me it was bad, implying some may not have survived.
“There are some casualties, and a couple in critical condition,” the firefighter tells me. “I don’t think they needed to take everyone to the hospital from the rest.”
He moves a little faster with the rake he’s spreading the sand around.
“The driver of the truck who started this is one of the casualties,” he continues. “And the driver from the limo. It was packed with hockey players.”
That stops me in my tracks. “Holy shit. Tell me it’s not the Sliders,” I beg, referring to the local pro team. They’re having a decent season this year, and I’ve been following them. I feel invested.
“It hasn’t been confirmed officially yet,” he tells me. “But, off the record, it was the Sliders.”
That knocks the wind out of me. “Fuckin’ hell.”
We continue working until the road is safe to be driven over again. Police officers keep it blocked to give us the opportunity to drive away before opening everything back up. Traffic is blocked for miles behind me, but that only means it’s pretty much open in front of me, getting me on the way home in a record time.
By the time I have to switch expressways to get to my exit, they are finally announcing on the news that it was indeed a group of players from the New York Sliders that were involved in the accident. There are ten of them in total, with two of them having been rushed into emergency surgery.
“Well, this blows.” I sigh into the empty cabin of the tow truck just as I enter the town limits.
As soon as I pass the first stop sign, I notice a group of girls in front of the coffee shop. I am surprised only because nobodyever sits there like that. In fact, I’m not even sure how profitable the coffee shop actually is.
My face breaks into a smile when I realize that Hayden is one of the three girls sitting there. It figures, I muse, that she’d do that, like she’s still in the big city and this is an outside patio.
Upon closer inspection, I see the other two are Evie and Carrie, the girlfriends of Cal and James. Carrie also has the baby with her.
When I am close enough for them to hear me, I slow down to a crawl. I roll the passenger window down and lean sideways while keeping one eye on the road.
“I’ll park this and be right back,” I yell out to Hayden, but then change my mind. I pull to the side and jump out of the truck.
“Ladies, thanks for keeping my girl company.”
I wish I could appreciate more the way Evie and Carrie’s heads snap to stare at her. They then turn their heads to stare at me, mouths open in surprise.
“Your girl?” Evie sounds like she can’t believe it.
The smile on my face grows bigger as I enjoy this moment. It helps to take my mind off the cluster I witnessed while in the city.
“Yes!” I give Evie an exaggerated wink. “May I introduce you to HaydenBenedict. Like the pope.”
I don’t know why I added that last part, but my chest literally hurts from the effort not to laugh my head off.
“Hayden, I’ll go park this and walk back for you, okay?”
She gives me a small wave. “I’ll be here.”
I get back in the truck lightly hit the gas pedal, propelling it forward until I reach the shop. Pulling into the back, I notice the large gate to the yard is open, and I let out a sigh of relief. My entire body is sore. I need a shower and to rest my head for an hour. This whole thing was too much today.
“Hey, boss!” Brian, one of my guys, waves at me. “I’ll back this in and unload the cars.”
I put it inParkand lean back for a second, grateful that I am alive. I can’t get the image of all those mangled cars out of my head. I can’t even imagine what the first responders getting there got to see.
