Page 37 of Stone Deep
Britton reached into the backseat and pulled a dry shirt from her bag. She yanked off her wet one and pulled on the dry.
Her bottom lip trembled slightly as she curled back intothe seat and stared out at the storm. She hadn’t really said much, but I knew she was reliving our visit with Damon. I could almost feel the sadness rolling off of her.
“I don’t understand why she left me.”
I leaned back and stared at the heavy drops falling on the windshield. They pounded a steady beat on the top of the car. “My brothers and I were just kids when my mom decided to pop a bunch of pills and slip away. It was winter break. The rest of our classmates were busy decorating trees and wrapping presents. We were just sitting in our shitty little house hoping that we’d make it through the break without my dad blowing a fuse and taking it out on one of us . . . or all of us. Even my mom couldn’t avoid his wrath. That winter it all just became too much for her. She climbed into bed with her drugs and that was where we found her.”
Britton reached over and took hold of my hand.
“I’m not telling you this for sympathy, Brit. My brothers and I never had time to feel sorry for ourselves. We were too busy trying to survive. Depression and drugs are a dangerous combination. We all dealt with our mom’s death differently, but we all felt betrayed. All I could think was that she’d abandoned us and left us with the worst dad on Earth. She’d chickened out and left us to deal with the sadness of losing her and the everyday struggle that came with living with our dad. For a long time, I couldn’t even bring myself to look at her picture. She had these stupid little dishtowels with roosters on them that she loved. I threw them in the trash. All I could think was that we weren’t important enough to keep her from killing herself. It was like taking a knife to the heart. But, eventually, it came tome that by that point she was no longer thinking about anything except the dark hole she’d fallen into. It wasn’t that she hadn’t loved us. It was that her sadness was stronger. I haven’t forgiven her completely, but I do see her side of it a little better now.”
Tears were beading like tiny diamonds on her long lashes as she lifted my hand to her mouth and kissed my knuckles. “For atattooed punk, you are pretty deep. I know it’ll take some time. The everlasting ache of knowing that she’s gone and there’s nothing I can do to change that will plague me forever. But coming here helped. I also officially hate Damon even more now.”
I shook my head. “Yeah, I’ve met some really bottom of the sewer pump scumbags before, but that guy wins the fucking crown. I’m still having a hard time figuring out how I walked out of there without pounding him. I wanted to, badly. My fists were curled pretty fucking tight.”
“But you kept your cool, and that’s another reason you’re so damn crush worthy.” She looked out the window and gasped. She quickly wiped away a bigger spot to peer through. “Oh my gosh!” She opened the car door.
“Where are you going?” I asked, but she was already ankle deep in the flowing water. I shot out of the driver’s side and stomped through the water behind her as she half ran, half stumbled toward a bus bench. Its seat was submerged in the raging river of rain.
The water running along the sidewalk had a strong pull to it, and I nearly lost my footing when my ankle bent over on a rock. “Shit, Britton, what the hell are you doing?” I yelled over the roar of the floodwaters and the pounding rainfall.
She ignored me and continued toward the bench. That was when I caught a glimpse of the drenched, orange kitten clinging to the top edge of the bench.
Britton waded through the water, moving in slow motion against the downhill current. She reached the kitten just as the little cat lost its grip. Britton plucked the animal from the water and smiled broadly as she held it high and out of harm’s way. A second later, her eyes widened and her knees gave way as a loose piece of wood knocked her off balance. I plowed through the water and lunged for her shirt. She was still holding tight to the scared kitten as I yanked her back to her feet.
“Let’s get back to the car,” I said.
She held tightly to the cat, and I held tightly to her as we waded back up the inclined driveway to the gas pumps. We jumped inside the car and shut the doors. Our struggle to catch our breath thickened the haze on the windows.
Britton stared down at the kitten. Thin streams of watery blood trickled down her arm from the small holes where the cat had clawed her skin. Her knees were bleeding from being pushed down in the flood. But she was smiling.
“I just happened to glance that direction,” Britton said as she reached into her bag for yet another dry shirt. This time she pulled out two and she wrapped one around the drenched kitten. “I think I’ll call her Bolt.” She looked up at me. “Unless you still have your heart set on that one.”
“Nope.” I reached over and rubbed the cat’s head. “I think I can hand that one over to this little guy.”
The kitten immediately snuggled under Britton’s chin for warmth. “It’s all about timing,” she said quietly as she stroked the wet fur. “If I’d looked out the window oneminute later, this little guy would be heading down the sewer.”
“Yep. That’s life. Good or bad, timing is everything.”
“The rain is slowing, and it looks like the water is starting to recede. And now we officially know what a desert flash flood looks like.” She lifted the kitten and rubbed her nose against it. “And I have a new kitten.” She leaned over the console and kissed me. “Overall, a pretty darn good road trip.”
TWENTY
BRITTON
I’d only worked from Wednesday until Friday, but the weekend couldn’t have come fast enough. My pay by the week motel room was starting to get me down, and trying to keep a kitten quiet and out of view of the manager wasn’t as easy as I hoped. But I hadn’t saved up enough to get a place of my own yet. I’d been frugal enough to allow myself to splurge on a new bikini, especially because we were on the downside of summer and all the swimsuits were on clearance racks. I’d picked up a forest green bikini that fit perfectly and covered just enough to give me confidence for the beach trip. I’d met Slade’s oldest brother and sister-in-law briefly, and today, I would meet Colt and Jade.
I was a fluttery bundle of nerves as I drove down the street to Slade’s house. The same butterflies had kicked up at the thought of seeing him. I hadn’t seen him since I’d dropped him off on Tuesday night. I’d spent a good portion of the next day at work just daydreaming about the guy. Nina had cornered me at lunch to find what I’d done on my days off. Without giving too many details, I assured her I’d gone on a road trip for what I considered to be the bestvacation of my life. The lunch had been interrupted by a call from Slade and his weekend beach invitation.
I pulled up in front of Slade’s house. He stepped out onto his porch wearing board shorts slung low on his hips and nothing else. I hadn’t just imagined him. He was spectacular. It took me a minute to pull my gaze from him.
My heart was jumping around in my chest as I climbed out of the car. “You can drive,” I called as I walked around to the passenger side.
He walked down the steps toward me.
“Are you going like that? No towel or shoes?” I asked.
He reached me and put his hand against the passenger door on each side of me, effectively trapping me between his hard body and the car. His eyes were a vivid green, and his heartbreaking smile made its appearance.
