Chapter Nine: Knight In Shining Armor

Hadley

We should have been home two hours ago, but errands for the Etsy shop have eaten up my evening. I must have been featured on a blog, or Instagram...something, because I picked up fifteen orders last night. When stuff like this happens, I wish I could figure out why because I'd love to make it consistent each month, instead of the feast or famine.

I squint against the sun setting over the river, pushing the visor down as far as I can. The low-lying rays are reflecting off the metal of the bridge, and I'm reminded why I hate to make the journey, this time of day.

"Mom?" Riley quietly questions from the back seat. "I'm hungry."

Glancing at the clock, I see it's going on seven. Her damn bedtime is eight. How am I supposed to make this work? There are never enough hours in the day, never enough days in the week, and by the time the month is over, I wonder what the hell's happened to all the things I was going to do on my to-do list. "I know you are, I'm so sorry, sweetheart. We'll get home as soon as we can. It's been a busy day for the both of us, huh?"

I feel like a shitty mom because inevitably she comes second to making money, and I come a much distant third to the previous two. Risking a look back at her, I take my eyes off the road for a millisecond. The amount of time so tiny, it shouldn't even matter in the grand scheme of things.

But it does. It always does with me.

I don't see the board in the middle of the road until I hit it, and the car bumps against the hard asphalt. Immediately, I feel the pressure of my tire go down in the right rear passenger side.

"Shit," I grip the steering wheel tightly as the car swerves. A car honks in the opposite lane as I fight to straighten it out. We're not off the bridge yet, and I send a little prayer up to let us please get to safety across the river. There's no place for us to go if I can't get us off the four lanes that span the water. No shoulder, no emergency lane, and we'll be sitting ducks to anyone behind us that's not paying attention to what's happened.

We have less than ten feet to go, and I'm coaxing the car to the right lane, with my hazards on, gritting my teeth and gripping the steering wheel until my knuckles are white. Tension seeps into my shoulders and I already feel a headache behind my eyes. This is not at all how I planned the night to go.

"Mom?"

I can hear the fear in her voice, make out the shakiness and it kills me. I hate when she's scared, when I can't make things alright for her. Inhaling deeply, I press the accelerator, hoping like hell we can make the exit and then coast down to the shoulder.

"We're good, Riles. Things are fine."

I'm such a fucking liar. I don't think I have a spare. Things are definitely not fine. When we finally make it down the exit, and I'm able to coast it to the shoulder, I take a second, leaning my head against the steering wheel.

I wanna cry, but crying's never helped anything in the past. I wanna get angry because I don't know how to change a damn tire, but again anger won't help anybody. I'm doing my best to control my breathing and not lose my mind at the situation that's been dropped at my feet tonight.

"Mom!" Her tiny voice is urgent now.

"One second Riley." I need to get my shit together. My hands and legs are shaking, my teeth are clenched.

"Look!" The urgency is back as she tries to get my attention.

When I hear the knock on my window, I scream, not expecting anyone to stop to help us.

"I've been trying to tell you," Riley informs me.

I turn my head, and I can't believe the person standing on the other side of the glass. Looks like Patrick Tennyson is gonna be our knight in shining armor.