by Cindy Kirk
“You decide, Rach.” Nell took the words right out of Abby’s mouth.
“Whatever you guys prefer is fine with me,” Rachel protested.
Abby wondered why Rachel couldn’t see that deferring to everyone else’s wishes wasn’t going to fly with Nell.
“Ticktock.” Nell pointed to the large clock on the wall. “We’re wasting valuable court time.”
Rachel gave an exasperated huff and pointed to Nell. “Okay. You and me, far court.”
“You’re going to slam the ball in my face, aren’t you?” Nell offered a cheeky grin.
“The thought does have appeal.” Rachel turned to Iris. “You’ll play against Abby and Liz. Because there are two of them, they’ll play the ball into the singles court, but you can play the ball into the doubles alley.”
Rachel shifted her focus to Abby and Liz. “As the side with two players, you’ll do the serving. You’ll rotate after every game.”
Abby resisted the urge to glance at Nell and give her the thumbs-up. Nell might come across sometimes as cool and uncaring, but she genuinely wanted the best for her friends.
Rachel had spent so many years catering to her siblings’ needs that it was difficult for her to take the lead and express her preferences.
When Rachel had first started dating Marc, Abby had been pleased when she’d seen him asking Rachel for input on what they should do on their dates. But lately, everything seemed to revolve around what he wanted.
Abby stepped onto the court in her short white skirt and top. She was a passable tennis player at best. She could only imagine how she’d play in a long white skirt and blouse.
She hoped she wouldn’t have to fill in, but if she did, she would do so cheerfully, showing Eva Grace that you didn’t have to be the best to have fun.
There was so much she hadn’t considered when Jonah had ignored the court summons and she’d been awarded joint custody. But that day she’d made a promise to herself and to Eva Grace. She would do everything in her power to keep her daughter safe and happy.
So far, she’d kept that promise.
+
The state highway north of Hazel Green that led to the Ingram Club was referred to by locals as High Road. Abby wasn’t sure whether the moniker came from the fact that the two-lane highway was north of the town, making it “higher,” or whether “High” was simply short for “highway.”
Regardless, she wasn’t a fan of the roadway known for its hills. From what she’d observed, those traveling it tended to drive too fast and pass too frequently, ignoring the solid yellow line.
But it was the quickest way to Eva Grace’s school, and the tennis court snafu had absorbed the wiggle room she’d built into the schedule.
Traffic was surprisingly heavy for a Wednesday afternoon but moving, as expected, at a brisk pace. Though she heard her phone buzz, she kept her eyes on the roadway. The way she looked at it, there was nothing so important that it couldn’t wait until she stopped.
When Abby saw the truck, it took a second for her to realize the pickup was headed directly for her. Panicked, she laid on the horn. It kept coming. A stand of trees on her right precluded going off the road. She glanced left. The traffic going in the opposite direction was too heavy to allow her to cut over, even for an instant. Which meant there was no room for the driver of the truck to get back in his own lane.
Like a bad game of chicken, the truck kept coming.
With fear clawing her throat, Abby searched frantically for a way out. Looking to her right again, she saw that trees had given way to cornfields.
The truck was close now, so close she saw it contained a single occupant. A man who made no move to leave the roadway.
With a collision imminent, Abby jerked the wheel to the right and sent her SUV airborne. Her heart pounded, and her breath came in short puffs. In the frenzied seconds that followed, Abby thought of Eva Grace.
Please don’t let me die was her last thought before the vehicle crashed to earth and everything went black.
Chapter Nine
The call about a multicar accident on High Road came shortly after Jonah’s meeting with the mayor. Already in the car, he headed straight to the area.
The state police had secured the scene, closing off the road in both directions. Jonah parked his vehicle off to the side and strode up to the barricades, hooking his badge in his suit pocket.
“What do we have here?” Jonah asked one of the officers.
The man’s gaze dropped briefly to his badge.
“According to witnesses, pickup was passing in a no-passing lane, one vehicle went off the road to avoid a head-on.” The officer gestured to the field. “The truck hit the car behind that vehicle, pushing them into the other lane. Six vehicles involved, including the one in the cornfield.”
“Lucky it wasn’t more.”
Relief skittered across the officer’s face at the sound of sirens. “Finally.”
Because of the traffic congestion, the ambulances had to make their way along the edge of a roadway that now held a line of cars as far as the eye could see.
While the officer directed the ambulances, Jonah moved closer to see whether there was anything he could do to help.
His heart gave a solid thump when he saw the cherry-red Kia in the field. Abby had a Sportage that color.
He started down the ditch, waving his badge without breaking stride when another officer called for him to halt.
One of his police officers had the door to the vehicle open. He looked up at the sound of Jonah pushing through the cornstalks but returned his gaze almost immediately to the vehicle’s occupant. “Ma’am. I’d like you to stay where you are until the EMTs look you over.”
“I’m fine.”
Jonah’s heart stopped. Abby.
“You don’t understand. I need to pick up my daughter at school.” Abby’s voice quivered but held a stubborn edge.
“I’ll call the principal.” Jonah stepped forward, relief flooding him when he saw that other than an abrasion on her face from the airbag deployment, she appeared unharmed. “Who do you want to pick her up?”
He would have gone there himself but knew the offer would have had her jumping out of the vehicle and walking to the school if necessary.
“Matilda.” Abby took a breath, let it out, then rattled off a number. “Tell her I’ll be home as quickly as I can and not to say anything to Eva Grace about the accident. I want to tell her myself.”
Jonah nodded and stepped away as an EMT made his way to the car.
Pulling out his cell phone, Jonah called Gage, grateful he and the principal were already acquainted, then called Matilda. It took several rings before the woman answered.
“Ms. Lovejoy, this is Jonah Rollins.”
There was the briefest of pauses. “Why, Chief Rollins, how nice to hear from you.”
“Abby needs a favor.” Without waiting for a response, he laid out the situation quickly and efficiently, then reiterated, “Abby is fine. But she will be delayed. If you could pick up Eva Grace at school, I know that will take a load off her mind.”
“I’m leaving now.” Fear slithered through Matilda’s calm tone. “Please tell me you’re being honest and Abby is really okay.”
“She’s perfectly fine other than a couple of scrapes. Again, she doesn’t want you to say anything to Eva Grace about the accident.”
“I won’t.”
Jonah heard the sound of a car door slamming shut and an engine roaring to life.
“Tell her I’ll take care of dinner. When she’s able, have her call me.”
“I’ll do that.”
“Jonah.”
It startled him to hear her use his first name. “Yes?”
“Thank you for taking care of her.” Matilda cleared her throat. “She means a lot to me.”
“To me as well,” he said before he could stop himself.
Thankfully, the call ended, so he didn’t think she’d heard.
+
; “If you tow my car, how will I get home?” Abby heard the whine in her voice but was powerless to stop it. Her nerves were raw and jittery, and she couldn’t keep her hands from shaking.
“One of the officers will give you a ride.” Officer Wray’s calm voice never wavered. “It may be a few minutes. We need to get this situation under control first.”
“I can take her home, Officer.”
Relief filled Abby when she saw that Jonah had returned.
“Did you reach someone at the school? Was Matilda able to pick her up?” Abby pushed to her feet, swayed slightly, then steadied herself against the doorframe.
“Yes to both questions.” Jonah’s gaze was steady and his tone reassuring. “Matilda is probably already at the school.”
“She won’t tell Eva Grace about the accident.” There was a question in the statement as Abby’s gaze searched his face. “I don’t want her to worry. I’m fine.”
“Matilda promised not to say anything.”
Abby expelled a shaky breath. “Good. Thank you.”
Jonah flashed a smile. “What are old friends for?”
She caught Officer Wray casting her a speculative glance, but Abby ignored him. She had more important things on her mind, like getting to her daughter as soon as possible.
“I appreciate you taking me home.” Abby thought about pulling away when Jonah took her arm to steady her, but her legs felt like jelly, and she didn’t have the strength.
Concern filled his blue eyes. “Are you sure you shouldn’t go to the hospital and be checked out?”
“I really am okay.” She swallowed against the dryness in her throat and tried a smile. “Just a bit . . . stressed.”
“Can you tell me what happened?” He tightened his hold as they picked their way through downed cornstalks and an abundance of mud from last night’s rain.
“A truck attempted to pass where he shouldn’t. There were cars in his lane, and he couldn’t get back over.” She’d given a clear, dispassionate account already to Office Wray. But somehow saying it again had fear rising up. “He was coming right at me. I kept thinking he’d go off the road, but he didn’t. It was as if we were playing this horrible game of chicken.”
“It’s okay.” Jonah’s voice remained low and soothing, his hand firm and supportive on her arm as they climbed up to the road.
“I jerked the wheel to the right, went into the ditch, then up. Then I was airborne.” She let out a shuddering breath. “It happened fast. Yet, for a second—and that’s all it could have been—it was like slow motion. I thought I might die. I hoped once I hit the ground the airbags would deploy and protect me.”
She stopped at the edge of the roadway and fought to catch her breath. Abby felt as if she’d finished a marathon instead of simply crossing a field and climbing a five-foot incline.
“Take a minute.”
“I used the eye drops in my purse.” She blinked rapidly and realized the gritty sensation was gone. “My ears are ringing.”
“Give it time.” Jonah gave her a reassuring smile. “Those airbags are loud when they deploy.”
Her teeth sought her upper lip as she rubbed her aching wrists, which were reddened.
His gaze sharpened. “Do your wrists hurt?”
“They’re a little sore.” Abby grimaced. “I think the airbag pushed my hands back from the steering wheel. But I can move them okay.”
Seeing the concern in his eyes, Abby flexed and extended her hands to forestall any questions about x-rays.
She glanced around the scene filled with ambulances, fire trucks, and police cars. Several firefighters were attempting to get a person out of a crumpled economy car.
The Silverado that had been coming at her was upright, and though both sides were bashed in, it had come through the experience better than the other vehicles.
An ambulance left with its sirens blaring. Abby turned to Jonah. “Was anyone hurt badly or . . . killed?”
She’d been so concerned with her own situation, she hadn’t thought of the other people who’d been impacted.
“I haven’t gotten a full report, but right now, no fatalities.” Jonah tracked the progress of a second ambulance as the driver maneuvered it through the wrecked cars, police cruisers, and fire engines. “Several people are badly injured.”
“That silver car.” Abby gestured with her head toward the crushed one with people still trapped inside, and guilt washed through her. “I didn’t even think of the vehicles behind me when I went off the road.”
“You had no choice.”
“Neither did they. It was my fault the truck smashed into them.” Tears filled her eyes. “I’m why they’re injured.”
“No.” Jonah spoke sharply. “The truck driver is the one at fault. There’s a reason this stretch of roadway is a no-passing zone. You reacted appropriately.”
Abby nodded and resisted looking in the direction of the silver car. “You don’t need to take me home. I’m sure you have a lot to do here.”
“Though it might not appear like it, these responders have the situation under control. Besides, if I didn’t take you home, I’d need to pull one of them off the scene to do it.”
Abby supposed she could wait. But for how long? The adrenaline that had coursed through her body immediately after the accident had vanished, leaving her weak and unsteady. All she wanted was to get home to her daughter.
Jonah gestured with one hand. “My car is over there.”
“Over there” was the other side of the barricades.
Abby nodded and began walking in that direction, trying to ignore the devastation around her. “Jonah.”
He glanced over at her.
“Thanks.”
“I’m here for you, Abby.”
+
I’m here for you . . .
Though Jonah’s words kept circling, Abby didn’t let herself think too hard. She focused on reassuring Matilda and Eva Grace that she was perfectly fine. Only once Matilda had left and her child was in bed and sleeping peacefully did she let the tears come.
Thankfully, other than the scrape on her cheek that was beginning to bruise and her sore wrists, she was okay. The smartest thing she’d done was to text Matilda on the way home and ask whether there was a way she could have a few minutes alone in the apartment when she got home.
Abby had taken those minutes to clean up and steady herself before facing her daughter. To lighten the story, she’d made a big deal about Bebe—their name for the Kia—mowing down cornstalks when forced to leave the highway because of a truck driver who’d gotten his directions mixed up.
It had been the right approach. Even with fresh makeup and a steady smile, Eva Grace had gotten teary-eyed, crawling into her lap and begging her not to get hurt again.
It was then that Abby realized she’d been a neglectful mother. Oh, she’d made sure her daughter had food on the table and a roof over her head. More than that, Eva Grace knew she was loved and cherished.
But today had brought up something she’d never considered. What would happen to Eva Grace if she died before her daughter was grown?
After what had happened with her mother, Abby knew you didn’t have to be old to die. Often with an illness, there was usually time to plan, to make arrangements. But an aneurysm or an accident on a bright September day could end things without time to prepare.
She didn’t have a will. Tomorrow she would speak with Nell and remedy that situation. That would take care of her business interests and ensure that Eva Grace would have money for college.
It wouldn’t address Eva Grace’s custody. Though technically Jonah retained joint custody—it was extremely difficult for a parent to relinquish parental rights in Illinois—he’d never been a part of Eva Grace’s life.
That left the question of who was the best person to raise her daughter. Abby needed someone who would shower the child with love and help her grow into a happy, functioning adult.
She took a sip of wine. As she had no real
family to speak of, that left her close circle of friends. A list. She needed to make a list. Abby pushed herself up from the sofa and groaned.
Every muscle in her body ached. Feeling at least a hundred years old, Abby hobbled across the room to retrieve a pencil and pad of paper from a drawer. Once she was finally back on the sofa, she made a list.
She trusted all these women. Loved each and every one of them. But were they in a position to raise a child? Were they the right one for her daughter?
As the names were in no particular order, Abby began at the top.
Matilda Lovejoy.
During the past two years, Matilda had become her mentor and, in many ways, her surrogate mother. At forty-three, the woman possessed the wisdom and insight that had helped guide Abby in many business and personal decisions.
There wasn’t a single doubt in her mind that Matilda loved Eva Grace as if she were her own. Her only concern was that in the last year Matilda had mentioned several times the possibility of relocating to Oregon to open a restaurant there.
Though Abby didn’t begrudge her this dream, the thought of Eva Grace perhaps being uprooted from her school, her friends, left Abby uneasy. She knew how difficult losing her own mother had been. She couldn’t imagine if she’d had to move to a new state and start over.
Putting an X through Matilda’s name, Abby moved on to the next on her list.
Cornelia Ambrose.
Nell was firmly entrenched in Hazel Green. She couldn’t imagine her friend relocating. But with a busy law practice and her Hazel Green gig, Nell often joked that she caught herself coming and going.
While she loved Eva Grace, Abby had heard Nell mention on more than one occasion that she wasn’t sure she ever wanted children. Of course, Abby had felt that way herself once upon a time, so she couldn’t hold that against Nell. Still, would it be fair to ask a woman who wasn’t sure she wanted children to raise hers?
Crossing off Nell’s name, Abby moved to the next one on the list.
Rachel Grabinski.
Rachel adored children and was definitely family oriented. When her parents died, her friend had stepped up to the plate and—at the tender age of eighteen—obtained guardianship of her five siblings.
