180 Days and Counting... Series Box Set books 1 - 3

by B. R. Paulson

  Beth kept her mouth shut, but stood, reaching for plates with her eyes downcast. It was in the plain moments of confrontation Cady wished she knew how to work a gun. She had no idea what she was doing which was made uncomfortably obvious by the fact that she couldn’t even daydream about shooting Steve or Zach between the eyes because she didn’t know how to hold the gun correctly.

  Maybe lessons were exactly what she needed. As soon as she got rid of Zach, she’d ask Scott to help her sign up for lessons. She was going to take her future into her hands and stop worrying about what Zach wanted.

  That kind of a change just might make her want to survive anything that came up.

  Chapter 6

  Cady

  Beth and Cady served the dessert but by the end of the Paleo, vegan, gluten-free, dessert thing Beth had made, Zach and Cady were past merely not looking at each other. Their fight was subtler, less obtrusive than Steve and Beth's, but all the more painstakingly obvious that way. The tension at the table ate through the evening like acid on glass, leaving behind a scratched scar that wouldn’t be removed.

  Cady didn’t mind the dessert so much as the fact that Zach and Steve had another three more glasses of wine each. In quick succession, the alcohol was only going to increase their belligerence. How much would Zach fight Cady when she wouldn’t let him drive home? The last time they’d had the same problem, he hadn’t spoken to her for almost two weeks.

  Telling him it was over was going to be easier and easier.

  Their end was coming, she just wasn’t sure how long she could avoid it. Or if she even wanted to try. For all her prepping for the end of the world, there was nothing she could do to prepare for the end of her marriage and the breakdown of her family.

  Steve called Beth a fat cow three times before she finished her own plate of dessert. The chocolate avocado brownie wasn’t worth calling names over and Steve should’ve been cut off from the alcohol a while ago.

  Beth reached for Cady’s empty plate and ignored Zach’s untouched dish. She blinked back tears and half-shrugged. “It’s just the alcohol.” Her murmur didn’t reach Zach but Steve heard.

  He grunted, glaring at his wife with open disdain. “Yeah, it’s the alcohol that convinced me you were worth marrying. Too bad it doesn’t work anymore.” Steve swirled a quarter glass of red. “You’re worthless.” He smirked at Zach who at least had the grace to keep his gaze averted from the challenge in his friend’s gaze.

  Cady stood, bracing her hands on the table. She leaned forward, narrowing her eyes. With a voice strong with authority and indignation, Cady seethed. “Let me be clear. The reason the population could stand a cleansing is people like you, Steven Stark. You’re a boor with no real value to add to the human race or the world. So, yes, trust me when I say, the problem with this world is over-population and the idiots who depend upon their idiocy.” She thrust her finger into the air just inches from his surprised expression. “You are an idiot.” She turned to gaze down at her husband. “And you aren’t immune, either, Zach. You’re both disgusting.”

  She claimed some plates and abandoned silverware, discarded on the table like miscreant remnants of metal bones. Tucking the empty bottle of wine under her elbow, she followed Beth into the large kitchen of the Stark rental, shaking her head.

  Beth leaned against the corner of her counter, the dishwasher door hung close to the ground as it sat open in front of her with a rack pulled out. Only two plates sat on the wires. Cradling a still-full glass of red wine in her hands, Beth stared out the small window at the dark night and the lights of traffic passing by.

  Fog framed the window in an inch-thick line. Steam rose from the sink where Beth had left the hot water running. Cady reached over to turn it off.

  Taking a spot across from Beth on the other side of the dishwasher door, Cady smiled sadly at her friend. “They never change, you know?” She didn’t have better words for her friend. They both commiserated often about the men in their lives, but it always came down to choice. They had chosen their husbands and they continued to stay with them out of choice.

  There was nothing more honest than that.

  Beth dragged her gaze from the window to stare morosely at Cady. “You know, I tried leaving him last week.” She spoke so matter-of-factly, then lifted her glass to her lips and sipped her wine.

  The admission slammed Cady in the gut, not because it was surprising but because of the bald honesty in her tone. Cady finally nodded as if to encourage Beth’s confession. She wanted to declare her own plans, but what if she jinxed herself? Zach would hear her or Steve would. Something would happen. She bit her tongue.

  Her friend laughed and drained the rest of her glass. “But you know what he said? He’s not going to sign anything because our marriage guarantees him free sex and he can’t always afford to pay for it.” She jutted her jaw to the side, shaking her head while shifting her gaze up to the ceiling. “How many times has he paid? What else don’t I know? He’s a cop. That’s illegal, right? I can’t…” She shrugged, lifting her glass and then staring at its empty shape. She laughed dryly. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. He just doesn’t want anyone else to know we couldn’t make it, right? It’s a pride thing.”

  Cady bit her bottom lip, appalled and unable to scream for her friend. “Cops…” That was it, that’s all she could say to her friend. She didn’t harbor ill feelings for police officers. They had one of the most stressful jobs possible and very little appreciation. But Beth and Cady’s go-to response was to just say cops and leave it at that.

  The women embraced with tears in their eyes. What else could they do? Beth wouldn’t leave Steve. The angle of the slouch in her shoulders admitted she wouldn’t do anything about it. She wouldn’t do anything but wallow in her sadness, maybe self-medicate her depression with alcohol and working out. But that was it. And Cady knew Beth expected that Cady would be the same way.

  But squeezing her friend in her arms, Cady clenched her jaw. She was going to break out of the endless cycle she’d been trapped in and she was going to get free. Maybe freeing herself would give Beth the example she needed to seek happiness.

  Cady and Zach climbed into their car no more than half an hour later. She didn’t give Zach the option of driving. She just climbed into the driver’s seat and held out her hand for the key.

  He didn’t say anything as he closed the door and dug into his pocket, the keys jingling as he pulled them out and handed them to her. Neither of them spoke.

  There was only so much strained atmosphere anyone could take. Not only were they desperate to escape the Starks’ home, but they were desperate to escape each other – at least Cady couldn’t wait to get home and get away from Zach. She didn’t really care how he felt about the situation.

  Driving from the small Post Falls neighborhood, Cady turned the wheel and paused at a stop sign, waiting for another car to pass before pulling onto the busier Greensferry Road. They were a solid thirty to forty minutes from their home up north in Spirit Lake and in the dark, Cady was up for a tough drive. She’d had laser eye corrective surgery years before and the lights still starburst at night. Combine that with the icy roads and Cady gripped the steering wheel with apprehension.

  Silence filled their car, except for the occasional hiccupping burp from Zach. He didn’t look at Cady as he looked out the windshield, tapping his fingers on his knee off-beat to the music from the radio.

  The silence was going to drag the drive out longer.

  “Smell like the end of the world. A crazy new fragrance for men and women. You might regret the end, but you won’t regret how you smell.”

  Cady shook her head at the commercial. Everyone was making money on an apocalypse that hadn’t even happened – hopefully would never happen. The worst thing was, so many people made light of the situation but when it actually happened, it wouldn’t be funny. There would be more loss than fun and games.

  A news spot followed the commercial, the background music somber an
d grim. “In world news tonight, three terrorist bombs spotted Madrid, Spain today while another riot on the East Coast caused a backup in imports. And news from Russia is touch and go at this time as the Kremlin has fallen.” A pop song came on, at juxtaposition to the dire forewarnings of both a capitalist venture and filtered news.

  “I’m surprised they told us anything.” Zach snorted, lifting his ankle to rest on his knee. His surprising sober appearance jerked Cady’s gaze to him from the road. Green and orange from the dash highlighted the planes and valleys of his face.

  She didn’t feel like she even knew who he was and she wasn’t interested anymore in finding out more about him. She was ready to move on and she wasn’t sure anything would change that. After the way he’d acted at their friends’ house, Cady didn’t reply. She didn’t want to.

  “What? No commentary? Isn’t this like your thing? Don’t you and your people know all the conspiracies behind these types of things?” His words partially slurred but his derision came across loud and clear.

  Both hands on the wheel, Cady rolled her eyes. She pressed her foot harder to the pedal as they careened down the nearly empty highway. Weekends left the back highways virtually abandoned as people stayed home after a week in town. Why hadn’t Cady stayed home? She would have been better off. At least she wouldn’t feel disgusted after the show Steve and Zach had put on.

  His voice lowered to a whisper as he looked out his side window. “The world really is falling down around us, isn’t it?” He glanced out the front window and then to her, bouncing his foot on his knee.

  The dash lights barely put the front of him in relief and Cady didn't even want to look at him but she couldn't help it. He never made the first move and there he was, trying for the first time in… she didn’t know how long. Normally they wouldn’t talk for days or weeks unless she said something.

  She kept her voice low as she replied, “Yes, it's getting worse.” She didn’t mean to add more fuel to the fire, but he had to start taking her seriously. She wasn’t preparing for the fun of it. It wouldn’t matter though come morning. She had to come up with the best way to warn Bailey about the impending divorce. Cady could call it what it was. The end.

  He cleared his throat. “They're talking about opening up a local position for deliveries at work. They offered me the job. I'd be home more. You’d have to see me more.” Zach cleared his throat. “It would give me a chance to see Bailey more. Is that something you think you could cope with?” He offered her a tight smile and Cady knew what he was asking.

  No. She didn’t want him home more. She wanted him to leave. Their marriage was over and she couldn’t shake the sick feeling in her gut his words put over her. She couldn't answer yet. It was too fast, too soon. After the evening they’d had, she was prepared to tell him it was over. Now this? Offering her an olive branch… would his being home more get in the way of her prepping? Would he get in the way of who she was becoming?

  Sure, they would make amends for a little while like in the past. But then, how long until they were back to fighting, struggling to breathe the same air together?

  Yet… like it went every time they tried, she recognized the spark of hope in her chest. He was the father of her child. Cady would love to have a happy and fulfilled home. She didn’t count on it, but just his words brought about the glimmer of possibility. She would hate him, if that glimmer was dashed.

  “I'm not saying things will be perfect, but maybe, if I can be home with you more we can work on us more. I… I promise to try harder. I’d even… well, I’d even like to learn how to do this prepping thing, maybe.” He reached for Cady's hand, lifting it and kissing the back of her fingers in his grip. “Do you think that would be okay? I really want things to work out with us, Cady.” He grinned at her, and Cady rolled her eyes, looking from him back to the road. “I’m not proud of how I acted at Steve and Beth’s. I don’t want to end up like them. Steve is sleeping with other women and Beth isn’t doing anything to stop it. I don’t want to be like that.”

  He had no idea that Cady wouldn’t allow it. She’d never allow that kind of a lifestyle. But wasn’t she? Wasn’t her life with Zach exactly what he was describing? The chance to change things, to make a life with the man she’d loved once instead of starting over was appealing and Cady could see herself clutching the suggestion like a lifeline.

  Headlights ahead on the highway swerved, taking a sharp jerk into her lane and then back out. She blinked, pulling her hand from his grip and gripping the steering wheel. More headlights behind the wayward vehicle starburst in Cady’s vision as she tried to focus on the road. Glancing at the speedometer, she edged off the gas. Sixty-five was within the speed limit, but she had a feeling it was too fast with the way oncoming traffic was behaving.

  Zach said something else, his words disappearing under the blare of Cady’s horn as the headlights swerved back into their lane, feet from them. Large white circles of light covered their vision. Cady swallowed back her scream. The vehicles crunched together, thrusting her forward and stealing her breath.

  Nothing in her prepping had prepared her for a car accident.

  Chapter 7

  Cady

  Pressure across her chest and lap didn’t abate as she struggled to come to. Compressed hard enough to prevent breathing, Cady scrabbled at the strap on her chest. Nothing relieved the pressure. She finally realized that gravity pulled her against the restraints.

  The world was upside down.

  Blinking, at least she thought she was blinking, the pitch black around her made it difficult to tell if her eyes were open or not. Something had fallen across her face. She reached up and brushed the material away, gripping it’s softness in her shaking hands. Everything hurt, filtered with a dimness that confused her. She couldn’t pinpoint if she was really in pain or not, or was she even there. She could have been dreaming for all she knew.

  As she moved the shirt from her face a dim light came into view and broke up the redundant smothering of the blackness all around her. Taking a deep breath was next to impossible. The restriction across her chest was more suffocating than the darkness had been.

  The fuzziness cleared slowly. She was able to take in the interior of her car. The pressure was from her seatbelt. She could undo the belt, if she wanted to breathe more fully. And, oh, she wanted to breathe more freely almost more than she wanted to be right side up.

  She ignored the cold, the smell of spilled gas, and everything around her. Processing the car accident wasn’t possible at the moment. She didn’t want to think about the implications of the wreck and the fact that she was alone. Not in that second. She had to breathe first. Hanging upside down, she couldn’t think.

  Air. She needed to breathe!

  Cady reached up and braced her hand on the roof of the car under her. The top of the car had been smashed in enough that the distance wasn’t far. Yet, one arm wasn’t going to be strong enough to hold her weight up when she tumbled out of the belt, but at least she could try for some kind of stable position. Thankfully, she wasn’t going to fall too far.

  Theoretically. The wrinkle and crumpling in the metal roof broke her concentration. The roof was too close to her for comfort. She slowly closed her eyes, lightheaded at the lack of oxygen and the blood rushing to her head.

  Cady had been in an accident. She didn’t look at the empty seat next to her, hanging upside down alongside her. She didn’t want to think about what that might mean. She didn’t want to think.

  Biting her lower lip, she focused on what her right hand was doing as she reached up around her waist and fumbled for the belt buckle. She squeezed her eyes shut to avoid distraction from outside the car. Focusing was her main objective. She had to block out the cold seeping through her clothing, the eerie quiet of the night, and the iron scent that rode subtly on the freezing air. She had so many things to block out. Take it one thing at a time.

  Get out of the seatbelt and then start searching for information.

&n
bsp; Focus, come on, Cady. She grimaced as a sensitive part of her knuckles scraped again on the back of the belt. The arm bracing her stung and her thumb found the depression of the button to the belt. She pressed, holding a shallow breath as time was suspended. With a little wiggling, the belt released her and she slammed onto the roof. Her knees hit the steering wheel as she fell and she tried rolling to the side but the space was too narrow.

  Cady grunted as she finally settled onto the roof, half on her side and half on the front of her body. Ignore the pain, Cady. Just ignore it. Flattening onto her stomach, she rested her hands palm down near her face while she took stock of her surroundings. A stinging in her hands, forearms, and knees worked to break through her concentration, but she couldn’t give in. Not yet.

  Figure it out. In her first responder courses all of the instructors said focus on getting yourself to safety before you can help anyone else. Was she in a safe place?

  Okay, she was in her upside-down car. Her empty car. Where was Zach? Outside the window holes her view consisted of mostly pavement. She couldn't see anything. A ding-ding-ding sound broke through the rasp of her breathing. Out of the belt, she still couldn’t breathe fully, but at least it was a little better. A tearing sensation along her lower ribcage when she breathed in and out suggested she might have bruised something or worse broken some bones.

  Inching her head to the left, she glanced around in search of Zach. He wasn’t in the car. He couldn’t be far. He was her husband. They had their problems, but she still needed him. She wasn’t ready to end things with him. Lying there on the roof of her rolled vehicle, Cady admitted to herself that she’d been all talk in her head. She wasn’t going to leave him. She wanted to try, especially if he was willing to as well. He’d even expressed interest in prepping. That was a start she didn’t want to lose.