Ashley
“It feels so good to be out of that place,” I say, climbing into Nik’s truck with his help.
“I bet.”
“As soon as I get home, I’m taking a long, hot shower.”
“And you know by home, you mean mine, right?”
I grin. “Yes, I’m aware.”
“Good. Just wanted to remind you, in case that whole head injury affected your memory,” he teases.
“What’s your name again?”
“Ha ha ha,” he deadpans. “Need anything before we go there? We’ll figure out a day to move your stuff in. Probably next weekend. And we’ll need to let your landlord know you’re moving out. It was a month-to-month lease, right? You didn’t extend it since you were looking at places to buy?”
“Right,” I say, my head reeling a bit.
“Good. That will make it easier. Are you hungry? Want me to swing through a drive-thru and grab some chicken since what you got yesterday ended up on the floor of your car?”
I appreciate that he’s talking about the accident normally. I was so afraid he’d treat me with kid gloves or that he’d be afraid to bring it up. It was scary and I’m fully aware of how lucky we are, but if we focus on what could have been, we’ll never move forward.
Yesterday was awful and I don’t want to relive it, but I also can’t forget it happened. I was informed this morning that the woman who hit my car and caused the accident wasn’t as fortunate as I was. Her family is grieving her loss and that’s something I’ll never get over. From what we were told by Grant’s friend, who’s a medic, the woman had a small amount of alcohol in her system, but it was the combination of alcohol and the prescription painkillers she’d become addicted to that caused her to run the red light and hit me.
It absolutely breaks my heart when I think about it. I will never make light of the accident that caused a woman to lose her life, but it’s also a reminder of how quickly your life can change. We’re not guaranteed anything in this life, and last night was a stark reminder of that.
“That sounds good to me. I’m pretty hungry, actually.”
“Me, too.”
It isn’t lost on me that he takes a different route to Chick-fil-A in order to skip driving right by the accident scene. As much as I appreciate that he’s talking about it, I don’t know that I want to see it quite yet, either.
He orders enough food for an army, more than the two of us can eat even on our hungriest day. When I ask him why he ordered so much, he says, “Our family needs to see you. They’re on their way to my place now.”
“Oh.” I pause. “Everyone?”
“Josie and Dean will come by later. Just your family for now.”
“And by my family, you mean…”
“Yes, Grace is going to be there. If she says anything stupid, I’m not going to let it slide, but she’s your sister and I respect that.”
“You’re okay with her coming over?”
“Like I said, if she tries anything, I’m going to step in, but otherwise yes. We need to figure out what’s going on with her, though. From the way you talked, I didn’t think she was this judgmental and bitchy.”
“She normally isn’t,” I say.
We pull up to the window where they start handing over bag after bag of food. It’s almost embarrassing but the smell of the chicken nuggets hits me and I don’t care what anyone thinks of our massive food order.
“Then my two cents? It’d be good to have a conversation and figure out what’s going on with her. It sounds like there’s something happening in her life and she’s taking it out on those she feels are safe.”
“Listen to you, Mr. Therapist.”
“That’s me.”
I sigh and reach into the bag, snagging a waffle fry, lifting it to Nik’s mouth for him to take a bite then I finish the rest of it.
“You’re probably right. I know the whole thing with Samuel really threw her for a loop and she tried to basically brush it under the rug like it never happened,” I say, grabbing another fry and repeating the process.
“But haven’t they worked through it? I guess I haven’t heard much but I figured since they’re still together?.”
“I think there’s more to it that she’s not telling us.”
“Could be. Or it could be that she’s jealous of you and is being a monumental dick about it.”
I scrunch up my face and take another bite of a fry, passing him the other half. Then I push the straw through the paper wrapper and stick it in the lid of the lemonade Nik ordered. I lift it to Nik’s mouth and he takes a drink before I take one also, placing it back in the cupholder.
“I hate the idea of her just being a bitch for the rest of our lives.”
“She won’t be,” he promises, nodding toward the bag of fries for another.
“How can you be so sure?” I ask, chewing the deliciously fried potato.
“Because I won’t let her,” he says, so matter of fact that I can’t help but believe him.
He pulls into his driveway, hitting the button to open his garage and parks his truck.
“Wait here. I’ll help you down and we’ll get settled. Everyone should be here in about five minutes.”
“Doesn’t give me much time.”
“I know. I’m sorry about that, but I figured this way we can kick them out and we can take a nap after they leave and before Josie and Dean come over.”
“Oh, a nap sounds really good.”
“Doesn’t it? A naked nap sounds even better.” His follow-up wink makes my stomach flutter. And it’s not the baby’s movement making it happen, either.
“Maybe we can work that in.”
After placing everything on the counter, he leans against it and pulls me close. “I don’t know what I would have done…” he says, not finishing his sentence. He tucks a piece of hair behind my ear. The same side that hit the window. He kisses the place where I was cut and then pulls me in for a hug. It’s the first real hug we’ve been able to give each other since the accident.
We hold each other tightly until his doorbell rings and I reluctantly pull back. After a long, heated look, he leans down and kisses me softly. “I’m not going to think about it anymore. I’ll drive myself crazy. You’re here and you’re with me and you’re both healthy and that’s all that matters now, right?”
“Right.”
“When we buy you a new vehicle, though, expect me to be looking at a military tank.”
I choke down a laugh. “Sounds fun.”
He keeps hold of my hand when we open the door to my family. My mom is holding a box that I’m certain is filled with baked goods, casseroles for my freezer, probably a candle or something for the house, an outfit for the baby, and anything else she felt the need to stuff in there. It’s what she does. When she’s stressed or nervous, she bakes, cooks, and puts together care packages.
We step back to allow everyone space to come inside and I notice Samuel isn’t in the group. I don’t ask, though.
I take my time hugging everyone, including Grace who holds me a little too tightly, and then we move to the patio after loading up plates with the food we picked up on the way here. It’s another beautiful day and Nik has been working on his backyard a lot these last few months. I didn’t realize that he liked to garden until early spring when he mentioned planting it. And when I say he likes to garden, I mean he really likes to garden.