I rolled my eyes. “Don’t I know it.”
I looked out the window and noted that it was starting to snow pretty hard. I checked my watch and groaned. “I should probably start heading back. Looks like the roads are starting to get covered, and you know they aren’t quick at all about salting out our way,” I said.
Living just outside of town, up the mountain a bit, was certainly peaceful, but in winter it could really be a pain in the ass to get back and forth. I finished my breakfast and thanked Layla for treating, promising to return the favor if and when I ever found a damn job.
I stepped out of the diner and checked my surroundings out of habit one more time, before climbing into my car and heading home to Dad. As I drove, the snow started falling even harder; the big fat flakes were hitting my windshield faster than my wipers could clear them. I leaned forward and squinted as I slowed down. The last thing I needed was to end up in a ditch.
Just as I approached the bottom of the mountain, the wind picked up and shook my puny car violently. I gripped my steering wheel so tightly that my hands started to ache and my knuckles turned white. It wasn’t that I hadn’t driven in this type of weather; it was inevitable living halfway up a damn mountain in Montana. But knowing that my dad needed me to get home soon and safely, made me extra cautious.
I blew out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding and turned up the heat in my car, blasting it as high as I could handle. I pressed the gas a little harder as I started my ascent, and prayed like hell I’d be home before the weather got much worse.
Shit, I really could do without this right now.
CHAPTER 3
EVAN
“Hey Liam, what would you like for lunch?” I asked.
“Penuh-butter jelly!”
“I don’t even know why I asked,” I said, grinning.
“Me, too.”
I chuckled at his response while I made the kids’ lunch. Peanut butter and jelly was Liam’s default nowadays and I was thankful that Hadley wasn’t such a picky eater. I carved up apple slices to go with Liam’s lunch before I set it on the table, and he scrambled up into his chair as I poured him some juice. For Hadley, I had pureed bananas and pureed green beans with carrots.
Eat your heart out, Martha.
I chuckled at my corny joke and walked over to the fridge to pull out a bottle I’d made for Hadley earlier. I sat it in front of her, laughing as she practically attacked the spoon I lifted to her face. I would never understand why she thought this goo was so delicious, but I was glad that she was a good eater. Liam’s face was covered with jelly as he chugged back his juice, and I went to grab a washcloth to clean him up.
“Read a story?” Liam asked.
“After you two are done with lunch,” I said.
“Story now,” Liam said, pouting.
“After you’re done eating, okay?” I asked.
I turned around and saw Liam’s lip jutted out. His eyes were welling with tears and his cheeks were turning red. All I needed was a few minutes of peace. Hadley had gotten up at four in the morning and wouldn’t go back to sleep. Liam was still begging for water the moment his feet hit the floor and, despite the fact that I wouldn’t give it to him last night, he still peed through his pull-up. I braced myself for the tantrum as a shriek flew from Liam’s lips, so I made my way to the table and sat down next to him.
“Liam, calm down,” I said soothingly.
“Story! Now! Story! Now!”
“And I told you after you finished eating.”
“No!”
“Do you want to go to your room?” I asked.
“Yes!”
“If you go to your room, you won’t eat again until dinner.”.
“Okay!”
I watched him stomp off to his room while Hadley giggled from her high chair. I sighed as I looked down at his half-eaten plate of food and my stomach began to growl. Liam sulked off to his room and shut his door behind him, and I could hear him throwing things around. For a three-year-old, he could really kick up a fit when he wanted.
I finished off his apple slices and sandwich before I put the plate in the sink. Looking over at Hadley, who was happily sucking down her bottle, I couldn’t help but wonder what my future was going to hold.
Not so long ago, I thought I was going to live the easy life.
When I was asked to leave the company, I found solace in the idea that I’d finally get the break I’d promised myself for years. I had ten million in the bank and I could live very comfortably off just the interest and do whatever the hell I wanted. In the first few months, I did just that. I needed to get my head straight; to kick the pills and the pain of losing Elise.