“Ninety? I have a child with me.”
“Are you in immediate danger?” Her voice became clipped.
“No.”
“Can you turn the car on to keep it heated?”
“Well, yes.” Obviously, she had a checklist of some sort, and I had a feeling I was not getting any of the good checkmarks.
“Are you on the side of the road with high speed traffic?”
“Look, I get it. We’re not a priority, but ninety minutes? That seems excessive.”
“You are in a low tow area, ma’am.”
I rolled my eyes. “I have food in the car that will spoil.”
“I’m sorry. I’ll have a tow truck there as soon as possible.”
“Never mind.”
“Are you sure?”
“I can’t sit here for ninety minutes. I’ll find an alternative.”
The voice paused and the background noise went silent. Damn mute button. I hated when customer service people used that. Like we didn’t know they were doing it. She came back on the line. “We’ll leave the service call in. If you find an alternative, just try to call us back.”
“Fine, fine.”
I rummaged in my bag when Lily started to fuss. I took out one of her favorite teething rings and passed it back to her before I hung up.
Crap. Crap. Crap.
Again, my finger hovered over Asher’s number and I thumbed down to Gabby’s number instead. “Hey.”
“What’s up?” The air was whooshing in the background. Hands-free on a pretty spring day was no joke.
“How many deliveries do you have left?”
“I’m on the last one.”
“Great. Where are you?”
Gabby rattled off a street that was at least fifteen minutes away. I sighed. “I ran into a little trouble.”
Suddenly, the air noise lessened. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, we’re fine. Something sounded off with my brakes, so I pulled over.”
“Oh my God. Where are you?”
“The old country road near the Leonard house.”
“I’ll be right there.” Then the line went dead.
I sighed and bounced my head against my headrest. “Seriously, how is this my life?” I turned to check on Lily. She was gnawing on the ring, drool glistening from her chin and chubby hand. One tooth had finally come in, but she was already cutting another one. “You’re going to have a full set of chompers before you turn one, kiddo.”
She squeaked out a barrage of babble followed by a giggle. I couldn’t help but smile back at her. Even at our worst moments, this kid had a smile at all times.