From The Ashes – Chapter 1
The car lurched forward, the sharp movement making Talia wonder if she’d been hit. But as she looked around, she saw—sure enough—she was alone on the dark street. Who would be out at 4a.m. besides her?
The dashboard lit up as though every system was suddenly failing.
This could not be happening! Her car needed to be okay.
The only warning had been a series of gurgling sputters a few blocks back. She already figured she’d have to take the car into the shop tomorrow, but then it had seemed to drive just fine. Now it didn’t matter.
Lurching and sputtering one last time, the engine simply cut out.
“No!” she yelled into in the dark interior. “No!”
Though she smacked at the steering wheel, the small vehicle slowed to a roll despite her yelling. She’d overslept, floating her way through a dream featuring one hunky firefighter she openly referred to as “a friend.” She should have known when she opened her eyes alone that the whole day would go downhill.
Quickly, she realized she needed to use whatever remaining momentum she had left to get to the side of the road. There might be no traffic right now but there would be in soon. There would be no tow truck at this hour. Not in a small town like Redemption. She had to get the car out of the way.
Looking over her shoulder frantically, as though there might have been anyone in her blind spot, she fought the wheel hand over hand. Maybe if she wanted to pay someone to come out from Lincoln… but she didn’t even have the time to think that. The power steering had cut out too.
Even just the simple act of turning the wheel to get one lane over and park it was proving to be to much. She sucked in a breath, as though that would give her more energy. It didn’t.
There was never any extra energy. Everybody rationed something, Talia knew. For some people it was their money, for others it was patience. For Talia it was how much she could get done during the day. This was spending out her energy way, way too early.
The frustration and the tears would eat it up even faster. So, she blinked it all back.
Finally, she had managed to come to a stop on the side of the road. Though she hadn’t been able to accurately park it, the car was small. There was no throwing it into reverse to line it up so the butt end of the tiny little car stuck out over the dashed white lines.
All she could do was pray that she could get it towed before someone hit it. For now, she had to abandon it. She had to get to work.
Not for the first time, she regretted the jaunty blue color she’d chosen. It was a pretty enough color in the daylight. The problem was, in the dark, her car could almost disappear. The last thing she needed was an accident.
Sighing into the empty space of the car she could make out the sound of crickets now that the engine was off. Or was it cicadas? Placing her hands on the steering wheel, Talia leaned forward until her forehead hit her knuckles. She could cry for just a few minutes, couldn’t she?
But if she let this get to her, she’d have even more trouble on her plate. She couldn’t afford that. At all. So, Talia reminded herself that she’d handled setbacks before. She no longer asked why she had so many more of these than the average person.
Blinking ferociously, she managed to stop the tears. She could do this, she thought, even though she knew there was more trouble waiting at the office.
Reaching out, she pulled the key from the ignition. For a moment, she contemplated just how stupid it was that she’d had to technically turn off a car that was so absolutely not on.
Then she checked around, making sure she had everything with her before hauling herself out. She locked the car and started down the street toward her shop. There was a sidewalk of course, but she couldn’t get onto it until the end of the block.
So now, not only was her little car blending in and being a night hazard, so was she. It hadn’t occurred to her that she might need personal glowing lights for traipsing to work in the dead dark hours. She was supposed to be driving.
Again, she tried to let it go. She would hit Tierney up for a drink at noon. She would need it.
Looking around, she checked for obstacles as she held everything tightly and made her way toward the end of the block. Once there, she moved backwards a little bit to get up onto the sidewalk—where she ironically waited through a long light that allowed exactly the exactly zero traffic to pass for three minutes before she crossed.
The other shops that lined the street were closed. Baby Cakes was closed, too. She was usually the first one in, but the way this day was already going? She wouldn’t be surprised if her entire staff managed to make it before she did. Hell, some of them might even pass her on the street. Her team was likely to be the only traffic out at this hour.
She was half a block away when the voice startled her. “Hey, Talia!”
She’d been so lost in her own irritation that she hadn’t heard him pull up beside her. But as she turned, she recognized a familiar face—not one of her workers, though.
“Was that your car back there?”
She loved that he asked. It was obviously her car. No one else in town had that model.
She tried to grin at Mr. Doyle and not offer up a sarcastic No. I just decided to abandon it and go it on my own. At 4am. In the dark.
“Yeah. That was me.”
“Can I offer you a ride?”
God Bless him. She turned to face him for the conversation he clearly wanted. Small town people liked to stop and talk. He ran his own business, but it didn’t seem to occur to him that she did, too.
She smiled again, even though they both knew it would be far easier for her to just keep going as she was. She told her best friend’s father, “I’ve got this.”
“You have a tow coming?”
“As soon as I get to the shop, I’ll leave Joe a message.” Talia smiled. She needed to add call Joe to her already too-long list for today. “Why are you out this early?”
“Mrs. Doyle isn’t feeling so great. I headed over to the all-night convenience to get her some Gatorade.”
“Oh, no. Please tell her I hope she feels better soon.” Talia took that opportunity to remind herself that at least she wasn’t sick today.
Mr. Doyle asked her to text him when she got into her store so he’d know she made it safe, and then to let him know if she needed anything. He was a kind man. Then the window went back up and the car rolled on. The cool morning temperatures were starting to get to her as she made it to the block where Baby Cakes was.
The storefront was dark as she checked the time. Why was no one here yet?
