Page 62 of Pinch of Love

“I thought you were coming with us. I didn’t know your back end was still sticking out of the car.” She giggled and did another light tap of the horn.

I watched Maya sink into her seat as Millie reversed out of the driveway, and I prayed for their safety. I really should have driven them.

Chapter Fifteen

Maya

I stared at my black boot and groaned. This wasn’t exactly what I imagined as part of a carefree getaway, and how was I supposed to enjoy the lake before it froze over?

Would the doctors have put a boot on me for merely a broken toe?

No. But I wanted to up the ante, and apparently, I’d fractured my foot somewhere along the way.

So, boot for me for the next six weeks.

The good news was that I only had to use a wheeliedoo for the next week.

“Knock, knock,” my sister sang into my home. “I’ve brought food and drink.”

I stared at the contraption that I was supposed to put my knee on and push off with my good foot and shivered. I’d already knocked over an end table with my lack of steering, and since this wasn’t my house, I didn’t want to ruin anything.

Especially a memorial to one of his beloved pets.

My sister appeared with three bags in one hand and a tray of drinks.

“Izzy said she’d have no problem hanging out with you the next few days, but she can’t be here on Friday or Saturday night. She’s going camping with Caleb.”

“It’s so sweet of her to spend time with her old, crippled aunt.”

Grace rolled her eyes. “You’re not old.”

I smiled. “What’s in the bag? It smells delicious, like garlic overload.”

“I have the best cheese curds in the world with a side of garlic aioli. I picked them up from the restaurant at the lodge. They fry the curds perfectly, and somehow, the magical chefs knew to put garlic aioli on top. I’m addicted.”

“Sounds amazing.”

Grace put everything on the counter and started unloading the other bags. “I brought over cheese, salami, olives, premade salads, and some heat and eat macaroni and cheese that I’ll put in the fridge for you.”

“I won’t be able to move by the time you’re done feeding me.”

She smiled and walked over with an iced latte and a plate full of cheese curds with the aioli. “You’re spoiling me. I’ll never want to go back to North Carolina.”

Grace smiled. “That’s the plan.”

I shook my head and took a sip of my latte. “Is it, though?”

She shrugged. “It would be nice. I mean, none of us have been near each other since we were kids.”

I laughed and let out a sigh, thinking back to the childhood I’d managed to compartmentalize and rarely think about. But the truth was that I grew up with addicts for parents. Addicts who now lived on the streets of Seattle. My mom—and I use that term loosely—had recently been diagnosed with cancer. I wanted to say that changed something inside me, but it didn’t.

I didn’t suddenly have an urge to see her. I’d made my peace long ago. Grace had gone out to Washington to visit them, and it went as well as expected. My parents had no remorse and could barely remember with whom they were talking. They just wanted money to buy more drugs, from what I could decipher.

But my sisters and I survived. We made it through our battered childhood somewhat unscathed and with a resilience that often surprised me.

However, I had a feeling that a part of my upbringing might also contribute to my handpicked selection of Rob.

I reached for a fried cheese curd and dipped it in the garlic aioli before plopping the fried goodness in my mouth. The creaminess and garlic mixture created perfection around my tongue.