The Long Way Home by McQuestion Karen

Author:McQuestion, Karen [McQuestion, Karen]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: AmazonEncore
Published: 2012-05-01T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-Two

But things didn’t get better. If anything, they got worse.

When the lunch rush died down, Beth drove Rita to the mechanic’s shop while the other three ladies stayed behind at the restaurant. They returned a half hour later and Marnie knew it wasn’t going to be good. When Rita and Beth walked through the door, the look on their faces said it all.

“Bad news, ladies,” Beth said to Marnie and Laverne, who were sitting at a table nursing soft drinks. “The car won’t be fixed until tomorrow.”

The words hit Marnie like an arrow to the chest. “No,” she said, and then as if saying it again would make it true, “No! That can’t be right. There has to be a way. We need to leave today. We’ve been delayed too long already.”

Jazzy, who was nearby, intently filling salt shakers, raised her head to listen.

“I’m really sorry,” Beth said. “But you have to understand he’s a small-town mechanic. He has to send out for most parts. That’s just the way it is when you live around here.”

“What if we drove to a bigger city?” Marnie asked. “And brought a new alternator back ourselves? If you let us borrow your car and told us where to go, we could leave right now.” She couldn’t hide the desperation in her voice. Could this get any worse? It was the real-life version of the bad dream where you couldn’t get home, no matter how hard you tried. “We could do that, couldn’t we, Rita?”

Rita and Beth exchanged a look that said, Oh boy, here we go. Beth pulled up a chair, but Rita kept standing.

Rita sighed and said, “Even if we did that, the work still has to be done. The car won’t be ready until tomorrow either way.” She’d broken the news gently, but it still made Marnie want to fall to the floor keening. Or walk to Las Vegas. Anything rather than sit here and feel helpless.

“But, but…” Marnie accidentally bit the inside of her cheek, the result of stammering like an idiot, which is exactly how she felt. Like an idiot on the verge of a breakdown. The other women looked at her with sympathy. She knew they felt for her, which was one small consolation. “I just feel like we’ll never get there.”

“I have an idea,” Carson said. Somehow he’d materialized next to Jazzy without Marnie having noticed. “Why don’t you borrow my car?”

Marnie said, “Seriously?” at the same time that Rita said, “We couldn’t possibly.”

“Sure, why not?” Carson wiped a hand across his forehead. “I’ve got my bike. I can do without a car for a week or so.”

“That’s very nice of you, but I’m not driving anyone’s car besides my own,” Rita said firmly.

So true to form, Marnie thought. Rita, the perfect lady, would never leave her car behind and borrow a stranger’s vehicle. She gave Rita a pleading look. “We could pick it up on the way back,” she suggested.

But Rita wouldn’t budge. “It’s not happening. One day won’t make that much of a difference.

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