Brenda Novak - This Heart of Mine

She followed them out. “Your father won’t mind you taking me for a test-drive...”

He made a face as if it was ridiculous of her to ask. “Why would he care? It’s my Jeep.”

But Riley wasn’t convinced yet that she was good for him. Jacob had missed that nuance, and she was so excited that he wanted to share something with her, she chose to ignore it. Riley didn’t have to know about the next few minutes. It wasn’t as though she was doing anything wrong by letting Jacob show her his Jeep.

“You can sit in the front,” Tristan volunteered, and hopped into the back without using the door.

Phoenix felt a huge smile stretch across her face. This was “a moment,” she decided, the moment she’d dreamed about for so long. She was with her son, and he seemed okay with having her there.

As Jake started the engine and pulled out, he managed the vehicle so effortlessly she had to marvel at how grown-up he was, and that he had so many abilities.

“I owe your father a lot,” she said, and meant it.

He didn’t seem to follow. “For what?”

“He’s done a great job with you.”

The cocky grin he flashed made her laugh, so then he laughed, too.

She loved the feel of the wind blowing through her hair as they drove, sometimes a little too fast but not so fast that she had to say anything. She was glad of that.

“Have you ever driven a stick?” he asked.

“Me?” Phoenix brought a hand to her chest. “No.” They didn’t teach that in prison. She’d missed out on so much. She hadn’t even been able to name her son. Riley had done that. But more than anything, she regretted not being there to watch Jacob grow up.

He pulled to the side of the road. “Come around. I’ll teach you.”

She shook her head. “No, I can’t. I haven’t been behind the wheel in a long time. I’ve got to get used to driving an automatic before I attempt a stick.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to try?” he said. “It’s not hard...”

“Just riding around with you is fun for me.”

“Okay,” he said, a bit reluctantly, and drove them to a muddy spot outside town to go off-road. As they lurched around, Phoenix clung to her seat belt. But he wasn’t getting too crazy, so she could enjoy it. By the time they returned to the pavement, her stomach was sore from laughing so much, and she wished she had some money she could offer him for gas.

Maybe next week , she thought. If she had enough bracelet orders. She sold most of her bracelets for fifty dollars, but she’d considered adding some new models, with various silver beads and options to personalize them, and planned to charge seventy-five dollars for those.

“You’re a good driver,” she said.

She expected him to thank her. When he didn’t, she looked over to see him watching his rearview mirror with an expression of concern.

“What’s wrong? Don’t tell me it was illegal to do those doughnuts.” If he got a ticket while he was with her, that wouldn’t please Riley, not when he was so concerned about the kind of influence she’d be.

Jacob didn’t answer that, either. He just changed gears and sped up, so she twisted around to see for herself.

She didn’t find a police car following them—but there was someone driving so close behind them, she was afraid they were about to be rear-ended.

“What’s going on?” she asked. “Why is that guy trying to hit us?”

Jacob’s jaw tightened. “That’s no ‘guy.’ That’s Buddy.”

Fear blasted through her, wiping out all the laughter and fun. “Mansfield?”

“Yeah.” He spoke through gritted teeth. But she could recognize the driver herself now, even with the limited view she had through the front window of his oversize truck. Buddy had changed a lot. From what she could see, he was now sporting a full beard.

“Pull over, Jake,” she said.

“That wouldn’t be a good idea,” he responded.

“Why?” Tristan shouted. “He’s gonna crash into us!”

Phoenix was too focused on her son to explain. “You have to let me out.”

“No way,” Jake said. “That’s what he wants. Then he could do anything.”

This was so dangerous. She was terrified that Jake or his friend would get hurt—because of her. “Stop now. Please!”

Her son’s eyebrows jerked together. He was obviously thinking fast, trying to decide the best course of action. But she just wanted to get him and Tristan out of this situation as soon as possible, before something tragic could occur. “What will you do?” he asked, sounding torn.

“Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself.”

“Against someone like that?”

Buddy tapped their rear bumper, giving them a small jolt.

“I don’t want you in the middle of this!” Phoenix cried. “Do what I say! Now!”

“No!” he snapped, suddenly adamant. But they’d reached town. He had to brake at the light, so she released her seat belt and jumped out, not even trying to take the backpack that held her laptop and purse.

“Mom!” Jacob tried to stop her but she slipped out of his grasp.

“Get out of here!” she yelled back. “Go home!”

6

Riley had just finished mowing the lawn and was leaning against the kitchen counter, cracking open a cold beer, when his cell phone went off. Leaning over, he slid it toward him so he could see who was trying to call him.

As he’d expected, it was Jacob.

“’Bout damn time,” he muttered. His son had chores and homework to do before school tomorrow. “There you are,” he said after pressing the talk button. “Where’ve you been? I thought you were going to drop Tristan off and come home after you picked up a coffee.”

“Dad! You got to come now!”

At the panic in his son’s voice, Riley slammed down his beer, which splashed all over his hand. “What’s going on? What’s wrong, Jake? Are you okay?”

“I’m okay, but...”

Although he couldn’t be sure, it sounded as if his son was crying, and that nearly paralyzed him with fear. He hadn’t heard Jake cry in a long time. “Did you get into an accident?” He rinsed off his hand and grabbed his keys. “Are you hurt?”

Jacob cleared his throat, obviously struggling to get the tremor out of his voice. “No. But...Buddy saw us and was...and was acting crazy. So she jumped out. Then he veered toward her. It didn’t look like he hit her hard, but she fell. And now she’s bleeding!”

He was speaking so fast he was leaving out pertinent details. “Who’s she ?”

“Mom!”

Phoenix? Riley was at the front door, but at this revelation, he paused. He couldn’t help feeling betrayed, as though they’d held some kind of secret meeting. “What were you doing with her?”

“I ran into her at Black Gold, and I...I just wanted to give her a ride in my Jeep.”

Riley could easily see that happening. Jake was so excited to have his license, so damn proud of that old Jeep. And of course, Phoenix would never refuse his offer.

He threw open the door and hurried outside. “Where are you?”

“At the corner of Sutter and Kennedy, just as you come into town.”

“I’m on my way.”

“She fell into a ditch, Dad. I think she hit her head on a rock, but she won’t let me call 9-1-1. Tristan says I should do it, anyway. I would but she doesn’t like him to even mention it. And she keeps trying to get up.”

Riley climbed into his truck, fired the engine and threw the transmission into Reverse. “Where’s Buddy now?”

“Gone. He took off as soon as he did it.”

“Sit tight,” he said. “I’ll be right there.”

The drive took only a few minutes, but it felt like forever. Jake’s Jeep, when he finally found it, was parked off the road, halfway in a field, as if he’d pulled over and stopped wherever he could. Next to it, Riley saw Jake and Tristan leaning over someone else, who had to be Phoenix, although they were blocking his view.