Forever Wild (The Simple Wild #2.5) - K.A. Tucker Page 0,31

on my steering wheel. “Tell me you have good news?” I hold my breath.

“Get that hot tub ready because your maid of honor is arriving next Monday night!” Diana’s voice blasts over the Jeep’s speakers.

“Seriously? You made it work? Oh my God!” I shriek, a thrill coursing through me.

“Alaska, twice in one year! This is crazy!”

Tears sting my eyes and the weight on my chest lifts. “You have no idea how happy I am! I hated the idea of getting married without you here!”

“Calla, slow down!” my mom yells over our excited chatter.

I feel the moment my tires lose traction as we’re rounding the bend. On instinct, my foot slams on my brake, sending us careening off the road.

Chapter Nine

“What do you mean you’re not calling him?” My mother is brushing caked snow off her jeans when she pauses to glare at me. “What else are we supposed to do?” She throws a hand at the front end of my Jeep, barely poking out from the ditch, its grill facing the sky.

“Call a tow truck?” It comes out as a question; it isn’t much of one.

There was a moment of sheer terror as I gripped the useless steering wheel and we slid down the steep embankment; I was bracing myself for a flip or a crash into the tree line. Thankfully, we spun just enough to slide in backward and my Jeep landed in the snow with a thud and a crunch, leaving us with nothing more than racing hearts. After a nervous chorus of “Is everyone okay? I’m okay. Are you all okay?” and reassuring a panicked Diana, who listened in horror to the entire ordeal, we tested our doors.

Escaping the vehicle was a challenge. Climbing out of the gully in knee-deep snow was an almost comical level of hell—one that has left my mother in a sour mood over her ruined suede ankle boots.

“If you had just listened to me—”

“Stop.” I hold up a hand. “Give me a minute to think, okay?” I feel like an idiot. I was going too fast around that bend given the snow cover. I was distracted. And I made a rookie mistake, hitting the brakes the way I did.

And I am never going to hear the end of this from Jonah.

Mom takes a deep, calming breath. “You know what? No one’s hurt. We’re only a couple miles from home. It’s Christmas Eve. We’re going to laugh about this later.” She sounds like she’s trying to convince herself.

I leave her to it. “How bad is it?” I call out to Agnes, who’s trudging around in the ditch, her short legs disappearing with each step as she surveys the situation.

“We won’t know until we pull it out of here, but we’re definitely not gonna be able to drive it out. Does Jonah have a winch?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. What’s a winch?” Phil left so many tools in the workshop.

“I doubt it’d be strong enough on that old truck of yours, anyway.” She looks much like a child, packed in that oversized parka and using her mitt-covered hands to climb out to the road on all fours.

“Kelly’s coming to get me,” Mabel announces. Her thumbs fly over her phone’s screen, sending a response to her new best friend, a fourteen-year-old girl she met at the farmers’ market this past summer. “Her house is, like, two minutes from here.”

Agnes’s brow furrows. “Don’t you want to spend time with—”

“I’ll be back for dinner.”

After a moment, Agnes simply nods. She may be frustrated with her daughter, but she’ll never outright scold her. That’s never been Agnes’s way. It also could end up being her downfall, raising a headstrong teenaged girl on her own.

Agnes shifts her attention back to me, blinking against the flurry of snowflakes that even her deep cowl can’t shield. “Do the McGivneys have a winch?”

“Maybe, but I feel like I’m asking them for help for everything lately. I don’t want to drag Toby out on Christmas Eve, into this.” It seems to be getting worse, the wind picking up to the point that the only relief from snowflakes in my eyes is looking down at the ground. I groan. “I’m sorry. This was my fault.”

“We’ll figure it out.” She pats my arm. “But we might as well get back to your place. It’s getting dark, and I’m guessing it’ll be awhile before any truck makes their way out here.”

“I guess I can’t avoid him anymore, can I?”

Agnes offers a sympathetic smile. “He can be a