Moths fluttered in my headlights over the long grass of the ditch. I was still clutching the wheel, my heart pounding.
I’d swerved to miss a raccoon in the fog and careened into a shallow embankment on the side of the road. I was okay. Shaken, but okay.
I tried putting the car in reverse, and my tires spun uselessly. Probably mud. *Ugh.* I should have bought the SUV instead of the sedan.
I turned off the engine, put on the hazards, and called roadside assistance. They told me it’d be an hour wait.
Perfect. Just *perfect.*
I was still a two-hour drive from home, stuck on some lonely stretch between the funeral home I’d just left in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and my house in Minneapolis. I was starving, I had to use the bathroom, and I was in shapewear. Basically the grand finale to the worst week ever.
I called my best friend, Bri. She answered on the first ring.
“So? How was hell week?”
“Well, I can tell you how it ended,” I said, reclining my seat. “I just drove my car into a ditch.”
“Ouch. Are you okay?”
“I am.”
“Did you call a tow truck?”
“I did. An hour wait. And I’m in Spanx.”
My zipper was still half undone, and my dress was hiked almost to my underwear. “I’m fine,” I said, tugging my dress over my thighs, pivoting to put my bare back to the passenger side.
“Raccoon.”
He put a hand to his ear. “I’m sorry, I can’t really hear you.”
I cracked the window an inch. “I swerved for a raccoon. I’m fine,” I said again, louder.
He looked amused. “Yeah, we’ve got a lot of those around here. Want me to tow you out?”
“I called a tow truck. Thank you though.”
“If you called a tow truck, you’re waiting on Carl,” he said. “You might be waiting awhile.” He nodded down the road. “He’s six beers deep at the VFW.”
I closed my eyes and let out a tired breath. When I opened them, the man was smiling. “Give me a sec, I’ll tow you out.”
He didn’t wait for me to reply, just walked back behind my car.
I hurriedly zipped myself up. Then I picked up my phone again. “Some guy is towing me out,” I whispered to Bri.
I angled my rearview to try to see his plates, but his headlights were in my eyes. I heard metallic clanking from outside. The dog jumped back up to look at me through the window. His nubby tail began wagging, and he barked.
“Is that a dog?” Bri asked.
“Yeah. He belongs to the guy,” I said, shaking my head at the dog. He was licking the glass.
“Why are you so out of breath?”
“I was in the middle of trying to get my Spanx off when he showed up,” I said, grabbing them from the floor and balling them into my purse. “I was half naked when he walked up to the window.”
She laughed so hard I had to pull the phone away from my ear.
“It’s not funny,” I whispered.
“Maybe not to you,” she said, still laughing. “So what’s that guy look like? Some creepy old dude?”
“No. He’s kind of cute, actually,” I said, trying to see the activity behind me in the side mirror.
“Ahhhhh. And what do you look like?”
I glanced down at myself. “Hair and makeup done, black funeral dress—”
“The Dolce one?”
“Yeah.”
“So lookin’ hot. I’m gonna stay on the phone with you in case you get murdered.”
“Ha. Thanks.” I leaned back in my seat.
“So did the funeral suck?” Bri asked.
I let out a long breath. “It sucked so bad. Everyone kept asking where Neil was.”
“What’d you tell them?”
“Nothing. That we broke up and I didn’t want to talk about it. I wasn’t getting into it. And of course Derek was a no-show.”
“What a time to be in Cambodia. He’s missing allll the fun,” Bri said.