Highway Love ~ L.R.H.

~Chapter One: This Is an SOS~

POV: Abby

"Is that everything, Kait?" I asked my sister as she helped me pack to go home. I had come down to Marshfield, Missouri, from Richmond, Indiana, to visit her for the weekend and to attend our brother's wedding.

"Yeah, just about," Kaitlin said. She took a good, long look around the living room, spotted my daughter Charlotte's favorite blanket, and picked it up to give it to her.

"Missing this, sweetie pie?" Kaitlin asked Charlotte.

Charlotte silently took the blanket and held it close to her. "Mama, bye-bye?" she asked me.

"Yep!" I told her. "I want to get us back to Richmond before your bedtime, so we need to go now. Would you like to go and say goodbye to baby Marky first?"

Kaitlin's nine-month-old son Marcus glanced up from his bouncer and started jumping with excitement as Charlotte approached him for a hug. I took a quick picture of Charlotte hugging Marcus, which he didn't seem to mind one bit, and told her to follow me outside.

"Safe travels, Abs!" Kaitlin called after us. "And tell Charlotte to stop growing up already!"

I laughed. "I agree completely. See you at Christmas!"

"Bye!"

Once we were on the road, I called my best friend, Hannah Vaughn, to let her know we were coming home. Hannah has been helping me raise the kids ever since my ex-fiancé died soon after Charlotte's second birthday. Hannah answered after three rings.

"Hey, girl!" she greeted. "Are you on your way?"

"We just left," I replied. "How did Maisie do?"

"She was an angel. I'm afraid she did have a pee-pee on your rug yesterday, though."

I sighed with frustration. Maisie is my thirteen-month-old golden retriever, whom I'd found after almost hitting her with my car. She's not quite out of her ruthless puppy phase yet, although she is becoming better-behaved every day.

"I hope the stain came out," I said, annoyed that Maisie had gone on my brand-new living room rug.

"Yeah, I ran the carpet shampooer on it, and the stain came right out. Hey, how was Nate's wedding?"

"It was great! Charlotte was an awesome flower girl; I can't wait to show you pictures!"

"And I'd love to see them. When do you think you'll be home?"

"Probably around Charlotte's bedtime, so like eight or so."

"Sweet!"

-*-

About five hours later, I decided it was time to stop and get dinner somewhere. We were on I-70 heading into Montrose, Illinois, and Charlotte was getting ornery.

"What do you want for dinner, Charli?" I asked.

"I want ice cream," Charlotte said with a giggle.

"If we eat ice cream now, it'll spoil your appetite," I said just as I saw a billboard advertising a McDonald's nearby. "How does McDonald's sound?"

"Dey got ice cream?"

"They do," I confirmed, "and you can have some IF you finish your meal – every last bit of it. Do we have a deal?"

"Okay."

I was about to take the exit for McDonald's when I noticed a beaten-up BMW with three guys standing outside of it and a fourth who was sitting down, clutching his left thigh. The car looked like it was just in an accident, as the hood was opened and there was smoke coming out of it.

"Mommy, what's that?!" Charlotte cried out, pointing at the scene.

"That car is broken, honey," I said. "It needs to go and get fixed."

"Why's it broke?" Charlotte asked.

"It's none of your biscuits."

I had planned to pass the scene, but then the guys started waving their arms to flag me down. Giving in to temptation, I parked in front of the car.