She glances at me for a second. “I was.”

I’m at a loss for words. The car ride is silent after her blunt response.

“Do you have a place to go, Summer?”

I open my mouth but she cuts me a glare. “Don’t lie. You asked me a question. I answered truthfully. Now I want you to be honest with me. I read that text from your landlady.”

I close my eyes, dropping my head against the headrest. Panic settles in my stomach at the thought of what awaits me. The dread falls over me as I attempt to come to grips with what was going to happen.

“Summer?”

“I’ll be fine. I can crash at my friend’s place.”

“All right. I’ll have my bodyguards move your things into storage space nearby and then I’ll take you to your friend’s place.”

There’s not an ounce of doubt when it comes to Raleigh. He has always been there for me. And he’d come to me with just one phone call. And he would be so pissed if I didn’t tell him sooner.

But he is going through a rough time. Like me, Raleigh doesn’t like the audience when he is down. He stays low. He avoids even me when darkness takes over. He needs some time alone. I can’t go to him. But I don’t have anywhere else to go.

I take a shuddering breath. “I’ll appreciate it if you arrange for the storage space.” I look at her and smile, praying that it’s convincing. “But you don’t have to drive me to Raleigh’s place. I’ll just call him.”

“I won’t be able to sleep tonight if I left you all alone at this hour to fend for yourself.”

At this moment, I realize that except for Raleigh no one ever cared for me. And to have River worry for my safety makes me happy.

We just met today and somehow, I already feel closer to her. She is a resilient woman. She had many melancholy reflections of her life throughout the day. Any other person would’ve just respected my wishes and dropped me off.

But I am coming to think that she is unlike most people. Because she is insisting on going the extra mile to make sure I have a roof over my head. At least for tonight.

And for some reason, I don’t want to lie to her anymore.

“My friend, Raleigh. He is going through a messy breakup right now. And I don’t want to invade his space.”

The car rolls to a stop at the side of the road. River faces me. “If you don’t want to go there then where would you go?”

“I don’t know. I don’t have enough money to spend the night at a motel. I am broke, River. And I am scared. So scared that I feel like throwing up. Normally, I fight tooth and nail and never back down from my problems but this time I am helpless. And I hate feeling helpless.”

Silence fills the confines of the car for several minutes. Breathing out, I meet her stare.

River reaches for the box of tissues lying in the backseat and passes it to me. That’s when the wetness on my cheeks registers. I am crying again. A despair-filled laughter bubbles from my throat.

My fingers shake so much that I can’t grasp the feathery light tissue and it’s so pathetic that I bow my head, exhausted.

River replaces my fingers, taking the tissue she reaches forward and wipes my tears. “Shh…”

“Nothing is permanent. Not even bad days.” River murmurs my words to me gently.

Hot tears sting my eyes. I am missing my mom so much. I want her comforting arms around me. Her memories, her familiar scent of home, everything begins suffocating me.

Just when I’m about to completely lose it, River unbuckles her seatbelt, then mine. She shuffles closer and wraps her arms around me. Just like I did this afternoon.

She rubs my back as I will the pain to uncoil around my chest.

We stay like this for a few minutes before leaning back in our seats.

“I have a proposition for you.” She says after a beat.

I face her. “What proposition?”