Page 2 of Surprised By Love

“I know,” Amber says, “Are you excited?”

“I am! I get to see Auntie Vicki and Auntie Becca and my cousin Jenna all the time. And… I’m going to go to school and make some friends.”

Amber chuckles. “I bet they are going to be happy to see you.”

I grin as I listen to how excited my daughter is about moving. I was so worried at first, not knowing how she would cope with moving. It’s going to be a change, moving from the big city to a small town.

“They are. I was on video with them and Jenna said she can’t wait to show me all the fun things to do there. I can’t wait!” Amelia says.

“That’s amazing, peanut.” Amber pauses, and I can hear some voices in the back. “Well, I need to go. Duty calls. Call me when you get there. Let me know you got there safely.”

I shake my head and laugh. “Yes, mom. Love ya.”

“Love you both.” Amber chuckles before disconnecting the call.

I look at the clock on the dashboard; it’s a little past eleven a.m. We’ve been on the road for a little over four hours.

I glance in the rearview mirror, seeing Amelia colouring on her lap pad desk, her tongue sticking out in concentration. I wasn’t sure how she would do on such a long drive. We’ve never really gone anywhere. Derek was so focussed on setting up his practice to take time off for vacations.

I pull into the parking lot of the rest stop. “This is going to be the last bathroom break, all right, Amelia?”

“Are we almost there?”

“Yep. We should be at Aunt Vicki’s soon.”

I open the door and get out of the car, looking around and spot a few of our favourite restaurants. “How about a cheeseburger and some fries, then we get back on the road?”

“Yes!” Amelia grabs onto my hand, pulling me towards the Golden Arches.

As we sit eating our lunch, I give Vicki a call before heading back to the car.

“Hey, sis!” I say when Vicki answers the phone. “Wanted to let you know we stopped to get a bite to eat just outside of Toronto. So, barring traffic, we should be there in about an hour‌.”

“Oh, yay!” Vicki squeals. “I can’t wait to see you both. It’s been way too long.”

“I know. We’re heading out now. Amelia’s finished her food and the clouds are rolling in. I want to ‌get there before it rains.”

“Drive safe. I’ll see you soon!”

“Come on, pumpkin.” I place my phone back in my purse. “Do you need to go to the bathroom again before we head out?”

“No, Mommy, I’m good,” Amelia says, reaching for my hand.

I see the sign on the highway showing the exits to Pineridge Falls and Sunset Creek are coming up. “We should be there soon, sweetie,” I say, quickly glancing over my shoulder at Amelia, who is watching a cartoon on her tablet.

“Okay, Mommy,” Amelia says, not taking her eyes off the screen.

The sky grows darker and tiny droplets of water hit the windshield. I love the rain. When I was younger, I used to sit on the porch swing with my Grams, watching and listening to the rainfall. I find the sound of rain more relaxing than yoga. “Please, don’t pour,” I whisper. As much as I loved watching the rain, I hated driving in it. Tap, tap, tap. The rain comes down faster, like I’ve jinxed myself. “Crap.”

“Mommy, that’s not a nice word.”

I look into the rear-view mirror and chuckle at my daughter, with her head tilted slightly and her arms crossed over her chest, frowning. “I’m sorry, sweetie.”

“Kay,” she says, lifting the tablet back up so she could continue to watch her show.

After a few minutes, there’s a heavy bump and a loud pop from the rear left side as the car swerves. Damn it!

Kerplunk, kerplunk.

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