Free October Snow by Jenna Brooks

need to find a new job, but for now…Well, I’m really looking forward to the lake.”
    “I’m up for the same reason.”
    “Get out. We should have stayed up all night and drank beer then.”
    Jo laughed. “We’ll do plenty of that at the lake.”
    “Hey,” she set her mug on the table, turning to face Jo, “let’s drive up there today.”
    “Strafford? Why?”
    “’Cause we can . Besides, has Grady called you back yet?”
    “Not yet.” She considered it. “Kind of a rainy day…The lake will be deserted. Could be nice.”
    “C’mon, Bim. You could show me the house.”
    “And maybe find Grady.” She set her cup down with a thud. “Hit the shower.”
    Max hurried out to the kitchen to refill her cup. “I’ll bring it back.”
    “We’ll stop in Raymond for breakfast.”
    “Let’s take the Daizer, too. I’ll call Sammy.”
    “Yup. Go.”
    They were in Raymond by ten, with Daisy staring out the back of Jo’s truck, panting and wagging, barking at everything she saw.
    Liz had declined the invitation for Sam, saying she was still in bed, but Max wasn’t buying it.
    “Just do not trust that woman, Jo.” She pointed ahead. “Turn right there.” As they pulled into the drive-through, she glared out the window, her lips pressed together. “She probably won’t even tell Sam that I called.”
    “I know. We’ll find her when we get back.”
    They ordered breakfast sandwiches and coffees, and waited in the line that was now six cars long. Max pulled out her phone. “Was hoping she’d call by now.”
    Jo sighed. “Look, we’re worried. Maybe we should be. But we need this day. We’ve been so stressed for so long now, we need to get away from everything. Just for this day. Okay?”
    Max was nodding, opening her phone. “Yeah, okay. You’re right. I’m just gonna send her a text, and then we’ll enjoy some breakfast.”
    Jo sighed again. “Go ahead, call her. See if she picks up.”
    “No, I don’t want to do that. Just a text.”
    “Fine.”
    They were the third car in line when Max finished. Jo was frowning, studying the car ahead of them, where a male voice was blaring a cuss-filled rant that was easily heard through the open windows. “What’s going on up there?” she mumbled, squinting through the windshield.
    Jo gasped as a man’s hand flew off the steering wheel and swung to his right, a hard backhand. A child, invisible below the level of the seat, started crying–the high-pitched, sobbing screams that small children are able to produce without inhibition, with no worry for anything other than their own preservation.
    Daisy sat bolt upright in the back, growling, looking anxiously through the front of the truck. The child was screaming even more loudly, and Jo was out of the car before Max could say anything.
    “It’s always something,” she muttered as she opened her door to follow her. “It’s always something .” She ran back to shut the truck’s door, remembering that Daisy was in there, then jogged to the car where Jo was leaning on the passenger’s front window, saying something that Max couldn’t hear.
    As she got to the car, Jo said, “He’s even got a baby in the back. Look.” Max saw an infant, no more than a few weeks old, laying unrestrained across the back seat.
    “Oh, man…” Max went to the back of the car, pulling her lipstick from her pocket and writing the license plate number on her forearm.
    “Hey! What the hell…?” The man in the car turned, yelling out the window at Max. “What are you doing?”
    She came back around to Jo. “How’s the kid?” She looked in at the little girl, who was cupping her hand over her nose, still crying.
    A young man who had been in the car behind Jo’s suddenly appeared. The cars behind him were honking their horns, unaware of what the holdup was.
    He touched Max’s shoulder as she was talking to the little girl, trying to comfort her. “What happened?” He saw a stream of blood running down the