Free The Universe is a Very Big Place by APRIL ASHEIM Page B
Authors: APRIL ASHEIM
precipice. Of course. Something was going on with Spring. Again. Every time The Fool came up, it meant another catastrophe for that girl. It had appeared when Spring discovered she was pregnant with the twins, when Trevor abandoned her, and when Sam had stepped into her life.
Lanie reached into her Crown Royal pouch and pulled out a palm full of vials. She squinted at each of the labels and wondered where she had put her reading glasses. More on intuition than certainty, she opened one that contained a crystalline, glitter-like substance and sprinkled the dust upon the card. “For protection,” she said, staring at the ceiling.
She knew the Universe could read her heart but she wanted to leave nothing to chance.
Spring was allowed to work off-site in order to develop the marketing plan, likely because Kimberly was still using her office as a place to store office supplies.
She looked for a parking space in the back lot of Paradise Pub. Though Kimberly had insisted she could work remotely, she hadn’t specified a location, and a bar was probably not what she had in mind. But Spring needed a drink. And badly.
At last she found a narrow space between two large trucks. She carefully wrenched her way in until she was uncomfortably sandwiched between the two. Seeing that there wasn’t enough room to open her door, she made one final reversal and her body went cold as she felt the crunch of her bumper against the metal of a vehicle behind her. She turned to look. Sure enough, her car had collided with a roving black truck. Spring bit her lip and carefully inched herself forward, hoping that the glaring indent in the driver’s side door had been imprinted there by some other bad driver long ago. But the man who emerged from the truck, flailing his arms, made it clear that this was a new injury.
"Oh God!" Spring said, jumping out of her vehicle. "Are you okay?"
The man paid her no attention as he surveyed the damage to his pickup. It was an older model but appeared well taken care of, except for the large rip cut into its side. Spring took a quick glance at her car and was relieved to see that it looked fine.
"What the hell did you do?" The man turned to accuse her. His hair was the color of wheat and he was wearing a blue flannel shirt that probably doubled as a jacket in colder months. He crossed his arms and awaited an explanation.
"I’m sorry." Spring wasn’t sure what she was supposed to say. She had been involved in several near-misses, but had never had an accident. "I didn’t see you."
"Didn’t see me? You didn’t see me? Oh, that’s a laugh. I’m driving a truck for Christ’s sake!" The man shook his head in disbelief, straw hair falling over his forehead. "I’ve had this truck since I learned to drive. It was my father’s. My dead father's. Is everyone in this city hell-bent on destroying it?" He kicked his tire with the heel of his foot to illustrate his frustration.
"What do we do?" Spring spread her hands.
The man looked at her purse. "Gimme your phone." He lunged forward but Spring held tight.
"What do you want it for?" Her heart was racing and she wondered if this were all a ploy to mug her.
"To call the police and report this. And we should call our insurance agencies. Hope there’s long distance on that. Mine is back in Indiana."
Spring flexed and unflexed her fingers. Police? Insurance agency? Had she paid her insurance premium? She wracked her brain, doing a mental scan of the bills that sat unopened on the table. She had only been able to pay half of them that month. Was the insurance bill among the lucky few?
"Do we have to get the police and our insurance companies involved? Can we work this out ourselves?" Spring shuffled from one foot to another, pleading with the man. He narrowed his eyes and leaned back against the dented side of his truck.
"I don’t know. I’m not sure how much this will cost." He turned his head to look at the damage and grunted through his
Lanie reached into her Crown Royal pouch and pulled out a palm full of vials. She squinted at each of the labels and wondered where she had put her reading glasses. More on intuition than certainty, she opened one that contained a crystalline, glitter-like substance and sprinkled the dust upon the card. “For protection,” she said, staring at the ceiling.
She knew the Universe could read her heart but she wanted to leave nothing to chance.
Spring was allowed to work off-site in order to develop the marketing plan, likely because Kimberly was still using her office as a place to store office supplies.
She looked for a parking space in the back lot of Paradise Pub. Though Kimberly had insisted she could work remotely, she hadn’t specified a location, and a bar was probably not what she had in mind. But Spring needed a drink. And badly.
At last she found a narrow space between two large trucks. She carefully wrenched her way in until she was uncomfortably sandwiched between the two. Seeing that there wasn’t enough room to open her door, she made one final reversal and her body went cold as she felt the crunch of her bumper against the metal of a vehicle behind her. She turned to look. Sure enough, her car had collided with a roving black truck. Spring bit her lip and carefully inched herself forward, hoping that the glaring indent in the driver’s side door had been imprinted there by some other bad driver long ago. But the man who emerged from the truck, flailing his arms, made it clear that this was a new injury.
"Oh God!" Spring said, jumping out of her vehicle. "Are you okay?"
The man paid her no attention as he surveyed the damage to his pickup. It was an older model but appeared well taken care of, except for the large rip cut into its side. Spring took a quick glance at her car and was relieved to see that it looked fine.
"What the hell did you do?" The man turned to accuse her. His hair was the color of wheat and he was wearing a blue flannel shirt that probably doubled as a jacket in colder months. He crossed his arms and awaited an explanation.
"I’m sorry." Spring wasn’t sure what she was supposed to say. She had been involved in several near-misses, but had never had an accident. "I didn’t see you."
"Didn’t see me? You didn’t see me? Oh, that’s a laugh. I’m driving a truck for Christ’s sake!" The man shook his head in disbelief, straw hair falling over his forehead. "I’ve had this truck since I learned to drive. It was my father’s. My dead father's. Is everyone in this city hell-bent on destroying it?" He kicked his tire with the heel of his foot to illustrate his frustration.
"What do we do?" Spring spread her hands.
The man looked at her purse. "Gimme your phone." He lunged forward but Spring held tight.
"What do you want it for?" Her heart was racing and she wondered if this were all a ploy to mug her.
"To call the police and report this. And we should call our insurance agencies. Hope there’s long distance on that. Mine is back in Indiana."
Spring flexed and unflexed her fingers. Police? Insurance agency? Had she paid her insurance premium? She wracked her brain, doing a mental scan of the bills that sat unopened on the table. She had only been able to pay half of them that month. Was the insurance bill among the lucky few?
"Do we have to get the police and our insurance companies involved? Can we work this out ourselves?" Spring shuffled from one foot to another, pleading with the man. He narrowed his eyes and leaned back against the dented side of his truck.
"I don’t know. I’m not sure how much this will cost." He turned his head to look at the damage and grunted through his