Free Where You Least Expect by Lydia Rowan Page B

around as her car was tall, and because of its height, she wouldn’t be able to maneuver around the branches because they also covered the shoulder.
    Fuck!
    She punched the steering wheel in frustration; she was stuck here.
    ••••
    Joe looked at his watch and then out the front window for what felt like the thousandth time. It was close to 8:00 p.m.; it was pitch-dark out; the sleet and snow were falling fast; and Verna still hadn’t come home yet. He’d been surprised that her car hadn’t been there when he’d returned to his house early this afternoon, and even more surprised when he’d knocked on her door a couple hours later and not gotten an answer. The “weather event” as the news had dubbed it hadn’t even started yet, but it had already been a madhouse out there.
    He’d thought that maybe she’d parked in the garage, but after she hadn’t answered, he’d assumed Verna had made a quick run to the store to grab some supplies, though it didn’t seem like her to be last minute about things. But he’d dismissed the little worming concern that tugged at his brain as overreaction and decided he’d check on her later, maybe chew her out a little bit for leaving when she knew bad weather was coming.
    After checking his generator, parking the truck in the garage, and putting away anything that might get damaged outside, he’d looked over, again surprised that Verna wasn’t yet back. Then the sleet had started, and that little concern had grown a bit more. He’d busied himself by putting a tarp on her patio furniture and making sure the house was buttoned up, but the moment he’d stopped moving, worry had flooded in. He’d known he was being paranoid, but he couldn’t turn the feeling off.
    Maybe she’s staying somewhere else tonight , he’d thought.
    But that hadn’t felt right. If Quinn were around, he would have had no doubt that that was where Verna would be, but with her gone, he couldn’t think of another place. The strain with her parents didn’t appear to have eased, and Joe didn’t know any of her other friends, or anywhere she’d be comfortable enough to stay for an extended period of time. With no satisfactory answer apparent, he’d rambled around the house, checking his watch and looking out the window at every sound on the street. But as it had grown darker, and the street had gone virtually silent, everyone battened down to ride out the storm, he’d been more and more unsettled.
    After another glance at his watch—it was 8:01 now—and peek out the window to see no Verna, he stopped pretending he wasn’t worried. He’d resisted calling her to check in, mostly because he was a moron, but partially because he hadn’t wanted to admit the level of his concern, and partially because he wasn’t sure how she’d receive his call. But he wouldn’t be able to rest until he knew she was okay, so he pulled out his phone and dialed.
    When she hadn’t answered by the third ring, he was ready to hang up and figure out another way to reach her, but on the fourth she picked up.
    “H-hello?” she said, sounding tired and more worried than he’d ever heard her.
    “Verna, where the hell are you?” he practically screamed, purposefully ignoring the relief that filled his chest when he heard her voice, downtrodden as it sounded.
    “Joe?” Surprise colored her tone. “Um, hi. I’m on Route 74, about four miles from home.”
    “What? Why are you out there?” he exclaimed. That road was notoriously poor, and not the place an experienced snow driver would want to be, let alone a novice, as he suspected Verna was.
    “The highway was bumper to bumper, so I took a shortcut,” she said.
    He paused a moment to get himself under control; he’d yell at her later, but now, he needed to make sure she got home safe.
    “Okay,” he said, pleased with how even his tone was. “You need to hurry home; it’s bad out there and only getting worse. There’s supposed to be another few inches of