“Um, no.” Her mom leaned forward as thunder ripped across the sky. “I will later today. Promise.”
“Right.” Zara wrapped rubber bands around her braids and kicked out her feet. There were holes in the bottoms of her tennis shoes. If they made any money today, she’d have to grab some before Chuck got it all and bought more pot.
Chuck turned, his frizzy blond hair drifting around. “Whoops. Did you feed the dogs?”
“Yes. The dogs, cats, and llama.” Zara sighed.
Chuck laughed. “Sounds like a nursery rhyme.”
“Sounds like a moron,” Zara muttered quietly to herself. But at least this one didn’t hit, yell, or look at her funny. So she smiled at him. If they could just stay in one place for a little while, her mom could make a bunch of the pretty pottery to sell, and then maybe they’d get to eat regularly. Her stomach growled as if on cue. “The animals are fine.”
The rain pounded harder, and she wished for a warmer jacket. Or even for one of those rain slicker kinds that kept people dry. A girl in her class, Mandy Martini, had two of those jackets. One was purple and one was blue. The blue one was super pretty. Mandy’s dad was a lawyer.
Lightning cracked again, and she shivered. Maybe she’d be a lawyer. Well, she didn’t like to fight with people, so maybe she’d be a paralegal. That was stable, and the lawyers she’d seen on television wore cool clothes.
Something popped. Her mom shrieked and wrenched the steering wheel around. The car turned left and plunged down an embankment. Trees flew by.
Zara screamed. Terror ripped into her, and she flung her arms out.
Glass shot inside. The car hit a tree, and the sound of metal crunching destroyed the day. Zara blinked blood from her eyes. “Mom?” she yelled.
Zara bolted upright in bed, sucking in air. Sweat dripped down her back, and she couldn’t breathe. She clutched her chest and shook.
“Whoa.” Ryker snagged her around the waist and pulled her to him, settling her face against his neck. “What the hell, darlin’?”
Breath whooshed out of her lungs. She sucked in air. Breathe. She could breathe.
She blinked away tears and exhaled slowly. Okay. It was just panic. She wasn’t having a heart attack. Thunder rolled outside, and sleet pinged against the windows. Fairly strong light filtered in. “Bad dream,” she burst out.
“No shit.” His voice was sleepy, but the hand caressing down her back was very comforting. “You’ve had it before. What happened?”
She stilled, although the comfort he offered settled something deep inside her. Something warm and safe. “I, ah, don’t really talk about it.”
“That sentence is easy to change.” The sleep cleared from his voice, the tone commanding and oddly comforting.
Her feelings were, too. For once, she was tempted to share her story. So she told him about the wreck and her mother dying. “I was trapped in the car with them, both dead, for several hours.” She shivered, remembering how terrified she’d been. How sad and alone.
Ryker’s head had lifted, and his eyes burned. “Oh, baby. I’m so sorry. I wish I could fix that.”
Tears pricked her eyes, and she battled them away. He’d fix everything for her if he could. A sweetness lived in Ryker that she doubted many people in his life had seen. “So I went to live with my Grams. That’s all.”
“Sounds like a lot.” Ryker pressed a kiss to her head, his strong shoulders shielding her. “All I know about your grandmother is what I read in a file and that she moved here to Cisco when you did. You never talk about her.”
“She’s mine.” Zara smiled.
Ryker was silent for a minute. “I get that. Denver and Heath are mine, and I hold that close.” He rubbed a large hand down her back. “I guess I didn’t realize other people felt that way, too.”
She pressed her lips against his neck. The nightmare attacked her every once in a while, and she’d awaken to a cold and lonely bed. Having Ryker comfort her, having his sheer strength and warmth surrounding her, made the past not so frightening. “Grams is a combination of my flighty mother and my responsible self.” She stiffened and then relaxed as she opened her heart and shared what was in there.
He kissed her head as if knowing the huge step she’d just taken. “How so?”
“Well, she took me in, gave me a nice home, and did all the things a mom should’ve. She was the grown-up, and I got to be the kid. Usually.” She smiled.
“Usually?”
“Yeah,” Zara said softly, warmth spreading through her at the memories. “Once in a while, she’d decide we needed girl time, so we’d drive to the Grand Canyon for a few days.”
“Sounds like fun.”
“It really was,” she murmured. Something buzzed by her head. She frowned and glanced at the alarm clock. They’d slept in until almost noon. Wow. She never slept that long. “Crap. I have a meeting at work.”