Carter

Shortly after I hung up with Ross, our food came and I told Zoey we needed to eat quickly so we could get on the road and head to Sedona. I was worried about the time, so I called the Enchantment Resort, explained our situation, and ended up booking another night just in case. Zoey sat across from me and her eyes burned brightly into mine.

“What?” I asked.

“I’m just wondering how you’re doing, that’s all. I know it’s hard to scatter Nora’s ashes.”

“I’m doing fine. I really have no choice. Do I?”

“If you want to talk about it—”

“Dammit, Zoey. I don’t want to talk about it. Why the fuck are you always trying to get me to open up? It’s not who I am, so leave it alone,” I spoke a little too loud and the two old ladies at the next table looked over at us.

“Okay,” she softly spoke and continued to eat her breakfast.

The rest of the time spent at the café was quiet. I had pissed Zoey off. I could tell because she wouldn’t look at me. But she needed to understand that I wouldn’t or never would talk about anything. As soon as I paid the bill, we climbed into the SUV and headed to Sedona. We were about five miles in when suddenly we hit a traffic jam.

“What the hell is this?” I sighed.

“I see sirens up ahead. It looks like an accident.”

“Great.” I threw my hands up. “Just fucking great. At this rate, we’re never going to get to Sedona.”

After a while, traffic started to slowly move, and when we got up to where the accident was, Zoey rolled down the window and asked the police officer when it happened.

“Excuse me. When did this accident happen?”

“About an hour ago,” the officer responded.

“Thank you.” She rolled her window up.

“Why did you want to know when the accident happened?” I asked her.

“Remember that weird feeling you had, so we ended up going back into the hotel for breakfast?”

“Yeah?”

“Describe it for me, please.”

“What?” I frowned at her.

“Describe that feeling you had, because you were so adamant about getting on the road.”

“I don’t know.” I sighed. “I was hungry and I figured you were too. What exactly are you trying to say?”

“Nothing really.” She shrugged. “You had a weird feeling so we stayed back, and because we stayed back, we weren’t involved in the accident that probably happened at the precise time we were going to be on that road.”

“So you’re saying if we didn’t stay and eat breakfast, we would have been the ones in the accident?”

“Yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying. Fate intervened.”

I sighed as I tightly gripped the steering wheel.

“There you go again, talking all that nonsense. I don’t believe in fate and I don’t believe in intuition. I’m going to ask you one last time, Zoey, just stop with all the bullshit because it’s really getting on my nerves,” I shouted.

I glanced over at her as she stared at me with tears in her eyes. I shook my head and looked straight ahead as I drove on the highway. Damn it.

“Can you pull over, please?” she asked.

“Why?” I glanced over at her.

“Just pull over, Carter,” she snapped.

I sighed heavily as I pulled onto the shoulder of the highway. Zoey opened the door and climbed out.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I yelled before she slammed the door shut and began walking along the shoulder.

I waited for a couple cars to pass and then I climbed out and went after her.

“Zoey, stop right now. Turn around and get back in the car!” I shouted.

“Leave me alone, Carter. I just need some space for a few minutes.”

“What? We’re in the middle of the highway. You can’t have space for a few minutes! Get back in the car. You’re setting us more behind than we already are!”

She ignored me, and I grew angrier the further she walked away.

“Fine! You want space.” I threw my hands up in the air. “You got it, Zoey!”

I walked backed to the SUV and climbed inside. Laying my head back on the headrest, I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. A few moments later, I heard the door open and Zoey climbed inside.

“Are you finished having your tantrum?” I asked.

She glared at me and pursed her lips.

“I think it’s best if neither one of us speaks to each other the rest of the trip,” she spoke.

“I agree, but that will be totally impossible.”

“Nothing is impossible.” She placed her earbuds in her ears.

I drove for the next three hours in silence before Zoey removed her earbuds and spoke, “I have to pee.”

“I’ll get off at the next exit. Are you hungry?” I asked.

“No,” she spoke with a slight attitude in her tone.

We pulled into the first restaurant we saw, got out of the car, and headed inside so we both could use the bathroom.

“Excuse me,” an older woman stopped me.

“Yes?”

“Are you a paying customer? Our bathrooms are for paying customers only.”

Was this woman serious?

I reached in my pocket and pulled out a hundred-dollar bill.

“Will this do?” I asked.

“That will do just fine.” She smiled as she ripped the bill from my hand.

After I was finished using the bathroom, I walked out and didn’t see Zoey anywhere.

“Did you see the woman I walked in with come out of the ladies’ room?” I asked the older woman.

“She went back outside. She’s a sweet girl. I gave her a bag of our homemade chocolate chip cookies.”

“Thank you.”

I climbed into the SUV and pulled out of the parking lot. Zoey opened the bag of cookies and took one out.

“Those were some really expensive cookies.” I smirked.

She glanced over at me and didn’t say a word.

“Are they good?” I asked.

“Yep,” she replied.

“May I have one?”