ABBY, Ruth and Barb looked on from the porch steps as Andrew and Rob loaded up the Jeep with their things from the house, and from Abby’s SUV beside it. Rob set aside John and Trina’s things, and took them inside. Andrew was able to get in touch with Trina while they waited for Abby’s SUV. His new plan was that after he dropped the four of them to the car rental in Reno, he would return here to drop their belongings to Trina at the hospital.

Andrew had double-checked; there was going to be clear skies and mild weather for the rest of the day. It meant they were left with enough time to leave Reno before two in the afternoon. With that departure time, they would get into San Francisco by seven at night, if they made one short stop on the way.

Neither Andrew nor Rob would let her or the other ladies help; both Andrew and Rob coddled her like her injury had still left her incapacitated. When they were finished, Andrew locked up the house. Rob, Ruth and Barb piled into his vehicle. Abby wasn’t sure why she took so long to get into the car. She hung back on the porch and looked at the house, trying to etch it into her brain.

Andrew may have read her mind—again. “Does your phone still have enough charge?” He asked as he came to stand beside her.

“Yes. I had it turned off since that night. I haven’t used it. Why?”

“I can take a photo of you right here, with the house behind you, if you want.”

“How did you know?”

“Wild guess. Give it to me. Can I take some of you with my phone as well?”

“Of course.”

She smiled and pulled the phone from her purse. She turned it on and opened the camera app before passing it to him.

“Wait,” she said, turning to her right and pulling her hair to one side. “Get me on my good side.”

“Why is that your good side?”

“I don’t know. I like photos taken from this angle.”

He took a few shots with her phone, and then a few with his own.

“I’d like one of you,” she said as he passed her phone back to her.

“Okay.” He stood on the same step, his broad shoulders pushed back, chin up, and he smiled with his eyes when she took a shot of him.

“Thanks Andrew,” she said softly, putting her phone away. “Now I have more than a mental picture to remember you by. And the house that saved us from the storm.”

“Same here. I’d get one of us together, but your friends are waiting. Let’s get going.”

Rob had already sat in back, with Ruth in the middle, and Barb behind the front passenger seat. There was no discussion that Abby would ride shotgun. She guessed they knew more about what was growing between her and Andrew—not that she cared to hide it anymore.

The drive to Reno was quiet. Probably too quiet. Everyone seemed trapped in their respective thoughts. Through the rear view mirror and infrequent gazes in the back, Abby noticed Barb wore her earbuds, and kept her eyes fixed out the window, or down into her lap for the entire ride. Every so often, Rob would look over at Ruth and smile, but they never spoke either. She could almost swear she saw Rob gently squeeze Ruth’s hand, but it happened so fast, she wasn’t certain.

Andrew was also silent. Whenever she glanced over at him, he looked calm. The expression on his face was—serene. There were so many times she wanted to stretch her arm over and touch him; to gently tuck his dark wavy hair behind his ear, to slide her hand over his cheekbone; or just hold his free hand as he drove. She resisted the temptation using all her willpower. She contented herself to tilt her head back on the headrest, close her eyes, and remember.

They arrived in Reno in under an hour. There was practically no traffic on the way there, until they hit Highway eighty—which made sense considering it was early afternoon on a weekday. It was ironic and somewhat surreal; the car rental branch was directly opposite the seven eleven gas station they had met at, just three days before. They were back in square one, and it was a second chance to start over. The only difference was that John and Trina were not going to be with them this time when they headed out.

Andrew accompanied her inside to sign for the rental. As they waited to be served, he held her hand. He said nothing. Everything that needed to be said had already been spoken back in his room. The customer agent called her up shortly after they arrived. She gave Abby the keys to the rental, and some documents to sign.

“I can take care of this for you, you know,” Andrew offered, pulling out his wallet.

Abby noticed the black credit card he slid out, made of stainless steel. So did the employee behind the counter. She was a short, blonde woman, probably in her forties, bubbly and ever so talkative. Abby had forgotten to expect this kind of reaction, but she was not going to allow Andrew to pay for any expenses; not after he had already done so much for them. She pushed the card back to him and shook her head.

“No thanks. I can take care of it. Really, Andrew, you’ve already helped us plenty.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

“Okay. Rob and I will start loading up while you finalize the paperwork.”

Once he left, she gave the customer agent her card. The woman went on and on about Andrew’s black card, and that Abby was a little crazy for refusing help from her man, especially since he pulled out a credit card with no limit. It was a typical small-town, meddlesome reaction. Abby nodded politely with the woman and smiled—she was entertained, but was not going to engage. She signed the documents, thanked the woman for her help, and went outside to the vehicles, which were now side by side.

When the last bag was piled into the SUV rental, Rob shook Andrew’s hand.

“Thanks for everything, Andrew,” Rob said, giving him a man hug. “We owe you big time.”

“No problem. Have a safe trip back.”

“Will do.” He took out a piece of paper from his wallet and handed it to Andrew. “If you ever need anything, and I mean anything at all, let me know, okay? My number and email address are on the back. I’m ready to return the favor anytime at all.”

Andrew nodded. “Thanks Rob. Take care.”

He waved and said goodbye to Ruth and Barb, before turning back to Abby.

“Well,” he said, “I think I should keep this short. I’ll see you soon, right?”

“Agreed. And yes. Just text or phone anytime.”

“Oh!” He laughed nervously. “This is kind of an awkward question, all things considered.”

“What is it?”

“Can I have your phone number? I don’t think I got it from you.”

“That’s true!” She laughed as she pulled her phone out. “Here. Just put your number in my phone, and I’ll text you now, so you’ll have my number too.”

They exchanged contact numbers, and now it was time to go. They stood facing each other, neither of them ready to move off. Abby had to summon up her self-control before too much time had passed.

“Well, I’ll see you okay?” She said, giving him a friendly hug and pulling away too quickly to open her driver-side door.

“Yes. See you, Abby.”

He stood and held the door open for her, and closed it after she sat inside. Without waiting, he walked around to his car and jumped in. He looked over to her and nodded, signaling for her to leave first.

“Come on, let’s go already,” Barb called out from the back seat.

Abby started the car, gave him a final brief wave, and left.

* * *

Abby was not ready to go back to campus. And she had not expected it would turn into a bumpy ride after they left Andrew. The first two hours were the calm before the storm. And then it started; right after they headed out from the one rest stop they made, about twenty minute outside of Sacramento.

She should have anticipated it, in hindsight. There had to have been something she was missing while in the house. And it was all about to be revealed—triggered by a snide remark from Barb. Rob and Ruth had taken the back seats when they stopped, and Barb was in front. For a few minutes, she looked like there was something on her mind. And then. Pow! Right from left field she came a-swinging.

“You should have kissed him back there, you know?” Barb kicked off the fireworks in a nice, easy tone.

“Pardon?”

“You should have kissed him. No need to hide anything from us.”

“I wasn’t hiding anything, Barb.”

“Damn straight! We all know you were fucking him from the get-go.”

“That’s none of your concern.”

“Well you made it my concern, when we had to listen to you and Andrew, jumping each other’s bones like rabbits the whole time.”

“Barb, whatever you heard or saw was none of your business. I’m not going to apologize to anyone for it. I think you need to keep your opinions to yourself.”

Rob was the next one to chime in, in Abby’s defense. “Barb, you lay off her, all right? And don’t you swear at her.”

“I can curse at anyone I—”

He cut her off mid-sentence. “Hey. Watch your mouth, okay. It’s not your concern.”

“And who the fuck asked you?”

“You’re a guest in her car, remember?”

“Yeah, and it’s all your faults I ended up stranded in the middle of nowhere with you people.”

“The bitch is back!” Ruth exclaimed during the commotion.

Rob placed a finger over his mouth as he looked at Ruth, and took a breath. He set the record straight with everyone in the car.

“Abby’s my friend, Barb, and she’s like family. So I won’t let you disrespect her. So what, she met Andrew. They really like each other after a really, really short time. They’re both single. What’s wrong with that? Trust you to bite the hands that feed you. And that man you’re trash talking right now? Not only did he save our lives, he also took us in and fed us. All of us, including you. He trusted us around his house full of valuable stuff. And he saved John, remember? He’s the most decent person we could have met during that blizzard. Things could have been much worse. You shouldn’t take that for granted.”

“Sounds like a budding bromance to me,” she said sarcastically.

“Shut up, Barb,” he shouted.

“Hey, calm down everyone,” Abby said, in her firm, but calm tone. Tempers had flared—she had never heard Rob this angry, and had never heard him swear or raise his voice, ever—it was now getting out of control.

“No, Abby. I’m sick of her shit. We all pussyfoot around you, Barb. For three days we did that, like you’re some god. You know what? I hate to disrespect women, but you enter a room and suck out all the good energy. I can’t believe I was ever interested in you. I must have had blinders on, but now I don’t. Maybe you should be working on yourself, instead of searching for things to complain about and people to criticize.”

“Okay Rob,” Abby said with a raised voice.

She needed to take back control of her passengers. By now, Barb had shrunk away from Rob, and listed toward the front passenger door. She was in shock, and looked appalled. Like most bullies, she couldn’t take the heat she dished out.

“You’ve said enough, Rob,” Abby continued. “Just let it be now. None of us can leave this car for the next two hours. So let’s try to coexist peacefully, and not let things escalate for the rest of this trip.”

“Fine. And Barb, if you’re so concerned with who’s been sleeping with each other around you, you can add Ruth and me to the pack. There. Now I said enough.”

That’s what it was really about. It all made sense then. Ruth turned a bright shade of pink, but held his hand openly after he announced their new-fangled involvement. It shut Barb right up. And no further words were spoken for the rest of the trip.