The heat blasted down on me as I stood in the parking lot of the dealership in Queens, my stomach roiling with anxiety as I waited for the mechanic to come out and tell me exactly what the damage would be. It didn’t really matter how much I was going to have to pay to get my car fixed—any cost would be too much. My administrative job paid barely anything as it was, and I’d been clinging for dear life to what little savings I had.

I took a glance inside the garage where a pair of mechanics stood in front of the open hood of my car, their hands on their hips. Owning a car in New York was impractical at the best of times, but it was the only way I could easily get to work, which was all the way in Great Neck, east down Long Island. Going without a car wasn’t an option. Whatever the guys said I had to pay, that was that.

I was pacing back and forth, thinking about how I was already going to have to pay extra to the daycare for being late to pick up Faye.

Faye had been another problem—she’d been fussier than usual over these last few days, and I had no idea what could be the cause of it.

But I couldn’t think about that now. All I could do was get my car situation sorted out, go get her, and take it from there.

The thud of a car hood shutting cut through the air. I turned to see one of the mechanics, a big, barrel-chested guy with a gleaming bald head, coming over to talk to me. More tension tightened in my stomach.

“What’s wrong with it?” I asked, shifting my weight from one foot to another.

“Catalytic converter,” he said.

I didn’t know what that was, but it sounded expensive.

“How much?”

He wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand and looked off into the distance, his eyes squinting from the sun.

“Good news is an older car like yours is easier and cheaper to repair. Bad news is that a part like that’s going to be pricey no matter what. You’re looking at a little under a thousand after labor.”

My stomach sank. A thousand dollars would very nearly wipe out my savings.

“A thousand?” I repeated.

He nodded. “If that’s too much, I can look into selling it to one of local parts places. Might get you a couple G’s for it.”

A couple thousand sounded like the best thing ever, but I needed that car.

“No,” I said. “I want to have it fixed. How soon can you have it done?”

“The work itself is only a couple of hours, but we’re backed up as hell around here.” Then he took another look over me, apparently seeing how stressed out I was. “But…I think I can move some stuff around, get it back to you the day after tomorrow.”

Two days without a car. That meant taking the G up through Brooklyn, then taking the seven to Grand Central, then taking the Long Island Rail out to Great Neck. I’d had to do it before, and the process was almost two hours, one way.

But there wasn’t anything I could do other than that. Not to mention it sounded like the mechanic was trying to do me a favor by rushing things.

“Thank you,” I said. “That’d be great.”

“And lucky for you, we’re right near the Main Street station for the seven. Just a couple of blocks over. But why don’t you come on inside and I’ll take your information?”

I followed him in, and ten minutes later I was back out in the heat. I was in my work clothes, which meant I was dressed extra warm for the intense air conditioning of the office.

I stood in front of the auto shop for several long minutes, coming to terms with what had happened. Nearly all my savings wiped out just like that, and that was assuming they didn’t find any other problems with the car.

I felt hopeless.

Right before I was about to begin my trek to the station, my phone rang in my purse. I took it out and saw that it was the daycare center.

“Hello?” I asked.

“Ms. Moore? This is Allison down at Angel’s Day Care.”

“Oh, hi,” I said. “I was actually about to call you. See, I’m having some car problems and—”

“Is there any way you could come down here sooner than later?” she asked.

“Why?” I asked, panic gripping me. “Is something wrong?”

“It’s Faye. She’s being extremely difficult. Normally, we’re okay dealing with baby issues, but she’s not cooperating with any of the girls down here.”

“Shoot,” I said. “Do you think there’s something wrong?”

“More likely than not it’s her wanting her mom. That ends up being the case almost every time when babies are fussy like this.”

“Okay, I see,” I said. “I’ll get down there as soon as I can. But I’m in Flushing now and have to take the train. Might be a minute.”

“The sooner, the better.”

We said our goodbyes and hung up.

I sighed as I slipped my phone back into my purse. I hated—hated, hated, hated—having to leave Faye in daycare. If it were up to me, I would’ve been home with her every day until she was at least able to walk. But two months was all the maternity leave my company was willing to give me, and even that was more generous than I was expecting. I was reasonably sure they were cutting me some slack on account of being a single mom.

On top of not being able to be with Faye, daycare was expensive. Whatever little bit of money I’d manage to save at the end of the month was gobbled up right away by daycare. The tiny bit I’d had saved had required so much belt-tightening, I still couldn’t believe I’d managed to save even that.

Now it was gone. Just like that.

I arrived at the station, ready to head down the stairs and grab a train for my long trip back into the city. Right before I turned toward the stairs, however, a car pulled up in front of where I stood on the sidewalk. It was a cherry-red sports car, the top down. In the driver’s seat was a good-looking man with bright blond hair, his eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses and a big smile on his face.

Next to him was a gorgeous redhead, her skin impossibly fair. She wore a light sundress, her red curls dangling down from underneath a wide summer hat. They laughed and smile as they waited at the red light, stealing kisses from one another.

I watched them as they waited for the light to turn, a feeling of longing taking hold of my heart. For me, this was a miserable, rotten day. For these two, it was all fun and games, nothing to worry about but driving with the top down and taking in the mild summer wind.

They reminded me of my time with Justin. Made sense—after all, that was the last time I’d felt anything that even resembled “carefree.” As much as I loved Faye, it seemed like my life was nothing but stress. I had to raise my little girl all on my own, work a full-time job, and constantly, worry about money. And here these two were, living the kind of life I’d only be able to dream of.

The light turned green, and they were off, the engine of the sports car fading into the distance.