I saw my best friend waving from the porch as she jumped off the side. She came running up to Lillian’s door and ripped it open, unstrapping the girl from her car seat. The two of them hugged and kissed on one another as I got out of the car. Seeing them like this always warmed my heart.
I shut the car door and listened to it heave and groan like it was protesting the fact that it was still in use.
“You really need a new car,” Nicole said.
“Maybe but I can’t afford that right now. I need to work on getting this house paid off first,” I said.
“Aunt Nikki, you wanna play tag with me and Mommy?” Lily asked.
Nicole gave me a dubious look before she planted a kiss on my daughter’s cheek.
“It’s almost dinnertime, so how about this? You go inside and get changed and then figure out what you want for dinner. Then, after dinner, we’ll run around for a bit. How does that sound?” Nicole asked.
“Yay! I’m going to go change!”
Lillian wiggled out of Nicole’s grasp before she held out her hand for my keys. I rolled my eyes and plopped them into her hand and then watched my daughter unlock the front door. From not even crawling to speaking in coherent sentences to being well beyond her years in occupational therapy, it was a miracle what Bradley and I were able to accomplish with her.
It pained me to know that he wouldn’t be here to see her off to her first day of kindergarten.
“How you holding up?” Nicole asked.
“It’s hard, going and seeing Bradley’s mom. He looked so much like her,” I said.
“It’s good for Lily to have a relationship with them, though.”
“I’d never keep her from them, Nikki. They’re family, and they adore Lily.”
“But I know it’s not easy on you. I wanna make sure you’re okay,” she said.
“Thanks. I appreciate it. But shouldn't you be at work?”
“Eh, figured I could use a day off. Tuesdays are my slowest days anyway. I wanted to make sure you guys got back in okay.”
“I love you,” I said. “You know that?”
“I know. Which is why we’re having wine tonight. Got it chilling in the fridge.”
“You're the best.”
I heard a door slam open, and I whipped my head around. My nosey neighbor was charging out of her house and making her way to mine. I furrowed my brow in confusion as her eyes swept over my car. I watched her nose crinkle almost in disgust, and part of me wanted to slap her.
Yes, my car was old. Yes, it was rusting on the undercarriage. But it was all I could afford after selling off everything to try and pay down as much of the mortgage on our house as I could.
When Bradley died, I had to take any job I could. Nicole hired me as a part-time employee until I could find something better, but no one wanted to hire a full-time mom with no work experience for any full-time position in this town. I sold off all I could, bought the cheapest car I trusted to haul my daughter around, and then threw everything else at our debt.
I knocked out most of it, but I still had forty thousand left on our mortgage to get rid of.
“Welcome back,” said the neighbor.
> “Thank you,” I said.
“How was the drive?”
“It was fine.”
“In that car?” she asked.
“Yes. It gets me from point A to B safely. That’s all I can ask for.”