Chapter 15 Shadows On The Road

• BRIANA
• Parking my truck beside Jack’s, Lace and I climb out just as everyone else is stepping out of their own vehicles. It has been three days since I first reached out to Peter. Three long days where my best friend has refused to let me feel alone. He checks on me constantly, filling my phone with silly memes he digs up online—things that make me laugh harder than I thought I could after everything that’s happened.
• Between stops, I’d sometimes ask Lace to ride in her father’s truck so I could talk to Peter in peace. Other times she stayed with me, curled up in the back seat, chiming in on our conversations like she was part of our little trio. The eight-year-old even told Peter she was “stealing me” as her new big sister, which had me laughing so hard my stomach hurt. Peter, never one to be outdone, announced that he would be her new big brother. The way Lace scrunched up her face in pure disgust nearly made me drive off the road from laughing. She shot back, sharp as a whip, that she didn’t need another brother and certainly didn’t want one. That fiery response will stay with me for a long time—it was exactly the kind of humor I needed in those moments.