For the next week, the SUV became almost the only thing she talked about.

The cameras.

Heated steering wheel.

Paint coating.

Interior protection.

I joked that she loved the SUV more than Sophie.

Vanessa laughed.

“The SUV doesn’t leave granola wrappers in the back seat.”

Everything still felt friendly.

Until the following Thursday.

I woke to rain pounding against the windows.

Emma came into the kitchen already dressed.

“Mom, it’s flooding.”

“It’s raining.”

“The street is basically a river.”

“The street is wet.”

She pulled back the curtain dramatically.

“Look!”

I grabbed my keys.

“Get your raincoat. We’ll pick Sophie up so she doesn’t have to walk through this.”

I ran outside and tried to start my fourteen-year-old Honda.

Nothing.

I turned the key again.

Still nothing.

My stomach tightened.

I knew the battery had been weakening, but I had been hoping it would survive until payday.

I tried my portable jump starter.

Nothing.

School started in twenty-five minutes.

And suddenly being late wasn’t my biggest problem.