I hit Send and took another breath. I got in my car and looked out to the house, the gang gathered around in the living room clearly visible through the open window. I could see Noah get the text and read it, shoulders slumping. He must have said something to the group because their conversations appeared to have stalled.

I decided to go before they looked out the window and saw me still sitting there.

The key turned. The ignition clicked on, the engine thrumming. It rattled and wheezed, and then my entire car went dark, the battery giving out on me at the most inopportune time I could imagine. I dropped my head against the steering wheel, feeling the hard leather smack into my forehead and not even wincing.

Fuck.

I could call AAA, but that would require waiting. Maybe one of the book clubbers had a jumper cable, but amongst a group of queer millennials who likely didn’t even know how to lift their hoods, I figured the chances of that weren’t very high.

I grabbed my phone and dialed. Noah answered with a confused “Hello?”

“Hey, Noah, I didn’t want to go back in and interrupt, but my car’s not starting, and I really need to get to my mom’s place. Mind giving me a ride?”

“Oh my God, absolutely not. Hold on, I’ll be right out.”

Noah shot up from the couch, scaring Eric and Jess, who were sitting next to him on the couch. Noah explained something quick with his hands, running over to the door and out of sight from the window. Seconds later, he was opening the door and hurrying down the path toward his car. I got out of mine, giving him a genuine thanks.

“Don’t even worry about it,” he said, jumping into the driver’s seat of his fancy new Tesla.

“Wait… how the hell do you open this?” I asked under my breath, not seeing a door handle before noticing the imprint on the door. I pushed randomly and managed to flip it open before Noah noticed me struggling.

“Ready?” Noah asked as I got in.

“Yup, let’s go.” I gave him the address, and we were off, silent at first, until Noah asked, “Is she okay? Should I be driving faster?”

I managed a chuckle, shaking my head. “She’s not in any immediate danger, no. She has early onset Alzheimer’s, and it’s progressing pretty fast. She still remembers me for the most part, but she’s starting to forget her own home, so she gets scared sometimes and calls me. At least she remembers enough to call me.” I felt my throat tighten but managed to hold back any rogue tears.

“Oh, Jake, I’m so sorry. I lost my grandmother to it three years ago, and yet I still can’t even imagine the pain you’ve both been in.”