I hit the road at four thirty, not even sure what time she has to leave home to take the bus, but either way, I’m going to make sure I don’t miss her. I pull up and see some people hanging around. A couple of women who have seen better days look my way when I pull up to the curb and turn off the car. I watch as the building slowly comes to life as the minutes tick by. People taking the bus come out every five minutes, and right at six a.m., I see her walking down the sidewalk with a sleepy Dylan beside her and get out of my vehicle. She is holding his hand and looking tired herself. Her blond hair is pulled back in a high bun on her head.

I wait for her to look up, and when she finally sees me, she stops in the middle of the sidewalk. I walk to her, her green eyes locking on mine as she stands there with her mouth hanging open. Dylan stops moving and looks at her, and then his eyes fly to me, and he just smiles. The big hockey bag is hefted over her left shoulder. “What are you doing here?” she asks me, almost in a whisper.

“Well, I figured if I asked you if you needed a ride, you would tell me no, so I decided it would be better to just show up.” She looks down in order to hide her smile. “So now that I’m here, will you accept that ride?”

“What time did you get here?” she asks, and I reach over and slowly take the bag from her shoulder. She lets me but only because I think she’s still in shock that I’m standing here.

“Hey, buddy,” I say to Dylan, who rubs his eyes.

“Hi, Justin.” His voice is sleepy.

“Did you just pull him out of bed?” I ask, and she just nods her head.

“Yeah, if we wanted to make it to the rink by eight, we had to take the six o’clock bus,” she says, and we walk over to the truck.

“Why don’t you get him into the SUV, and I’ll put his bag in the trunk?” I say, and she opens the back door.

I close the trunk at the same time she closes the back door. “Are you okay?” I ask as she just stands there.

“Seriously, what are you doing here?” she asks, standing in front of me, and the wind picks up and some of the loose hair flies into her face.

“I,” I start, but I don’t even know why I am here. “Listen, you need a lift, and there was no way you would have taken it had I asked.”

“So you just show up here?” She looks around at the traffic of people coming our way.