Read Online Why Lie? (Love Riddles #2) by Carey Heywood - Free Book Online

with the simplest of potential fixes, I make my way to the back of my bug and push, and push, and push.
    My feet slip and slide backwards into the mud but Lady does not budge. Rain flows down my face, flattening my bangs so I have to keep pushing them from my eyes.
    Still I push, only giving up when my foot slides out from under me with enough force that my knee hits the ground. Then, I make my way to the front of my car and this time, try to pull. I give this up faster, my hands not finding anything to hold onto.
    Straightening, I stare at my car, willing it to move with my mind.
    When that doesn’t work, I huff and trudge over to the tree line. Once there, I search for kindling, small sticks hefty enough to give me traction but not too big to act as an obstacle.
    Honestly, I have no idea what I’m doing or if shoving sticks under my wheels will help. I’d rather try and fail than do nothing at all.
    Once my hands are full, I quickly, or as quickly as possible with mud-coated shoes, make my way back to Lady. Then I wedge the sticks sideways as far under each tire as I can.
    Once that’s done, I climb back into my car, thoroughly soaked through, and try to see if my car will move. One dirty hand gripping the steering wheel, I shift out of park and into drive.
    Gently at first, and then with more pressure, I push down on the gas.
    Nothing.
    Not even an inch.
    This is not good.
    Shifting Lady back into park, I reach for my phone. Thankfully, it has charged enough to at least turn on. Whether it has a signal or not is still a guess.
    It isn’t cool in my car, but my wet clothes cause me to shiver as I wait for my phone to start up. My hands shake and it’s a toss-up as to if it’s nerves that are causing it or not.
    Once my phone is unlocked and my home screen is showing, my gaze moves to see if I have a signal. Relief courses through me and exits with a whoosh of air when I see that I do.
    Who do I call?
    My gut says Gigi but what will she be able to do? 911 seems extreme because while my current situation sucks, the only immediate danger I’m in is of catching a chill.
    I go with my gut and call Gigi, ignoring the notifications of missed calls, voice mails and texts. There’s a chance I could lose this signal and I don’t want to waste.
    She answers right away. “Sydney?”
    When I reply to the affirmative, she says, “Oh, thank heaven. Where are you?” “Stuck in mud about halfway down the dirt road that leads to the cabin. I’m not sure what to do now.”
    “Honey, honey,” I hear her call but know it isn’t to me. “She’s stuck on the dirt road going up the canyon. What should I tell her to do?”
    “Here, pass me the phone,” my pops replies.
    “Syd?” he asks.
    “Here, Pops.”
    “What have you tried to do to get unstuck?”
    I explain how I tried to push then pull my car and what I did with the sticks.
    “Was your car in neutral when you tried pushing it?”
    Heat hits my face as I shake my head. I am such an idiot. “No, I completely forgot to move it out of park. Want to stay on the phone while I try to give it a push now?” “Yes, but wait a second. Gigi is using my cell to call the authorities to find out what’s the safest route for you to take.”
    Twisting my mouth, I look unseeingly out my windshield
    I want to be moving, or at bare minimum, trying to. As crappy as the visibility is, I see something coming toward me through the windshield.
    “Pops, I think someone is coming up the road.”
    Squinting, I try to distinguish what kind of vehicle is headed my way. That’s when I hear it, a rumbling roar that has me snapping my head around to look behind me.
    “Pops!” I scream.
     

 
     
    Her car was in front of me. A phone was pressed to her ear. Then came the noise. It was an endless thunder clap that only grew louder.
    Her head whipped around as I shifted Jake’s truck into park and swung open the door.
    I was out of the cab, screaming, “Move,” but she couldn’t hear