Grace Under Pressure (Grace Walker Series Book 1)

Chapter 21:

I woke up the next morning, stretched for a minute or two and noticed how bright it looked outside from my window. I got up and opened the curtains. There was snow everywhere! That must have been why it was so cold and windy. Mom gets onto me all the time because I never watch the weather, so this was a huge surprise for me. I knew it was early still because I could see my mom's car still in the driveway.

I got in the shower and let the hot water fall around me. I was still half asleep and cold. I got out and put a robe on and brushed my teeth and hair. I went back into my room and surfed through my clothes to find something warm to wear today. I found a big oversized purple hoodie in the back of the closet and found my fleece-lined leggings to put on. And I still think it would match my new boots.

At this point, I heard mom moving around and smelled coffee. I walked downstairs and the coffee was brewing and Mom was putting some bread in the toaster for toast. She seen me and dropped two more slices.

"How'd you sleep, punkin?" She asked.

"Good. I love my new blanket." I said and she smiled.

"I'm going to go into work in about an hour, if you were still up for going with."

"Yeah, I kinda told Mason I'd check on him today. He seemed really bummed that none of the other kids had been to see him in a while." I added.

She said that sounded good. By that point the toast popped up and I grabbed the butter and jelly. I grabbed the creamer while I was at it while mom poured us both a cup of coffee. I munched away on my toast and sipped my coffee, while mom took hers upstairs with her to finish getting ready.

I'm not much of an outside person anymore, especially when it's cold. But I wanted to be a good daughter and try to clean Mom's car off. I managed to pry the doors open. I really thought as cold as it was the doors would be froze. I started the car and turned on the windshield wipers and defrost to try and get some of the snow off the windshield.
Luckily it was just a fluffy snow, no ice in sight. It didn't take me long to get all the snow off the windows and the cab of the car nice and toasty. I went back in and mom was putting on her coat and shoes.

"Where'd you go?" She asked.

"I went out and cleaned the car off."

"Oh honey, that's really sweet of you.  Are you ready."

I told her yes, grabbed my coat and followed her out the door. Even though it was a fluffy snow with no ice, she took it slow. Our car isn't that old, but it's all we have. We got to Life Engagement in plenty of time. There wasn't a lot of cars on the road. Kids were still on Winter Break and weren't clogging up the roads to get to school.

We went into the kitchen to see what Jacob was having for lunch and actually put in an order instead of making a last minute decision. We decided on the chicken fried rice with an egg roll. We haven't had Chinese food in a long time. We then walked to her office. Mom said to hang out for a little bit because she wasn't sure Mason would be awake. So I sat in her office on my phone while she answered emails.

My phone chirped to let me know I had a text. It was from Reni:

Hey, wanted to text you and let you know we are gonna leave but that we may be arriving later. The snow you all apparently got last night happened in some of the areas we are going to be driving through. So it may be Saturday or Sunday before we get home.

I typed back a quick reply saying to be safe and I would see her when she got home. Sounds like we may need to hold off on the sleepover.

My phone chirped again and I thought it was Reni. It was Mason.

Star said you were in your mom's office. You change your mind to check on me today lol?

I texted back and said I'd be up soon.