Grace of a Wolf by Lenaleia

Chapter 167: Grace: There’s a Lot to Learn

Getting a car seat is a lot harder than I thought... and we haven’t even left the campsite yet.

It never really occurred to me we can’t just take a big rig like ours into a random store parking lot. Some of them aren’t easily accessible for something closer to a semi truck than a regular car.

I squint at the map on my tiny phone screen as Lyre zooms into a spot just off the highway.

"Your only option nearby is going to be this Walmart," she says, toggling the satellite photos. "See? They’ve got the space for overnight parking."

"We aren’t staying there overnight."

"No, but that means they have enough room."

Right, right.

"Funny it’s another Walmart," I mumble. It’s where I met Lyre.

"It’s always another Walmart. Get used to it." She smirks a little before zooming back out. "Anyway, you remember what I told you, right?"

I nod automatically. "Only two to three hundred miles a day, don’t put out my slides in a parking lot, and try to park to the back so we aren’t bothering the others."

"Our tanks aren’t very full, but don’t forget to stop by a dump site, especially one with extra fresh water. And always turn off your—"

"Water pump if we stop to use the bathroom," I finish for her. "I remember."

The RV life crash course she gave me feels like it happened years ago instead of days. So many rules I never knew existed for a life I never planned to lead.

Owen and Caine pause by us, done inspecting the truck. Owen is some sort of car seat guru, apparently, and he’s our tie-breaker on the seating arrangement.

His silver-gray eyes meet mine immediately. "You can fit a forward-facing car seat in the truck," he says. "In the front."

Forward-facing...?

over at Bun, who’s currently worm-crawling through the dirt with Jer. Her little body wiggles with determination as Jer laughs, showing her how to

for that?" I ask. I’d pictured Bun needing one of those car seats with a handle you carry around the grocery store, something to cradle her tiny

for the truck. If she’s in

be,"

car seat facing the rear should be fine. But not

"Bucket?"

the handle. They’re for young babies, not toddlers like

I thought we were getting. Turns out there’s a lot to

put a few children in Andrew’s car. The bench won’t

the smug look I shoot at Caine. See?

immediate and

to you," Owen says

air’s suddenly charged with

out and hovering over Caine’s chest without touching. "Owen’s been taking care of these kids from the beginning," I remind him. "We should follow what he wants for them. He’s the closest

there jumping beneath his skin. "Then they have three

an idiot can figure out the math he’s using, and Owen’s no idiot. His brow arches as he looks between us,

that

see how willingly he

onto mine, steady and unwavering. "It is if you want it to

real. As if saying we’re a family means we suddenly know how to be one. I wonder how he’s lived his life to have such

him, and that’s the end of

my family driven by anyone else," Caine says, his voice hardening as he shifts

word "family" again. So casually tossed out there like the other man hasn’t been the one to literally save their lives and take care of

get it; I’ve been doing the same

but I know one thing as absolute fact. Caine definitely never listed Owen