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...?

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

one of those car seats with a handle you

shrugs. "It’s the only option for the truck. If she’s in

be,"

convertible car seat facing the rear should be fine. But not

"Bucket?"

for

basically the kind I thought we were getting. Turns out there’s a lot to learn

few children in Andrew’s car. The bench won’t be comfortable for them

look I shoot at Caine. See? There isn’t enough room. Take that, you pigheaded

is immediate and

up to you," Owen says calmly, unruffled by the

darkening. The air’s suddenly charged with

taking care of these kids from the beginning," I remind him. "We should follow what

works, the muscle there jumping beneath his skin. "Then they have

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

that

it’s sweet to see how willingly he accepts the

lock onto mine, steady and unwavering. "It

for him? As if claiming something makes it real. As if saying we’re a family means we suddenly know how to be one. I

how they are for him, and that’s the end of

anyone else," Caine says, his voice

other man hasn’t been the one to literally save

He’s just claiming the kids from their current parent without asking if it’s even okay. I get it; I’ve been doing the same in my head. But unlike a certain someone, at least I never

thing as absolute fact. Caine definitely never listed Owen in his future dreams of raising