Saving Grace Read Online Free PDF

be me and Justin and Brianna and we’d be happy.
    Justin looked down at the dashboard and muttered something I didn’t hear. “What is it?” I asked.
    â€œYou got much money?” he said.
    â€œSome,” I answered carefully. “Why?” Brianna coughed in her sleep and moved around in the car seat. Her nose was running again. I found a Kleenex to wipe it. There was still some dried crusty stuff on one side, but I was afraid I’d wake her up if I tried to pick it off.
    â€œWe need to stop for gas.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    Justin leaned over and knocked on my head with his fist. “Knock, knock, Evie. Anyone home?”
    I pulled my head away. “Cut it out, Justin,” I said. “Do we have to stop now? Can’t we go a little farther?”
    â€œNo.”
    I could tell by his voice that he was getting mad.
    â€œYou wanna get to Montreal?” he snapped. “You wanna get five more freakin’ minutes down the road? We need gas.”
    â€œOkay. Fine,” I said. I found my purse and pulled out a twenty. “Is this enough?” I asked, holding out the money.
    â€œIt’s not going to get us very far,” Justin said.
    I found another twenty-dollar bill. “Here. But that’s it. Brianna’s gonna need diapers and food and stuff when we get to Montreal.”
    Justin mumbled something, then grabbed the money, jamming the bills into the pocket of his jeans. “Watch for a gas station,” he said.
    We both spotted the place at the same time—a convenience store with a coupleof gas pumps. Just as Justin slowed down to turn, I smelled it. Something awful, a smell like a backed-up sewer, filled the truck.
    â€œAw, shit,” Justin said. “What the—” He put the back of his hand up to his nose.
    I remembered that smell from babysitting. It was the part I always hated. But this was different because Brianna was my baby. “It’s just a dirty diaper,” I said to Justin. “I can change her right here while you get the gas.”
    He pulled in next to the gas pumps, shut off the truck and got out. Brianna was still sleeping. She was such a good baby.
    I undid the belt and lifted her out of the seat. She was warm and she didn’t smell very good, but I could’ve held on to her forever. She settled in on my shoulder. I brushed bits of her fuzzy hair off her forehead. She had such long eyelashes—just like Justin. And her fingernails, they were so tiny. I’d neverseen fingernails so little. How the heck was I going to cut them?
    Brianna had the same long fingers as my mother. Piano-player fingers. My mother could play the piano without even looking at music. She used to say the music was in her head. She tried to teach me to play, but there wasn’t any music in my head at all. And my fingers were short and stubby.
    After my mom died, my dad sold the piano and gave all her CDs to the Sally Ann. He didn’t even ask me if I wanted them.
    I leaned over and kissed Brianna’s fingers. Maybe there’d be music in her head. Maybe she’d play the piano for me when she was older, just the way my mother had done. All of a sudden there was a lump in my throat and I had to swallow hard a couple of times to get it to go down.

Chapter Ten
    Brianna coughed, opened her eyes and made whimpering noises. “Shush, Mama’s here,” I told her.
    She twisted in my arms and made more fussy sounds. It was hard to hold on to her and get out the diapers and stuff I needed, but I managed to get everything, spread the changing pad on the seat and lay her down. I had to openthe truck door, stand outside and lean over the seat.
    Brianna wouldn’t stay still. She kicked and squirmed and I could barely get the snaps undone on her sleepers. She’d loaded her diaper. I didn’t know what the Hansens had been feeding her, but it was rank. The smell made me gag. For a second I thought I