Fitting The Pieces (The Riverdale Series Book 3) by Janine Infante Bosco

cap.
                “No, I’m fine.” She looked back at him. “Thank you for taking
me. I know you probably have a thousand other things you should be doing.” She
thought that sounded better than pointing out he had other responsibilities
that took precedence over seeing his late brother’s whatever she was, off to
rehab, so she refrained.
                “It’s no trouble.” He looked at her for a moment, and
their eyes met, before he turned back to the road. “I’m just happy that you
asked me to help.”
                It was her turn to mock him and she smiled slightly, a
foreign thing to her these days. “Of course you are.”
                He ignored her comment even though his lips curved the
tiniest bit. “We should be there in a few minutes, this is the exit.” He said
as he motioned with his head that they were veering off the exit.
                She stared straight ahead, her nerves began to consume
her and she started to fidget again. The old Cara would be rambling on and on
about some sort of nonsense in a time like this. The old Cara wouldn’t be going
to rehab in the first place, she reminded herself. Her palms began to sweat as
the GPS directed Luke where to turn. Wherever they were headed was isolated and
full of trees. Off in the distance she could see a lake and knew they were
near. She took a deep breath and bit down on her lip. She closed her eyes and
tried to calm herself. She was about to embark on a journey, one she had control over. She thought back to
the words that she had reminded Jake of when he was going for his first dose of
chemotherapy. “The first step is the hardest.” What kind of coward was she that
she was nervous like this? The love of her life had taken on a fight that he
had no control of, a fight that they knew could claim him in the end. She
reminded herself that she could fight because there was hope. All she had to do
was take the first step.
                Luke rounded the bend and slowed down as they made their
way in front of the center. It looked like a resort that had been tucked away
overlooking a lake, he thought, and felt a little more comfortable that he was
leaving her in a decent place. It was almost serene. He pulled into a spot that
was assigned to visitors and turned the car off. Her hand gripped the handle of
her door tightly yet she remained perfectly still.
                “I’ll grab your suitcase.” He said softly as he watched
her nod before he got out of the truck to retrieve the suitcase from the back.
She heard the tailgate open up and Luke rustle around in the back of the truck.
She took a deep breath, and felt as if she was going to be sick. She bent down
and dropped her head to her knees and prayed she wouldn’t lose it.
                Luke came around and opened her door. “Cara?”
                “I can’t do this.” She said weakly.
                “Hey…” He dropped the suitcase beside him and placed a
hand on her back. “Look at me.” He said and waited for her to do so.   She slowly lifted her head to meet his gaze,
looking at him expectantly. He reached for her left hand and gestured towards
her hand. She looked down and saw his finger tip run along the tattoo of
strength she had scripted on her ring finger. “You see that?” He asked,
watching as she gazed down at their hands and the way his fingertip underlined
the word.
                “You can do this. You are strong enough to do this. I
promise.” He said softly before he dropped her hand onto her lap.
                She stared at her band of strength. Funny, she thought,
how when she and Jake had gotten those tattoos she really believed that the
reminder would will him to do anything. Why was it so hard to look down at that
band now and have it mean the same thing to her? She looked up at Luke, he
looked so confident in his proclamation that she