Finding Opa! by Latrivia S. Nelson

boots as he hiked up the stairs to her and opened the door.
     
    “Are you ready?” he asked with a smile on his face.
     
    “No,” Stacey said, holding on to the door. “Maybe this is a bad idea.”
     
    “Don’t be afraid,” he said, grabbing her hand softly. He curled his hand around hers. “I’ll be right here with you, and I am a perfect driver.”
     
    One step at a time, he led her in the rain to his truck and opened the door for her. Putting her in the car, he locked her seatbelt in and leaned in to kiss her lips. “You know I won’t let anything hurt you, right?” He looked into her eyes.
     
    Stacey swallowed hard. She wanted to run back up to the safety of her condo and stay there forever. However, Hunter knew that if he let her go back now, he would never get her to face her fears. Running to the driver’s side, he jumped in and put on a jazz cd.
     
    “You like jazz, right?” he asked, turning up the music. “Are you cold?”
     
    She shook her head and held on to the dashboard. Her fingers trembled. Staring at the wet road, she zoned out. It was a night just like this when she lost Drew. The splash of the water as the cars passed caused her heart to race. Nothing scared her more.
     
    Putting the car in drive, Hunter reached out to hold her hand.
     
    “Keep both hands on the steering wheel,” she ordered. Her voice quivered as she looked over at him.
     
    “My hands are on the wheel,” he reassured. “Everything is going to be okay.”
     
    It was like she had never ridden in a car before. Used to the slow manual movement of her bike, she marveled at how quickly the blocks seemed to move past them. Protected from the elements, they went through the rain with ease in the comfort and warmness of his truck with the music playing to sooth her. Calming her fears, she sat back in her seat and nodded to herself.
     
    Hunter knew that she was talking to herself. He also felt privileged to be the one to experience this with her. Everyone handled trauma differently, and if pushed too much, often the traumatized would shut people out. Stacey, however, had opened up to him, trusted him. He knew that he couldn’t ask for much more.
     
    Stacey looked out the window as they moved past her safe area. She looked at the stores and houses that they passed like they had driven to another planet. “Oh, I’d like to go there,” she said, looking at a Moroccan restaurant that they passed.
     
    “We’ll go,” Hunter said with a grin. “We can go wherever you like.”
     
    “That would be nice,” Stacey said, nearly in a whisper. Her hand found the console. Looking over at him, she wiped the tears from her face, though she tried to smile. “I’m scared as hell,” she confessed.
     
    He smiled back. “It’s okay. I know that this isn’t easy, but you have to admit that it isn’t as bad as you thought.”
     
    “Yes, it is,” she said, sitting back. But she knew that it wasn’t. Maybe she was calmed by him being with her or maybe it was that she had made too much of not driving, but she felt somewhat comfortable.
     
    When they pulled into the private drive of the upscale waterfront condo community Hunter lived in, he looked over at her and felt like they had accomplished a major feat.
     
    Stacey looked around impressed. It was definitely a place that she would have picked. The condos were well-built, bricked, and spacey. Each had its own balcony. Plus, it had a beautiful view of the waterway, very much like her own.
     
    After Hunter parked, he walked around and opened the door for her. As she put her feet on the step to get out, he grabbed her and hugged her. Her body was still trembling. Holding her tightly, he kissed her neck. “I’m very proud of you, Stacey,” he said with conviction.
     
    “Thanks,” she said, taking a deep breath. “It was different .”
     
    “Nice?”
     
    She bucked her eyes. “I don’t know if I would say that it was nice, yet.”
     
    He liked the word yet.