The Dating Intervention: Book 1 in the Intervention Series Read Online Free Page B

thought. Dejected or not, it was Carpool Tuesday. She’d just picked Summer’s kids up from school.  
    It seemed only natural that after being dumped (not just by one guy, but by three in the span of a few hours), Delaney hit every red light during this trip. Here she was, for the first time in months with absolutely no romantic prospects, and the Universe was playing cruel jokes on her.
    Her mantra, “It’s a new beginning,” wasn’t helping at all.  
    Now she sat at the intersection of Highway 23 and Pinecone Street, waiting. Again.
    The loud squeal of tires pierced Delaney’s thoughts, and instinct had her looking in the rearview mirror. A huge black pickup truck came barreling toward the back of the van. She knew right away that the driver wouldn’t be able to stop in time, and she squeezed the steering wheel, bracing herself for impact, mentally flicking through images of ice patches she’d seen all over town since leaving the school parking lot.  
    Nope. There is definitely no way he can stop in time. Oh, shit. He’s really going to hit us.
    She had nowhere to go. Neither did the truck. Squeezing her eyes shut didn’t help, but at the last second she lifted her foot off the brake pedal. The truck slammed into the back of the van, and the impact sent the van lurching into the intersection. Delaney glanced to her left at oncoming traffic, and then gunned it, accelerating forward to avoid being T-boned.  
    “Well, that’s a first for Carpool Tuesday,” she muttered, concentrating on breathing deeply to slow her heart rate.  
    “Aunt D?” Summer’s daughter, Sarah, squeaked from the back seat.
    “Are you guys okay?” Delaney said.
    “What just happened? Did someone hit us?”  
    “Sarah, we’re fine, honey.”
    “Does our car still work?”  
    “Yes, Luke. The car still works.”  
    Delaney looked for a place to pull over. The only option was a driveway about twenty-five yards up the road.  
    “You don’t look fine, Aunt D.”  
    “I’m fine. I was just surprised, that’s all. Are you guys fine?”  
    “Mom’s gonna kill you,” Nate said.  
    “Well, you know I’m not your real aunt, right? So she can’t actually kill me. It’s against the rules to kill your best friends.”  
    Delaney pulled the van into the driveway of Porky’s Barbecue, parked, and turned off the engine. As she dug around in the glove compartment for the insurance card, her hands shook so badly it was a minute before she was able to get through the Legos and Lincoln Logs to the small slip of paper.
    “Wow! That was awesome! Did someone just, like, hit us?”  
    “Yeah, someone rear-ended us. Stay in the car. It’s freezing and I don’t want you getting run over. I’m going to check the back, make sure there aren’t any dents or anything.”
    “Luke, that is so not awesome,” Sarah said as Delaney opened the door.  
    She stuck her head back in. “Quit bickering, you two. Luke, it’s definitely not awesome. Your mom’s going to be upset if something happened to the van.”  
    “What about us? What if something happened to us?” Nate said.  
    “Oh, Nate. You’re fine. It was nothing more than a bump.” She infused her voice with a forced cheer she hoped would cover the shakiness of her nerves recovering. “Like bumper cars.”
    She shut the door. Out in the crisp, fresh air, she took another deep breath, willing her hands to stop shaking. It really had been a little bump, she thought as she walked around the back of the van. In fact, the bumper looked perfect, as if nothing had happened.  
    But still.  
    Delaney stood, hands on hips, watching the line of traffic move forward once the light at Pinecone Street turned green. The black pickup truck wasn’t slowing down to turn in behind her as she’d assumed it would. In fact, it was speeding up. It whizzed by and the driver didn’t even spare her a glance. Disgusted, she shook her head and climbed back in the van.
    The kids pelted her