“Ren, I just sold my rig. I bought a towing company down the road at Ice Lake. I’m ready to settle down,” his voice was a bit shaky when he said: “Ever think about getting hitched?”

Then he opened a little box with a ring.

Swear to God, that’s how it happened, she used to tell friends.

-Chapter 23-

Ice Lake, Washington

Ren and Chet got married in the old pioneer church in the shadow of the mountains by Jade Falls.

They drove to Nevada for a honeymoon in Las Vegas. They saw Wayne Newton, and Chet won nearly $18,000 playing blackjack. They used the money to buy two acres and built a beautiful log house.

Ren helped him with his small towing business, taking calls, doing the books. The entire enterprise had its ups and downs. But they got by. Ren baked pies, made cakes and tarts, and sold them to the restaurants and diners in the area.

Life was tough, but they were tough, too.

They had one child, a son, Leland. They called him Lee.

He was the spitting image of his father.

Lee looked at her now from his framed boot camp grad photo next to the TV he’d bought her. Handsome in his dress blues, eyes intense under his white cap, sworn to defend the flag behind him, a proud Marine like his dad. Lee had served in Afghanistan. He’d come home safe and in one piece, and Ren thanked heaven for that.

Then she faced the heartbreaking event that changed her life forever.

Chet was out on a call and late for supper. It was storming. Real bad. Lee was in Seattle visiting friends. Ren had made meatloaf, mashed potatoes, peas and home-baked bread, Chet’s favorite. When he didn’t call, she called him. When she didn’t get through she thought nothing of it, at first. It wasn’t unusual for him to be out of reach, cell phone service could be spotty in the mountains.

She kept his supper warm.

But the hours rolled by with no word.

She felt a ping of unease in a far corner of her mind.

Something was wrong.

When a Washington State Patrol car wheeled into her driveway, it felt as if a huge talon had suddenly clawed away her insides.

Toby Price, a trooper she knew, was not much older than Lee. Toby’s father was a minister and like his dad, Toby had a comforting manner about him.

Toby came to the door and when she opened it, he removed his hat, rotated it in his hands, his eyes glistened and Ren knew – knew with all her heart.

“Mrs. Carter, I’m afraid I have some bad news …”

Her knees buckled and Toby caught her.