She stared at the number she’d inked on the palm of her hand but only debated for a moment before calling her friend. One phone call on a burner cell couldn’t hurt. Could it? She prayed it wouldn’t. Nina answered on the third ring, her voice sounding dubious—and who doesn’t sound wary when they take a call from an unfamiliar phone number?

“Nina, it’s Carrie French. Your mom gave me your number. How are you?”

“Carrie! Oh my gosh! It’s so great to hear from you! How the heck are you? Where are you? Please tell me you are in town and can come by for a visit. We have so much to catch up on!”

“Well, I’m not in town. I just saw a rodeo billboard that made me think of you, and...” She paused for a deep breath before her voice could crack. “I wanted to hear your voice. See how you were.”

“I’m good. Well, great, actually. I have a new job working at a ranch in Boyd Valley, and...wait for it...I’m getting married in six weeks!” Nina’s happiness filled her voice and lifted Carrie’s spirits.

“Married?” A double-edged pang slashed through her. Joy for her friend along with grief for her own lost dream of marital bliss. “Wow, that’s fantastic! Who? How? I want details.”

Nina explained how she’d been buried in her car by an avalanche just before Christmas a year and a half ago. Something special had sparked between her and the emergency operator who’d stayed on the line with her until she was rescued, and they’d been dating ever since.

“Buried by an avalanche?” Carrie shook her head. “You have the worst luck in cars!”

“Oh, I don’t consider the accidents bad luck. Between the two, they brought me to Steve. I wouldn’t change that for all the world.” Nina paused, then said, “Gosh, I wish you were in town. I’d love for you to meet him.”

“I’d like that, too. I hope someday I will.”

“What about you? I’m not sure we’ve talked since your wedding. How’s married life treating you?”

“Oh, uh...” Carrie opened her mouth to give the routine lie, the false cheer to hide her misery. But something made her stop. Nina had been too good of a friend in the past to feed her the fake sunshine and roses.

“Uh-oh,” Nina said.

“What?”

“You hesitated. If things were hunky-dory, you wouldn’t have needed time to consider how to answer.”

“I, um...”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me. I didn’t mean to pry if—”

“I left him. We’ll be divorced soon, but I...”

When Carrie let her sentence trail off, Nina murmured, “I’m so sorry, Carrie.”