Carrie drew a shuddering breath, and before she knew what she was doing, she blurted, “I’m in hiding. From Joseph. He...was abusive. Is abusive. And he’s determined to find me and make me pay for leaving him.”

She heard a soft, sharp inhale of breath before Nina whispered, “Oh, Carrie, that’s awful! I’m so sorry. I—”

“So I can’t come see you, because I can’t risk bringing the danger he poses to you.”

A heavy silence screamed through the phone, and the wings of panic flapped in Carrie’s chest. What had she done? She’d shared her darkest secret with someone she hadn’t seen in several years. She’d been close to Nina in high school and her early years of college, but how did she know she could still trust Nina?

Finally, Nina stammered, “I—H-have you reported him to the police?”

Carrie scoffed. “Yeah. For all the good it did.”

Nina gave a frustrated-sounding huff. “Look, you’ll be safe here. Steve and I will protect you.”

Carrie shook her head even though she knew Nina couldn’t see it. “I can’t put you in that position. He has an uncanny way of tracking me down that I can’t explain. I don’t use credit cards and I change phones frequently and... No, I can’t risk him coming to your place and causing trouble for you.”

“Carrie...” Nina paused, then said, “Then come to the ranch. At any time, there are at least three big, capable ranchers on hand that would gladly stand between you and an abusive husband. During the day, that number is more like six. He won’t get to you even in the unlikely chance that he does find you there. I mean, it’s a private ranch. Why would he look for you there?”

“Why would he have looked for me in any of the other random small towns where he’s caught up to me? Thank you for the offer, but I really can’t risk—”

“Please, Carrie. Let me help you! I know the McCalls. I know they’d want to do this for you. You could stay in the guesthouse they use for the adventure-trip guests.” Again she heard Nina inhale. “In fact, they have another trip leaving in a couple days! You could join the trip. It’s perfect! You’ll spend a couple days here at the ranch before heading out into the nearby mountains to hike and camp and do adventure activities like rafting and rock climbing and zip-lining.”

Carrie chuckled stiffly. “Because I don’t have enough danger in my life already?”

“Trust me, the McCalls are sticklers for safety. After a mishap a couple years ago, they go above and beyond typical safety protocols and triple-check everything. You’ll be with a group that includes one of the owners, Josh McCall, and one of the hands, Luke Wright. They’ll protect you.”