Mary hesitated. If the gifts were to get to the families in time, she didn’t really have much choice. “M-maybe you should.”

Sarah edged her vehicle closer to Mary’s and with some difficulty they transferred the six heavy baskets and the boxes of groceries from one car to the next.

“Thanks,” Mary said grudgingly.

Sarah nodded curtly. “Go ahead and call Greg again,” she suggested.

“Okay.” Mary punched out the number and waited, hoping against hope that the call would connect. Once again, she got the “I’m sorry” recording.

“Won’t go through.”

“Would you like to use my phone?” Sarah asked.

“I doubt your phone will work if mine doesn’t.” It was so irritating—Sarah always seemed to believe that whatever she had was better.

“It won’t hurt to try.”

“True,” Mary admitted. She accepted Sarah’s phone and tried again. It gave her no satisfaction to be right.

“Go ahead and deliver the baskets,” Mary said, putting on a brave front.

“I’m not going to leave you here.”

Mary hardened her resolve. “Someone will come by soon enough.”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Sarah practically shouted.

“Oh, all right, you can drive me back to the Club. And then deliver the baskets.”

Sarah glared at her. “Aren’t you being a little stubborn? I could just as easily drive you home.”

Mary didn’t answer. She intended to make it clear that she preferred to wait for Greg to rescue her rather than ride to town with Sarah.

“Fine, if that’s what you want,” Sarah said coldly.

“I’m grateful you came back,” Mary told her—and she was. “I don’t know how long I could’ve stood out here.”

This time Sarah didn’t respond.

“What’s most important is getting these baskets to the families.”

“At least we can agree on that,” Sarah told her.

Mary climbed into the passenger side of Sarah’s SUV and nearly sighed aloud when Sarah started the engine. A blast of hot air hit her feet and she moaned in pleasure.

Sarah was right, she decided. She was being unnecessarily stubborn. “If you don’t mind,” she said tentatively. “I would appreciate a ride home.”

Sarah glanced at her as she started down the winding country road. “That wasn’t so hard, now was it?”

“What?” she asked, pretending not to understand.

Just then, Sarah hit a patch of ice and the vehicle slid scarily into the other lane. With almost no traction, Sarah did what she could to keep the car on the road. “Hold on!” she cried. She struggled to maintain control but the tires refused to grip the asphalt.

“Oh, no,” Mary breathed. “We’re going into the ditch!” At that instant the car slid sideways, then swerved and went front-first into the irrigation ditch.