by Beverly Long
She dug her burner cell out of her bag and stared at it while she debated. Could she maybe just call Nina, hear her voice, receive the sort of pep talk Nina did so well? Before she could talk herself out of it, she was looking up the number for Zoe’s Diner in Boyd Valley, the eatery that Nina’s mother owned. Zoe would know how to reach Nina.
“Zoe’s Diner, how can I help you?”
A smile spread across Carrie’s face as the familiar maternal voice filled her ear—and her heart. She passed the next few minutes with generalized small talk with Zoe before getting Nina’s phone number.
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.”
As much as it hurt to admit the truth of her failed marriage, admitting the truth for a change instead of perpetuating the myth of an ideal marriage to Joseph felt good—lifting a little of the weight of secrets and lies she’d been carrying for too long.
Nina changed the subject to her new job as a hand for the Double M Ranch. “The owners, the McCalls, hired me, even knowing there were a few jobs I couldn’t do as well as the other hands because of my injuries from the old car wreck. But I’m in the saddle again, and I’m working with great people and...well, I just love it here!”
“That’s so great, Nina. To think how far you’ve come in recent years—” Carrie sighed “—it gives me hope.”
“Never give up hope.” Nina’s tone was kind but firm. “I learned that through all my trials, if nothing else. Good things can come from the most unexpected places and change your life. Like Steve did for me. And the McCalls. Good things are coming for you, too. I know they are.”
Carrie wanted to believe that, but seeing a brighter future as long as her vengeful and violent husband was pursuing her was nearly impossible.
“Oh, Carrie!” Nina said, breaking into Carrie’s gloomy thoughts. “Can’t you come for a few days? I really miss hanging out with you, and it sounds like you need some girl time to cheer you up.”
A wistful pang twisted in her chest. “If only. I could use some girl time right now. But I can’t.”
“May I ask why?” Nina pressed.
Carrie fumbled for one of the convenient lies she told when people asked why she passed up lunch dates or girls’ night. Or why she wore long sleeves in warm weather. Or any of the many excuses to cover the dark truth of her unhappy marriage. The parade of lies was soul crushing. Each one felt like another piece of her that Joseph was stealing from her. Each one another concession to his cruelty. A knot formed in Carrie’s throat, and she had to swallow hard in order to speak again. “I just...can’t. I’m—” Too busy? Not feeling well? Taking an early morning flight?
She shuffled mentally through the deck of excuses, and an elixir of shame, frustration and rage simmered in her belly.
“Carrie? What’s going on? I can hear it in your voice. There’s something more than your divorce troubling you.”
Carrie squeezed her eyes shut, and twin tears leaked from her eyes. “Um, yeah. Sorta. But—”
“I’m your friend,” Nina said, her tone gently encouraging. “I want to help. Please tell me.”
She shook her head and wiped her cheeks with a finger. “There’s nothing you can do.”
“Not even listen? Pray for you? Offer a shoulder to cry on?”
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 i
n 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.”
“You wouldn’t be going?”
“Someday I might. I’m not physically up to some of the challenges yet since my accident. Another hand, Dave, and I stay back at the ranch to take care of the McCalls’ herd while the group is away.”
“I don’t know, Nina,” Carrie said. But the idea did intrigue her. Hiking through the mountains, away from civilization, for a few days? She’d have other people around her. For protection. For distraction. How great would it be to have a few days to simply catch her breath? To quit looking over her shoulder? And the chance to see Nina, a friendly, familiar face, after weeks on the road? Sounds heavenly.
“Does that mean yes? That you’ll come?” Nina asked, her tone bright.
“Um, what?”
“You said it sounded heavenly.”
Carrie’s pulse tripped. “I said that aloud?”
Nina chuckled. “You did. So now you can’t deny how much you want to do it.”
“Wanting to come see you has never been the issue.” Carrie dragged her fingers through her messy hair. “I told you why I can’t. Joseph—”
“And I shot your excuses down. I’ll tell the McCalls you’re coming. My guest. You can do the paperwork when you get here.”
Carrie scanned the small town where her car was still parked. Left, right, front, back. Carefully checking for evidence Joseph had caught up to her. The woman she’d watched earlier going into the convenience store now exited with her two small children, both kids carrying slushy red drinks. A sports coupe pulled into the parking lot with a loud roar of its powerful engine, and Carrie jolted.
Damn, but she needed downtime to chill. A place where she didn’t spook at every sound and where she didn’t feel the need to constantly search faces and keep her own hidden. Maybe the McCalls’ Double M Ranch—or better yet, the wilds of the Colorado mountains—was the perfect place to just...get lost. Go off the grid, in a sense. Shake whatever means of tracking her Joseph had.
“Okay,” she murmured softly, surprising herself. “I’ll come.”
“Great!” Nina’s enthusiasm bubbled through the line. “How close are you? When can you get here?”
Carrie squeezed the steering wheel, already doubting the wisdom of her decision. “Is tonight too soon?”
“I’ll make the arrangements and text directions to the ranch to this number. Okay?”
“Thank you, Nina.” As she drove slowly back onto the highway, headed toward Colorado, Carrie sent up a silent prayer that going to the Double M Ranch, traveling with the adventure tour, didn’t prove the most recent in a series of mistakes. Bad enough her life was at risk. How would she live with herself if anything happened to Nina or any of the other people at the Double M?
Copyright © 2020 by Beth Cornelison
ISBN-13: 9781488056130
No One Saw
Copyright © 2020 by Beverly R. Long
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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