Chapter One
Her hands tightened on the steering wheel. Liana English’s rental car slowly made its way along the two-lane highway. Every mile or so, a gust of wind pushed the vehicle, rocking it enough to make her palms sweat. Snowflakes whirled past the windshield, thick and fast, blurring the world before her.
I shouldn’t be out here.
The weatherman had said something about a winter front blowing in, nothing serious. Just a typical Montana snow.
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
The farther she drove toward her destination, the lower the visibility grew, and her gut twisted in a larger knot. Her phone vibrated in the cupholder. The display showed it was her younger sister, Jorrie.
She hit the button to the handsfree to connect the call.
“Hello, my favorite sister,” Liana answered. She smiled and gripped the wheel harder. “Checking up on me?”
“I’m your only sister,” Jorrie replied dryly. “And, why yes, I am. How are the roads?”
“They are just fine. It’s bright and sunny. Clear roads, and I even just rolled the window up to answer your call.” Liana held back her laugh.
“Liar. It’s the middle of winter in Montana. I doubt the people up there have seen the sun in weeks.” Jorrie snorted. Her tone alluded that she was in her bossy little sibling mood. “The weatherman is screaming about a nasty storm headed your way. They’re saying whiteout conditions. Maybe you should find somewhere to stop.”
“There is nowhere to stop except for Lurton, and I think I’m about an hour away. Well, at least if I was going faster than twenty-five miles an hour.” Liana groaned. She held the steering wheel steady. Maybe she should have gotten a hotel at the airport and waited this out. But she’d figured she would have made it to Lurton by thistime. “All I can see is trees, snow, more trees, snow, and you know what else I see? Snow!”
“Can you turn around?” Jorrie asked.
“No, it’s too late. Plus I promised Terri I’d help her with the baby for a week. She hasn’t slept in like…I don’t know. A month?”
“Where’s her husband? He should be helping,” Jorrie snapped. Oh, yeah. The little sister was not only in bossy mode but protector mode. “She shouldn’t be doing everything.”
“Henry is a sweetheart. He’s been working double and triple time to make sure they can pay their bills while she’s on maternity leave. Believe it, he’s doing what he can, because someone still has to keep the lights on,” Liana said.
“Well, it certainly was nice of you to volunteer to help her, but maybe you should have waited until next week.”
“I didn’t know a month ago when I put in the time-off request that Montana was going to get buried in a thousand feet of snow.” It was Liana’s turn to snort. She sat up taller as she took in the winds picking up and her surroundings turning to whiteout conditions.
“If it gets too bad, just pull over,” Jorrie pleaded.
“It’s Montana. People do this all the time.”
“Yeah, people wholivein Montana. You’re a city girl from Denver who thinks hiking means walking to the coffee shop down the street from your apartment.”
“That was one time.” Liana rolled her eyes.
“You took an Uber back home!”
“I had on four-inch heels!” Liana gasped. How dare she judge her.
“Exactly! Who wears heels to run out and get coffee?” Jorrie’s giggles filled the car.
Liana couldn’t help the grin that spread on her face. Jorrie had forgotten to mention the night before they had gone out together and had plenty of wine, which left Liana with a crazy hangover. She’d run to the coffee shop to get caffeine to help with said headache, but Jorrie always left that part of the story out.
Despite the silly back and forth between them, the tension in the car rose. She squinted at the swirling white ahead. Every road sign looked iced over. Every tree bent heavy beneath the amount of snow burdening them. Her heater blasted, but the air inside the car still felt chilled.
“I’m going to be fine,” Liana announced for Jorrie, but really for herself. “I’ll continue to goslow and steady. I have plenty of gas and I should be there in about an hour. Two if I keep going the speed I’m going.”
“Promise me you will call me as soon as you get to Terri’s.”
“I promise. Love you, big head,” Liana whispered.