Enjoy the ride. Carmen almost groaned. She’d much rather be at home trying to get this crap with Eli sorted out. But she’d never let Tootsie down, and this trip meant so much to her. She pulled her phone from her hip pocket and checked for texts. Tootsie said the lawyer would call her when he’d had time to look over the papers. A part of her wanted to know right now. The other part hoped the attorney played golf every day and didn’t read over the papers until Christmas so that she and Eli could talk face-to-face and get this thing worked out without a divorce.

There were no texts or messages from Eli, but then, realistically, she didn’t expect anything. It had been only two days, and she hadn’t done what he wanted—like always. Looking back, she’d never denied him anything, except when he threw a fit about her getting her teaching degree. But he’d gotten over it, and he’d get over this, too.

Diana set her laptop on the table and started working on whatever it was that she did for the insurance company. Joanie took out a Kindle and started reading a book, and Tootsie moved up to the passenger seat beside Luke. None of them, not even Diana, who’d been through a divorce, realized that she was willing to lay it all on the line for her marriage.

She pulled up the hundreds of pictures she’d taken of Natalie during her senior year and flipped through them, one at a time, remembering all the events as if they’d just happened yesterday. When the phone rang and Eli’s picture popped up on the screen, she fumbled it and almost dropped the thing on the floor. She answered it on the third ring. “Hello.”

“I haven’t got long. Have you made a decision?” he asked.

“Is it Christmas?” she asked coldly, then softened her tone. “I’m not rushing into anything. I haven’t read the papers or heard from the lawyer.”

“It’s pretty simple. We’ll sell the house, split the equity down the middle. You can keep your car if you take over the payments. You can have the furniture. I want my clothes, my guns, and my—”

She raised her voice. “Stop!”

“Problem back there?” Luke asked.

“I’m sorry,” Carmen said. “I wasn’t talking to you.”

“Who are you talking to? Was that a man’s voice I heard? What’s going on, Carmen?” Eli slammed the questions at her in rapid-fire succession.

“I was talking to Luke. He’s Tootsie’s nephew, and he’s our driver.” She went on to tell him where they were going.

“You’ve left Sugar Run on a whim? Are you crazy? What if Natalie bombs out and needs you? God, you never were smart, but this takes the cake.” Eli’s voice got louder with every word.

“What if Natalie bombs out and needs you? Have you told her that you’re divorcing me? I’m going on the trip because I need some space. Are you really going to take the house?” Carmen shot back at him. “Did you wait this long so you don’t have to pay child support?”

“No, I didn’t, and I’ll tell Natalie when the time is right. I’m waiting until the divorce is signed and final,” Eli said.

“Then you won’t have to tell her, because—”

“There are no buts, maybes, or becauses, Carmen. Either sign it or I’ll get a court date set up right after I get home. We’ll let the judge take care of it,” Eli said. “Goodbye.”

His picture disappeared. Seemed fitting to her right then. She looked up to see Diana peering over the top of her laptop, and Joanie had laid her book to the side.

“Dear Lord, what am I going to do? He’s determined. If I don’t sign the papers, he’s going to take this all to court. Has he found another woman?” Her voice sounded hollow in her ears. “He’s going to sell the house, and we’ll split the equity. That’s not much because it’s got a second mortgage on it. I’m scared out of my mind. What if he’s been cheating on me? What if he really isn’t going to give us a chance? I won’t have a home. I don’t have my degree finished. My heart is being ripped out of my chest—I shouldn’t love him, but I do.” Carmen laid her head on the arm of the sofa and shut her eyes tightly. “Please tell me this is all a nightmare.”

“I can’t,” Diana answered.

“It’s like death,” Carmen whispered and then clamped a hand over her mouth. “I’m so sorry, Tootsie. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Why not?” Tootsie turned her chair around to face them. “It’s the truth. We’re going through the same grieving process. I lost Smokey, and you are losing your marriage. It’s painful and scary as hell. I’ve never lived by myself, either. I married Smokey right out of high school, like you did Eli, and the thought of being alone the rest of my life terrifies me. If he makes you sell the house, you can move in with me, or you can live in the motor home until you figure things out.”

“Thank you,” Carmen said, but it did little to ease the tightness in her chest. Diana’s invitation hadn’t, either.

“You are forgetting something important,” Diana said. “You have three-fourths of a degree. Just one more year, and you’ll be able to teach elementary school anywhere in Texas. You could use what you’ve already learned to get a job and finish up your degree at night. Stop selling yourself short, girl. We’ve all proved for years that we can live on our own.”

Guilt dropped over Joanie like a thick fog. She could live on her own, but Brett was coming home in a couple of months. There’d be those first few days when they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Then it would settle into a normal routine of him going to work, her going to the hospital and the nursing home to volunteer, and in a few weeks or months, she’d get a call. He’d be gone again—classified. He’d call when he could—he loved her.

She hated those calls, but at least she would have Brett for a little while. Poor Carmen would never know that elation of homecoming again, and Diana hadn’t had it for years. She picked up her Kindle again and went back to reading.

Tootsie got up out of her chair, went to the back of the motor home, and came back with a book, which she put in Carmen’s hands. “I’ve found that a good book will make you forget your troubles.”

“I’m really not in the mood to read.” Carmen tried to hand back the book.