She glanced in the back seat at the travel cage Andy and Annie were in as she drove down the road. It didn’t compare to the beautiful cast-iron home they’d had, but luckily she’d been able to keep that. It was in the trailer with what was left of her life. “We’ll be there soon,” she told the birds who huddled next to each other and peered at her through the bars.
The sun set in the sky as she weaved through the mountains. Orange, gold, and red lit the skyline above the soaring trees. Their beauty surprised her. She hadn’t been home in so long. She’d forgotten how much she’d loved it here and hadn’t even realized how much she’d missed it until right this second.
This was good. She would start over. Reinvent herself. Do what madeherhappy. But even as the thoughts filled her mind, the doubts and uncertainty quickly followed. What would Nick say when he saw her again? Would he forgive her for leaving him the way she did? Had she forgiven herself? She tried not to dwell on him or what could have been as she drove.
An hour passed, her headlights piercing the dark mountain highway as she climbed higher toward Granite Falls. The groves of pine trees thickened and wisps of fog snaked within their branches. As she followed a sharp bend in the two-lane road, a deer ran out of the woods and froze on the highway in front of her.
Gillian swerved, the tires squealing and she hit the brakes hard. Too hard.The car fishtailed, the trailer pulling against her. Oncoming headlights shone in her eyes, blinding her. She jerked the wheel to the right, pumped the brakes, and wrestled to control the car and the trailer.
The embankment loomed ahead.
Screaming, she hit it straight on, bounced off, then plowed into a thick grove of trees.