Sherry threw her Ford Focus into gear, wishing she was driving Brad’s Viper instead of her old clunker. She ignored the vehicle’s hesitation and the grinding sounds that came from underneath as she sped backwards out of the driveway without looking. Banging into the garbage can, she winced, knowing the heavy rubber container likely dented the side of the car, but not really caring.

She just needed to be gone, and to be gone as quickly as possible. As she spun the car to face the other end of the cul-de-sac, momentarily stopping to shift gears once more, Brad ran up and pounded on the window, startling her. He was bare-chested, his ripped muscles bulging with effort as he tried to force her to look at him. He wore a pair of gray sweatpants and little else. Normally the sight of his hard, athletic body would cause her to pause and stare at him with hunger, but today she only felt disgust and anger.

“Sherry, come on!” Brad’s muted plea came through the closed window. Her fiancé—correction, former fiancé—raced barefoot alongside the slowly moving vehicle as she attempted to leave. He had one hand on the locked door handle and the other on the window as he tried to keep her from moving forward.

Sherry’s heart beat out a rhythm that begged her to flatten him, but she waited for him to retreat back a step before she glared at him.

Rolling down the window, she said, “Get away from the car, or I’m gonna run over your toes.”

Brad wisely stepped farther back, hands raised in surrender. His face turneda bright shade of red. He tossed his black hair out of his eyes. Pointing a finger at her, he said, “Go ahead, run off like a baby. You never were a good lay. I don’t need you anyway.”

“You will when the rent comes due next week,” Sherry spat out before she sped off down the street. In the rearview mirror, which Sherry mentally kicked herself for looking into, she saw the blonde draped around him, rubbing his chest and consoling him in the only way a strumpet like her knew how to.

The girl was dressed in the silk robe Brad had given Sherry on her last birthday. Her favorite silk robe. The one Brad said brought out the blue in her eyes and the sexy in her toned and petite body. She was half-tempted to whip the car around and rip the silk off the woman’s slender, tanned form, but decided to forgo that pleasure in favor of getting the heck away from there. Flipping her dark hair over her shoulders, she forced herself to keep her eyes on the road.

A short while later, blinded by tears, she nearly sideswiped a delivery truck and city bus before her pounding heart calmed down and she could breathe normally again. After several hours, with the radio blasting rock music loud enough to melt her eardrums, Sherry pulled over to the side of the road into a small rest area. She had no idea where she was, or where she was going, but something had told her to keep driving, so she followedher gut instinct.

The brisk spring air, chilled with the promise of more winter this close to the mountains of Colorado, greeted her as she emerged from the car. Stepping into a slushy puddle, she groaned in frustration. These were her favorite black heels, their leather now ruined forever in the salty, half-melted snow that encased her foot up to the ankle.

Sherry grabbed her cape from the passenger side and wrapped the thin material around her cream-colored silk blouse. Neither article of clothing was any protection from the cold air that whipped around her. Her dark hair had fallen from the loose bun she’d put it in earlier while driving to keep it out of her eyes. She shivered.

The sound of laughter drew her eyes to a family walking toward the entrance to the building that housed the bathrooms and snack machines. The little girl held tightly to her father’s hand, while the boy—in his mother’s arms as he was just a toddler—hugged the woman tightly. Looking over her shoulder at her husband who walked slightly behind them, the woman smiled at something he’d said with a look of complete adoration, which he returned with an easy smile of his own, and Sherry felt her throat tighten in jealousy.

Would she ever see anyone look at her like that?

She’d thought Brad would be that one, the one who would make her heart sing with passion that could last forever, but he obviously played their love song out of tune. What was so wrong with her that she couldn’t find anyone to love her for longer than it took to cash her paycheck?

She’d met Brad in church, for Christ’s sake. How could he have turned out to be such a snake? Was this bimbo the first, as he’d claimed while throwing on his pants to chase after her when she fled? Or was this one just the first he’d been caught with? If she hadn’t come home from work early today due to a gas leak near the therapy office at the middle school, she never would have known anything about what he was up to when she was gone each day. Who knows how long this had been going on without her knowledge? Brad certainly wasn’t going to tell her, and the bimbo was barely able to string a sentence together, so no help there.

Shivering in the cold, Sherry already regretted her hasty decision to run away. She should have made him, and the bimbo, of course, leave. She considered turning around and driving home, but the last thing she wanted to do was have another argument with him or, worse yet, admit she was wrong to leave so quickly. Even though she knew she wasn’t.

That love nest of his was her apartment, dammit. She should have made him leave. Her face darkened as she remembered the sounds that greeted her when she’d opened the door, sounds she was all too familiar with making herself after a few glasses of good wine and great jazz.

Pinching her lips, she closed her eyes, willing the tears not to fall.

“Lady?” said a small voice to her right. “Are you okay? Do you need a sucker?”

Slowly opening her eyes, Sherry said, “No, thank you.” Under her breath she muttered, “I am the sucker,” which came out louder than she intended.

Sherry looked down to see a tiny blonde girl holding up a bright red sucker, the kind the dentist used to give her back when she was young, if she was a good girl and didn’t squirm too much in the seat while they drilled her teeth. She’d always thought it ironic that a dentist would give sugar on a stick to a kid whose teeth he’d just worked on, but she hadn’t complained too loudly. And it had seemed to ease the pain, at least for a little while.

“Thank you,” Sherry said, reconsidering. She took the sucker the little girl offered and smiled, hoping her mouth made the appropriate shape and wouldn’t scare the child. Sherry wasn’t sure what to do next, as the girl didn’t seem to want to leave.

“I am so sorry. I hope Destiny wasn’t bothering you too much.” The little girl’s mother took her daughter by the hand and gently tugged her away.

Sherry smiled crookedly. “Destiny? Perfect name for the first person I speak to right after the disaster of my current life. Almost like a sign.”

A sign? Of course it was a sign. Sherry was a firm believer that if you stood still long enough, the universe would find a way to connect with you. Watching the tiny girl and her mother walk with hands clasped tightly, she wasn’t surprised when the girl turned, locked eyes with her, and gave Sherry a solemn wink before getting in the car with her family and driving off.

Sherry entered, then stood in the middle of the information building as she looked around. She was surrounded by maps marking the nearest hiking trails, along with brochures advertising tourist traps, which were neatly lined up on the wall in metal racks. The slick, curved, white walls and cheap marble flooring somehow both soothed and unsettled her. Sherry felt the walls closing in on her, although nothing was moving. She felt something happening—changing—inside her. She breathed deeply, eyes closed, and waited to see if the universe had another sign for her.

But nothing came. At least not right away.

No one said, “Go home, patch things up with your skanky boyfriend, and forget that he tends to like other women once in a while.” Conversely, nothing else said, “Forget that jerk, keep driving.”

Then she heard the soft swish-swish of leather-soled shoes on the floor.

“Can I help you, miss?” A kind dark-skinned man, with eyes like chips of coal in his lined and weathered face, looked at her in concern. “Are you lost?” He wore a dark green uniform with a slim silver badge that announced him as BRAD.

Sherry wanted to laugh out loud at the irony of meeting someone with her ex-boyfriend’s name, but swallowed back the mirthless sound instead. Sometimes the universe could be cruel. She shook her head, but her watery eyes gave away her true emotional state. The man patted her arm and then squeezed it as he led her over to where the brightly colored and labeled maps rested.

“Perhaps you’re looking for a nice place to visit?”

Sherry felt herself gently propelled closer toward the maps. She took the one he proffered to her, barely glancing at it. The second she touched it, she felt a tingle, gentle and insistent, travel up her arm. Nothing uncomfortable or painful—it was more like the pins-and-needles feeling when your arm fell asleep after resting your head on it for a while.

“This is a brochure for a lovely town not far from here called Havenwood Falls. A lot of folks find the town quite pleasant to visit, and I’m sure you will, too.”

Sherry raised an eyebrow as she looked at the one-page, double-sided flyer he’d handed to her. The old man stood in front of her, slightly stooped and expectant, as if her decision mattered a great deal to him.

Sherry’s eye was caught by the promise of a “cabin in paradise,” and she was sold before she even knew what else to say.

Chuckling as if he knew the answer before he asked, the old man said, “You have a plan now?”

“Why, yes,” Sherry said, answering his twinkling eyes with a shy smile of her own. “I think I do. These cabins sound wonderful. I see a number down here. I’m going to call and see if they have anything available.”

“Good idea. You’d better move on now. There’s a storm heading this way soon, and it wouldn’t do to get caught in it. Those late spring squalls can be quite temperamental in the mountains. Oh, and miss,” the old man said as she started to turn away, “the town is a bit difficult to find. You can take the shuttle outside, or if you prefer to drive your own vehicle, you are welcome to follow the bus for the best way to get there. I strongly urge you to do that. The shuttle bus will be leaving in about ten minutes, though, so you’d better hurry.”

Sherry looked where he pointed and saw a large bus idling in the section reserved for buses and trucks to park. She couldn’t see through the tinted windows, so wasn’t sure if it was full already or not. Since there was so little time to get on the bus if she wanted to take it, and since she was planning to rent a cabin and would need her car, she decided not to take the bus. But she would definitely follow it. She had a feeling the old man was not lying about it being a difficult town to find and wondered why. Mountain roads could be tricky sometimes, with quick turns and perhaps that was the reason why. Either way, she was getting excited at the thought of having a plan.

Sherry nodded. Chuckling once she walked outside, she grinned at the kindness of the old man. He’d been pushy, but pretty darn cute in spite of it. She liked him. Looking back through the glass doors, she was surprised not to see him standing in the doorway watching her. Instead, she could make out a tall, stocky woman behind the desk, shuffling papers and talking to an elderly couple who had just walked up.

After calling the number on the flyer, Sherry was relieved to find there was one cabin left. Because it was higher up on the mountain than she would have liked, she hesitated before committing to the idea of the cabin. I’m just planning to hike the area for a few days until things have a little time to cool off at home, she reasoned, justifying both the expense and the remoteness of the cabin.

“That will be three hundred dollars for the week,” the woman on the other end of the line said.

Sherry gasped in surprise. “Are you sure? That seems pretty cheap.”

“Oh yes, ma’am. Your cabin is very rustic, therefore a little cheaper,” the woman replied. Her voice sounded pleasant and certain, exactly the way a customer service person should sound.

Sherry gave the woman her card number and then, just as the woman hung up, thought of a question she needed to ask. When she tried to call back, the number was busy. Hanging up, Sherry decided to go back inside and thank the old man for his help and try the number later.

Moving inside, Sherry waited a minute until the woman behind the counter was free. Sheila’s name badge was slightly crooked and not as shiny, but still lettered the same. When Sheila looked up, Sherry smiled sweetly and said, “I wonder if you might give that sweet old guy, Brad, a message for me?”

“Brad?” Sheila’s expression was puzzled and annoyed, like she had plenty of better things to do than play secretary.

“Yes, the nice man who helped me a few minutes ago.”

“How did he help you?” the woman asked. Her expression had changed from annoyed to cautious, as if afraid of what Sherry might answer.

“Well, he gave me this flyer, the one about Havenwood Falls and renting a cabin. Let him know that’s what I’ve decided to do. And I owe it all to him. So please, tell him thank you.”

Sheila hesitated. Biting her lip, she folded her hands together on the desk and stared Sherry squarely in the face. “I’m not sure what game you are playing at here, young lady, but we have no one working here named Brad. And I have never heard of Havenwood Falls. What are you trying to pull?”

Sherry, totally shocked by the woman’s attitude—which she felt was totally uncalled for and very hostile—stepped away from the desk. Holding the flyer in front of her, she spoke slowly as if making sure the woman behind the desk would understand the words she was saying. “I just met one of your employees, a nice old man named Brad—it said so on his badge—and he recommended I check into a cabin listed on this flyer.”

Sherry flashed the flyer in front of the other woman’s face for emphasis and was shocked to discover it did not say “Havenwood Falls” in bold black lettering, but instead encouraged visitors to visit a ghost town about forty miles down the road in the opposite direction.

“Whhhhat???” Sherry dropped the flyer on the desk as if it burned her hand, her face bright pink, and slowly backed away as a young man wearing a backpack walked up to the desk for assistance.

Sherry practically ran from the building and jumped in the car, not surprised to see her hands shaking. What is going on? I know I had the flyer for Havenwood Falls in my hand. How else could I have called that place for a cabin? Now how will I ever find my way there?

Sherry looked over at the passenger side of the car, and her eyes widened in shock. On the seat next to her lay the flyer she was sure she’d just dropped on the counter in front of Sheila. And there, written in bold black print, were the words, “HAVENWOOD FALLS. DISCOVER THE MAGIC.”

What an odd town motto, she thought as she set the GPS for the location of the cabin rental office where the woman had said they would leave her a key.

“Strange,” she said as she tapped the GPS. “What is wrong with this thing? Why won’t it pull up the address?”

Sherry shook the device, but nothing changed. She turned it off, and then on again, and still nothing changed. The address was not pulling up at all.

“Now what?” Sherry slumped back in the seat, trying not to cry. This was just too much.

Ahead of her she saw the large bus pulling away from its parking spot. On the side of the bus were the words Havenwood Falls in large lettering with picturesque scenes of the mountains. Without thinking about it too much, Sherry decided she would have to follow the bus like the old man suggested. It looked like the kind of bus you might charter, the kind tourists would use.

Putting the car in gear, once again ignoring the grinding sound, she backed slowly out of her parking spot and pointed the nose of the car toward the highway. Something weird was going on, and she felt like she was in an episode of The Twilight Zone, one of her favorite shows. The grainy black-and-white program had been a staple in her household, much preferred over the banal sitcoms that passed for quality television these days.

As she drove, her phone buzzed, a bright blue-white light signaling an incoming call. She’d turned the ringer off earlier to avoid Brad’s many attempts to contact her, so she heard nothing but the buzzing.

Humming to a song on the radio as she ignored the phone, she focused on the road ahead of her. Keeping the bus in sight was pretty easy, since it was so large. She felt the excitement building at the prospect of spending time alone. This was the start of a great adventure. There was no doubt of that in her mind.

Sherry hoped there was a town along the way with a store where she could purchase some clothing appropriate for an extended stay in a cabin, or that the town would be able to supply her with what she needed. She was certain her hastily packed suitcase had nothing she could wear in the woods, and she would need to purchase some food, too. The rumbling of her stomach was a reminder she hadn’t eaten in several hours, and the trauma of her situation was starting to take its toll on her. She was starving.

As she drove, she caught sight of a sign on the side of the road noting that Havenwood Falls was just six miles down the road. Not understanding why, she felt almost giddy at the prospect of spending time in the mountains near what she was sure would be a quaint tourist town, if the flyer was a truthful representation of its appearance, that is. After nearly six hours on the road, she was ready to stop for the night. She didn’t realize how far this place was from Albuquerque until she glanced at her phone. But she didn’t regret one minute of the drive. It had been beautiful driving through the mountains. She hadn’t been this spontaneous in years, and it felt good to be free. She hadn’t realized how being with Brad had held her back from doing things she enjoyed. He hated the woods, bugs were not his friends, and he swelled up like a dirigible anytime he got bit by something as inconsequential as a mosquito.

She chuckled as she remembered his reaction the one time she’d suggested going weekend camping. He’d just about fainted at the thought of his model-perfect body deformed by nature, a place he referred to as “Alcatraz with trees,” since he felt imprisoned if not near civilization, otherwise known as his local craft-beer brewery. “The only nature I ever want to be in, baby,” he’d said in perfect seriousness, “is the kind where they have an infinity pool and girls in skimpy white outfits bringing you those drinks with umbrellas in them.”

She’d thought he was adorable then. She knew the truth now.

But she’d gone along with it, feeling that being in love meant making sacrifices so the other would feel appreciated. Now she wondered what he’d ever given up for her. She couldn’t think of a single thing he’d sacrificed for her good. It had always been her doing the compromising.

She pinched her lips tightly as she thanked her lucky stars they hadn’t married yet. It was bad enough imagining the untangling they would have to do when it came time for him to leave now. A marriage would have meant a split of everything right down the middle, and she had a lot of memories tied up in the things in her apartment, not something she was willing to share with someone who treated her so badly. There were photo albums and valuable pieces of decorative art and small treasures that had belonged to her now-deceased parents. Most of the items had been in her family for a long time, and she was not willing to let him take anything just because he’d warmed her bed for a while.

Sherry attempted the phone number once more and sighed in frustration when there was no answer. She paused a moment, considering her options. Should she go forward, or back? Thinking of Brad, his expression smug and sure of himself if she went back, she pinched her lips and decided back was not a place on her GPS.She would only be able to go forward. So, Havenwood Falls it would be. She hoped the old man was right, that she would find in Havenwood Falls the answer to her prayers.

“Yep,” she said softly. “This might turn out to be the stupidest idea I have ever had, but—” She paused as the bus increased the distance between them and she stepped on the accelerator to keep it in sight. “Havenwood Falls sounds like exactly what I need right now.”