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Daddy I said hi and give him a kiss for me. Bye.”
    Mac closed his eyes. Caitlin would flip when she heard her mother’s news. The boys wouldn’t like it, but Caitlin had her mother’s drama queen gene. She’d probably cut her classes and book a flight home. She’d cry a river and hire a pop psychologist to come to the house and counsel her off-their-rocker parents, and they’d all make their television debut on a reality show.
    “Ah, Ali, what have we done?”
    At that point, Mac had to get out of the house. He pulled on jeans, a T-shirt, and sneakers, then grabbedhis wallet, keys, and cell phone and headed for the garage. He’d take a nice long drive and clear his head. He’d go east. Away from Denver, away from the mountains. Away from Alison.
    While she drove west, away from him.

THREE

    Twenty minutes after leaving her house, Ali turned into her father’s neighborhood. How lucky that she’d arranged to meet Celeste this morning at her dad’s house. She needed a dose of comfort, and she knew she’d find it there. This was her Dorothy moment—there’s no place like home.
    She couldn’t believe what she’d done. It was as if the Medusa thing that had begun with her hair had spread and taken control of her body. I’ve been offered a job, Mac. I’m going to take it .
    “My oh my oh my.”
    She’d left her husband. She’d packed a bag and driven off in a flurry of temper and trauma and drama, and Mac had never asked her—or told her, or begged her—to stay.
    The jerk.
    Ali had halfway expected that she’d lose her nerve and turn around. Yet, deep down inside, she’d known that wouldn’t happen. She’d spoken the truth when she told him she couldn’t bear it at home any longer. She didn’t know how long this journey would take, where it would end, or with whom, but her first stop would be Eternity Springs. Well, after a detour to her daddy’s house.
    She parked in the driveway of the three-story Victorian mansion that had been the family home for three generations. Ali loved the place. Her father and his ancestors had taken great pains not to ruin its historic charm while adding modern conveniences. Celeste Blessing had used the same approach while converting her Victorian in Eternity Springs to the Angel’s Rest Healing Center and Spa.
    It was one of the reasons Ali had visited there so often during the past couple of years. At Angel’s Rest in Eternity Springs, she felt at home.
    Celeste believed the valley in which the little town nestled held a special healing energy, so when Eternity Springs faced an economic crisis a few years back, she’d stepped up with a solution—her Angel Plan, she’d called it. She’d set out to revitalize the town by establishing a first-class healing center and making Eternity Springs the Sedona of Colorado. So far, so good. Angel’s Rest was bringing new prosperity and new opportunities to the citizens of Eternity Springs.
    Ali opened her car door and reached for the coffee cake she’d stopped to buy on her way, emotional trauma being no excuse for being a poor hostess. Thankfully, her semiretired father golfed on fair-weather Tuesday mornings, so she wouldn’t have to face any uncomfortable questions. She used her key and let herself in. In the kitchen, she put on a pot of coffee. Just as the appliance beeped a signal that brewing had ended, the doorbell rang. Ali returned to the front of the house, pasted on a smile, and opened the door.
    Celeste stood on the front porch. A widowed, retiredschoolteacher from South Carolina, she had purchased the Cavanaugh estate in Eternity Springs about three years ago and transformed it into Angel’s Rest. She was a delightful woman, and Ali had liked her from the moment they’d met. Her lovely blue eyes always seemed to twinkle, and her soft southern accent made Ali think of sweet tea and front porch rockers. Celeste kept her silver-gray hair cut in a fashionable bob, demonstrated a fondness for angel-themed