And the foundation would have to be stronger than secrets this time.

I looked at Mary, her face soft in the light of the dashboard.

“Evelyn,” she whispered, her eyes opening slowly.

“It’s time.”

“Time for what, Mary?” I asked.

“Time to tell him the truth,” she said.

She looked at Ethan, her voice barely a whisper in the quiet car.

“About the day I left.”

Ethan opened his eyes, his gaze locking onto hers in the mirror.

And the silence in the car became so thick I could hear the ticking of the clock on the dashboard.

The windshield wipers cleared the snow with a slow, rhythmic click.

And the story was finally ready to be told.

But as Mary opened her mouth to speak, the car suddenly shook, the tires losing traction on the ice.

A loud horn blasted from the side, and a pair of headlights blinded us as a heavy truck slid through the intersection ahead.

Ethan slammed on the brakes, the car spinning in a slow circle on the frozen road.