Page 98 of Offside Attraction

Rhonda considered this. “I don’t feel like I’m missing anything.” It was the truth, but it was accompanied with another thought riding on its back. Instead of stuffing it down, she spoke it. “I am worried that I will someday. That this with Jordan will wear off and I’ll feel trapped.”

Anne exhaled. “Yeah. I always thought the goal was to feel settled.”

“Gross.”

Anne laughed out loud. “I said ‘thought,’ like past tense.”

“I always wanted to be in charge, but I never wanted to feel like I’d arrived. Reached the finish line.” Rhonda twirled a curl around her finger. “Maybe with work. I guess I did want that with work.”

She glanced up at the sign for Canmore, and Anne turned on her blinker.

"I'm going to grab gas.” Anne glanced at the dashboard. "I think there's a station just off the highway."

Rhonda nodded. "Sounds good." She looked out the window, the landscape growing more picturesque by the second as they drew closer to the Rockies. Wind swirled snow around the jagged peaks, making the sky around them blur.

They merged onto a smaller road that wound through town. Her eyes snagged on every medical facility they passed. Because Canmore was so close to Banff, there were more per capita than other towns.

Rhonda sat up a little straighter. "Do we need to grab food or anything?" Even though Tina loved to plan, she didn’t want to be that friend that showed up and expected everything to be done for her.

Anne grimaced. “Oh, shoot. I didn’t realize we needed to turn in there." Anne's hands tightened on the wheel. "I think there's another gas station a bit further in."

Rhonda pulled out her phone and scanned her email while she waited. A few seconds later, she looked up and frowned as Anne turned into the parking lot of a massive stone building. The place looked like a medieval castle with its imposing stone walls and elegant archways.

Anne stopped in the turnaround. Rhonda reached out and pressed her hand against her friend’s forehead. Anne laughed and pushed her away.

“Just making sure you don’t have a fever.”

Anne turned with a huge smile on her face. “No fever.”

“This isn’t gas.”

“Well aware.” Anne pointed out the window and Rhonda turned to look. There was a sign with cursive lettering. Canmore Cascade.

The gears turned in her head.Why did she know that name?

Anne put the car in park. "I think you should get your bag and?—”

"The auction." Rhonda's eyes widened, and her breath caught in her throat. She turned to Anne, her pulse quickening. "December twentieth. The auction. Jordan spent ten grand for a weekend here." She tapped her phone screen and checked the date.

Anne's lips twitched. "Huh."

Rhonda's mind raced, her thoughts a jumbled mess. "Hold on. Hold on." She put her hands out, trying to make sense of it all. "Are Tina and Melissa at a cabin waiting for us?"

Anne practically squealed. "No."

Rhonda's heart pounded in her ears. "So?—?"

“Jordan’s in there waiting for you! Get the hell out of my car!”

Rhonda spun to look at her bag in the backseat. “I didn’t bring lingerie.”

“Yeah, we couldn’t figure out how to ask you to do that without things getting weird.”

Rhonda laughed. “You guys have been texting him? How did I not know this?”

Anne held up her phone. “You did put us in a group chat.”

She scoffed. “Behind my back?”

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