A Turn in the Road by Debbie Macomber

trouble. A woman who’d been married for twenty years, who supposedly knew her husband…
    Back then it’d been easy to blame Bethanne. Annie got over that fast enough, but some of her residual anger had lingered.
    Until the night Vance dumped her.
    Well, he didn’t officially dump her, but that was how it felt. Actually, she almost wished he’d ended the relationship completely. A clean break and all that.
    Well, it didn’t matter because she was finished with Vance. He could send her all the text messages he wanted but she had no intention of responding. What she needed now was to have fun.
    A lot of fun.
    She looked down at the map a second time. Vegas wasn’t that far, but she’d have to convince her mother and grandmother to head toward Nevada instead of South Dakota. Mount Rushmore wasn’t going anywhere. She’d let all her friends know where shewas and eventually the news would reach Vance and then he’d regret what he’d done.
    The taste of this small revenge was sweet on her tongue. Vance might think Rome was fun, but Annie could guarantee Vegas was a whole lot more exciting than touring some museum.
    Â 
    Annie’s question caught Bethanne by surprise. Vegas?
    â€œHave you ever been to Vegas?” Annie asked again.
    Where was this coming from? Bethanne was driving while Ruth napped beside her and her daughter sat in the backseat.
    â€œWell, yes, your father and I were in Vegas years ago.” Grant had taken Bethanne to a Realtors’ convention. They’d stayed at one of the gigantic hotels on the Strip, and she remembered those three days fondly. Because of the divorce it was sometimes difficult to recall the good times she’d had with Grant. Like all married couples, they’d experienced ups and downs through the years. Every marriage did. It was easy to forget the laughter they’d once shared when her memories were tainted by Grant’s betrayal.
    â€œYou awake, Grandma?” Annie leaned forward to peer around Ruth’s seat.
    â€œMmm.”
    â€œHave you been to Vegas?”
    â€œNo, never,” Ruth admitted. “Richard went there on business any number of times but I was always busy with the children.”
    â€œWe should go to Vegas!” Annie said, as if this was the idea of the century. “The three of us. We’d have a hoot.”
    â€œWe can do that one day,” Bethanne agreed. Their second day on the road, and so far, everything had gone well. They’d deviated from their plans once already, but this was Ruth’s trip, not Annie’s. Or Bethanne’s.
    â€œI mean we should go now, ” Annie said. “Really, how many road trips do the three of us expect to take together?”
    â€œNow?” Bethanne asked. “You mean today?”
    â€œNot exactly today. It’s a ways yet. I’ve got the map here, and ifwe head south on Highway 93 at Twin Falls we can reach Vegas tomorrow afternoon.”
    â€œHoney,” Bethanne reminded her daughter for probably the fifth time. “Your grandmother has carefully planned our route and we’re going to South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore.”
    â€œI know, but wouldn’t it be more fun in Vegas?”
    Ruth didn’t comment one way or the other.
    â€œIt’s boring on the freeway,” Annie continued. “If we’re going to drive all the way across the United States, it’d be a lot more interesting on the highways and byways than the interstate.”
    â€œVegas,” Ruth murmured.
    â€œRemember, you specifically mentioned Mount Rushmore,” Bethanne said mildly, not wanting to put pressure on her former mother-in-law, but not wanting her to be disappointed, either.
    â€œI know I did,” Ruth said. “But that old mountain will be there until the end of time. Annie’s right. It isn’t every day that I have the opportunity to visit Las Vegas—and with two of my favorite