Marta, a 38-year-old accountant married to Adam, was driving home after helping her mother clean up the kitchen following the extensive renovations. Marta felt responsible for ensuring things went smoothly for her mother, who was managing the first major project since Marta’s father died. She promised they would all return for Thanksgiving, including her 10-year-old daughter, Cleo. As Marta hugged her mother goodbye, the sky had already turned a bruised shade of gray that signaled trouble. By late afternoon, the rain hammered down violently on the highway, forcing the wipers to struggle and blurring the road into streaks of silver and shadow, setting the dangerous stage for the encounter.
It was amidst this terrifying downpour that Marta spotted a woman, later identified as Kristy, trudging along the shoulder of the road. Kristy was cradling her tiny girl, Amelia, who was bundled in a thoroughly soaked blanket, her head lolling in exhaustion. Cars roared past, kicking up walls of muddy spray, but nobody slowed down or tapped their brakes; the world seemed too busy to notice the distressed mother and child. Marta immediately eased off the gas, her pulse suddenly loud in her ears at the sight. Rolling her window down slightly, Marta shouted over the rain, asking the distraught woman if she was okay out there on the desolate highway.
Kristy turned, her face a mask of fear with rain-plastered hair and swollen eyes. She choked out her explanation: “My husband,” she barely managed, “He dropped us off. He took my wallet. My phone. Everything. I just need to get to my friend’s house.” Marta’s heart pounded harder, unable to comprehend the cruelty of a man abandoning his family there. Kristy’s voice cracked, desperately pleading, “Please, I just need help. My baby girl… she’s so cold.” Marta did not hesitate. “Get in,” she commanded. Kristy, in evident disbelief, quickly yanked open the back door and climbed in with Amelia, immediately filling the car with the smell of wet fabric, prompting Marta to crank up the heat.
Kristy tearfully thanked Marta, stating that nobody else would stop, despite her and Amelia having been out there for maybe an hour or longer. Marta, unable to keep the anger from her voice, demanded to know what kind of heartless monster would leave his wife and child on the highway. Kristy responded simply: “The kind who doesn’t care if we live or die.” As Marta pulled back onto the road, Kristy shared more details, revealing they were trying to reach a friend’s place after a terrible fight with her husband. Marta pulled off the highway at a gas station ahead. She quickly grabbed two sandwiches, a couple of hot teas, and a cheap fleece blanket to immediately warm little Amelia.
Kristy wrapped Amelia tighter in the new blanket, again questioning Marta about why she stopped when everyone else kept driving. Marta replied serenely that someone needed help, and people should not just walk away like that, that it was enough reason. Marta then drove Kristy and Amelia to the small, dim house on the far side of town, where a woman—Kristy’s friend—burst out, sobbing with relief and hugging them. Kristy thanked Marta, saying she had saved them, and Marta softly told them to take care of each other. A week later, Marta was startled when a big, expensive-looking black SUV appeared across the street and parked, raising her suspicion that Kristy’s heartless husband, Rick, might have found her.
The doorbell rang urgently. Marta slowly opened the door, finding two people: Kristy’s older parents, looking nervous but composed. They immediately confirmed they were the parents of the young woman Marta had helped on the highway. They explained that Rick, Kristy’s husband, was charming but deeply controlling, manipulating Kristy until she believed no one else would tolerate her. They revealed that Marta’s timely help had allowed Kristy to safely return home, file for divorce, and escape Rick. Kristy’s father then produced an envelope containing a check for $100,000 as a thank you. Marta firmly refused the check, telling them, “I didn’t help your daughter for money. I did it because it was the right thing to do,” and asked them to donate the money instead to a cancer charity, in memory of her late father.
