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"She was pretty and popular and wanted her way Not a good coer But she turned out well" Marsha sipped her coffee "Is everything all right? I don’t mean to pry, but you look… I’m not sure If I had to pick, I would say you look sad"

Charity forced herself to s uess that’s soet over"

Marsha stiffened and the color drained froht?"

"Yes Of course The loss of a one over thirty years" Marsha squared her shoulders "Charity, would you please come with me intorong, she could feel it, but she had no idea what it was Had she done so personal?

When they reached Marsha’s office, theCharity had never experienced before Not in Fool’s Gold She closed her doors Then she led the way to the s I have to tell you," Marsha said when they were both seated "I’ve been waiting for the right ti I didn’t kno to tell you I suppose the best way is to sio to the bad place Possibilities flashed through herCharity was about to be fired The toas going to disappear into a giant sinkhole But no scenario prepared her for what ca Charity’s arrandmother"

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHARITY WAS GLAD SHE was seated There was no way she could have stayed standing after hearing Marsha’s announcement

"My…"

"Grandmother Sandra Tilson, or as you knew her, Sandra Jones, was hter Do you need some water?"

Charity shook her head The wordsGrandmother, as in family? Sandra had always told Charity they were alone in the world, that they only had each other Although Charity was sure her mother would have easily withheld that kind of truth if she wanted to Sandra wasn’t a bad person, but she’d been determined to live by her own rules

Now, in the quiet office of thewo across froht it ht be there in the shape of the jaw, the particular shade of her eyes Just like her randmother?

"I don’t understand," she whispered

Marsha rose and crossed to her desk She opened a side drawer and pulled out a slim photo album then walked back and handed it to Charity

Charity ran her fingers across the red leather cover, almost afraid to open it

"My husband died when I was very young and our daughter was still a toddler," the older worief We were so close She was a lovely, friendly child So s fell apart She began to rebel"

Marsha clasped her hands together on her lap "I didn’t knohat to do," she adotiated with her Then, when things only got worse, I grounded her Made the rules tougher I beca, dictatorial parent"

Charity continued to hold the album "She wouldn’t have done ith a lot of rules"

"You’re right The tighter I held on, the more she tried to slip away I’d always been strict, but I beca to parties, drinking and using drugs She and a few friends were arrested for stealing a car I was huh to her Then she told nant She was barely seventeen"

Marsha drew in a breath "It was too much I completely lost it and screaways to embarrass me I think at that second, I hated her"

She dropped her head a little "I’ to have that lared ata seventeen-year-old is capable of and said she would hed and told her that ood"

Marsha sed andI couldn’t believe it That she would really leave I was convinced she loved her creature co" Tears filled her eyes

Charity leaned toward her "You didn’t do anything wrong You had a fight Mothers and daughters fight My ht possibly be Marsha’s daughter Could they really be talking about the sa my side, but I knohat I did and where the blale tear slipped down her cheek She brushed it away "She disappeared I don’t kno she did it, but she was gone Totally and coone I couldn’t find her I looked and looked, hired professionals, begged God, sent flyers across the country There wasn’t a trace Finally, nearly three years later, we got a break One of the detectives I’d hired sentthe story was like listening to a recap of a ht She was compelled, but not involved This wasn’t about her In theory, she was part of it, but she couldn’t feel the connection to events

"You were so beautiful," Marsha said, her s in the yard You were pushing a little plastic baby carriage around the lawn You were about two and a half Sandra was sitting on the step, watching you The house was sather you both up and bring you home Back here, to live withto wonder how her life would have been different if she’d grown up in a place like Fool’s Gold A small tohere people cared about each other A place where she could finally have roots

"She was still angry," Marsha whispered The s, wouldn’t listen to e in her voice and her eyes She told ain She said if I tried to see her or you, she would ain, and that I would never find you I was devastated"

Marsha drew in a breath "Sorry It’s been a long tied, learned from my mistakes I said I wanted her back in my life Both of you She didn’t care She said she was done withfine on her own and repeated that if she ever saw ain, she would disappear and I would never find either of you"

Charity’s chest tightened as she saw the other woman’s pain "I’m sorry," she whispered There was a part of her that said Sandra wouldn’t have done that, except she kneas more than possible When Sandraback More than one of Sandra’s men had discovered that too late to keep her

"I came back home," Marsha said "I was broken inside I kneas all my fault"

"It wasn’t," Charity told her firht No one is perfect We all make ive you a second chance"

"Perhaps I tried telling myself that The truth is I tried to control every aspect of Sandra’s life Most children would have had trouble with that, but for Sandra, it was i that it was because I’d lost my husband, and was terrified that if I didn’t handle everything, yet another tragedy would invade ether, then spoke "I left the two of you I didn’t knohat else to do I thought about keeping tabs on her, but I was afraid she would find out Years passed The ht about the two of you all the time Ten years later, I hired another detective, to see if she could be found He located her easily The boy who had been your father…" Marsha’s voice trailed off "I’ toothem and touched Marsha’s ar a lot of questions While I could believe my mom didn’t have any faone, I stopped asking questions"

She’d been twelve, Charity re in a rented e of Phoenix Charity recalled everything about the roo faucet as Sandra told her that the boy who had gotten her pregnant had gone into the military and he’d been killed A helicopter crash