Page 14 (1/2)

That was the question she’d brought for her long-dead mother How did two people ere supposed to love each other find their way back? Horong paths ht?

Help me find my way, Mama

She lifted her head, stared out at the sparkling water As usual, no answer ca but the ceaseless rhythainst the dock The wind picked up, pushing the waves harder and harder against the pilings Overhead, a gull wheeled and cawed and dove into the sea

&nbs

p; “I thought I’d find you here”

Francis DeMarco’s voice was a warm, welco, she twisted around to see him

He stood a few feet behind her, tall and straight, his long arhtly aard and unsure of himself in his severe priest’s clothes, the jet-black cloth a stark contrast to his pale, clear skin A lock of tangled, wheat-colored hair lay flopped across one eye Iht back

Madeline’s heart swelled alht of hi and intense, his mouth poised on the brink of a smile

“Hey, Francis,” she said

He s with the rown “I ”

She grinned at the old joke “I prayed in the OR And at the cosmetics counter at Nordstrom’s”

Heon the tired old wood His knees creaked as he sat beside her His gaze cut to the sea “She answer this time?”

Fro, but not from Francis, her Francis, who knew her better than anyone else in the world Sighing, she leaned against him and slipped her hand in his

He’d been her anchor for so th she’d never found in her own soul, she’d always found in his

“No, no answer”