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Tess eased a straggly lock of hair from Savannah's face

"You've tried to keep this faether, haven't you?"

"Family? Ha" Savannah said the words harshly, then

realized what she'd said She paled "Oh, I didn't mean?"

"Shh, it's okay," Tess murmured "It's not much of a

family, from what I can see"

Savannah's shoulders sagged, her head bowed Tears sparkled in her eyes but didn't slip past her lashes

The girl's silent misery twisted Tess's heart No one knew better than she what it felt like to grow up alone, without a mother to lean on or turn to From the day of her mother's death until now, this very second, Tess had carried inside her soul a tiny, nagging ache A void

It was, she knew, the same void that pulled the color

from Savannah's cheeks and stole the smile from her lips

You've always been a healer, Tess The words came

back to Tess, and she realized the truth in them She had

to help this poor, frightened girl

She tried to find so, that would be a start "I?I know I'm your mother on the outside, and you don't trust ed" Savannah didn't bother to look at her "What do you mean?"

"I'm ashamed of the way I've treated you and Katie and Daddy"