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Emma looked into his stormy eyes This wasn’t about David, she realized It was about trust—a trust she’d betrayed by holding back the truth And everything about John—his gaze, his voice, his posture—told her she’dwould undo it

“So why did you come?” she asked

He took a deep breath, as if silently counting to ten “I came to tell you that I won’t be around for the next couple of days To to the trailer site to look around for any evidence that ainst Boone Then the next day I’ll be flying the mail route”

“Will you let me knohen you’re back?”

“I guess so But we could both use a break for a couple of days I’ll let you know if I find anything at the trailer Meanwhile, don’t take any stupid chances”

“Fine,” she said “Don’t worry about me”

He left without another word, striding toward the Jeep, clilance

Heartsick, E after hiinning of the end? She would never have set up abetween John and David But it was almost as if she had And John, proud ive her

In his most private heart of hearts, John carried a wound that would never heal That wound was the loss of his son

Today had taught her a bitter lesson John ht even come to love her But that wound in his heart went deeper than even she could ever reach

By the ti the fuel tank, the sun was going down Restless now, and needing to ainst the chilling breeze, and set off up the deserted shore

The inco the rocky beach A lone bald eagle soared against the glowing sky Pausing, John watched its flight until it vanished beyond the trees As a young boy, he’d wished for wings like a bird so he could fly away froly realities of an incarcerated father and an alcoholic s, and he felt round In the air there was no anger, no ugliness, just him, the plane and the sky

He’d been harder on Emma than she deserved She should have warned hi with David, but she’d been told not to How could she have known that he would walk into the restaurant and find himself face to face with his son?

That look of alarazesti the boy that his natural father was a drunken, evil monster—and maybe, in part, that’s what he had been But even in the worst times, he’d never laid a hand on his wife or his son And even when he was drinking, he’d alorked hard to provide for them

Ketchikan was a small town He’d had other chances to confront David, but he’d gone out of his way to avoid the boy It was that look—the surprise that bordered on terror in those dark eyes so like his own—that struck like a bullet to his heart He didn’t want to see that look He didn’t want to lie awake at night, re it