Page 101

Austen nodded.Glanced at her.
Sister Clare smiled.“I’ll leave you alone with her.”She patted Austen’s arm.
Austen stared at the statue.Glanced behind her.Then she scooted up to the platform and angled the statue up.
It was heavier than she expected, and suddenly she imagined the entire thing catapulting to the ground, cracking into a thousand terrible pieces.
She examined the base.No initials.
Well, it was worth a try.
Setting it right, she moved it to match the marks, her hand on the base.Her fingers rubbed against an etching in the footer of the granite, in the back.
She bent down, then picked up the candle.Her heart stopped.
D.P., clearly carved in the black granite, about as big as a widow’s mite.
She heard footsteps and stood up, set the candle back, her heart thundering.
Fonzie appeared at the door.“Are you ready to go?I saw a floatplane come in over the island.I think your ride is here.”
She looked at the Madonna, the flickering candle, the rise of flame and smoke to the ceiling.The smoke of the prayers of the saints.
“It is amazing to me that God can use anyone who simply trusts Him.”
It’s not in a watery grave after all, Margo.She looked heavenward, nodded.Then turned to Fonzie.“Yes.I’m ready.”
Fonzie drove her back through town, past the palm trees brushing the blue afternoon sky.
She’d have to tell Mo.
Maybe.
Because the secrethadbeen well-kept, hadn’t it?Until now.
“Be still and know.”
She closed her eyes, inhaling the salty breeze as they drew closer to port.She spotted the massive cruise ship at dock and a couple seaplanes in the harbor, one motoring up to the dock.
Fonzie passed under the entrance to the World Resorts area, then motored toward the sandy white kayak beach, past the central fountain roundabout, and finally stopped in the lot.An SUV and a couple sedans sat parked under the sun, alongside golf carts and scooters.
Fonzie pointed to the plane.
Yep, Mo’s ten-passenger Cessna Caravan Amphibian with the navy blue belly was tied to the dock.And she spotted him standing on the deck, talking with a few men.
“Thanks, Fonzie.”
“Ma’am.Stay safe.”
He probably didn’t mean for the words to bite.
“Stay safe.”
She might never escape it, the terrible hole inside.But maybe you didn’t escape the price of love.
Love.She stopped, letting an SUV pass as it pulled up to the curb in front of her.
Yes, maybe she loved Declan, or could have.Loved the man she knew he was despite the layers and the complications and the lies.