Page 114 of The Best of Friends

“You’re close to the freeway. I-10. Can you find your way from there?”

If she went west, I-10 would take her back to Santa Monica. If she went east, she could drive all the way to Texas.

She nodded.

“Come inside. I’ll draw you a map.” He straightened. “Don’t worry about your car. It will be safe here. On the street, not so much, but in the parking lot, you’re fine.”

She rolled up the window, then took her purse and followed him.

They didn’t go into the main church, but instead went behind it to a tiny house. The building looked old. Inside, the small rooms were filled with worn furniture and books. Hundreds of books were stacked everywhere.

The man, maybe in his forties, wearing jeans and a worn Trinity College sweatshirt, bent over a tiny table, drawing on a lined sheet of paper.

“Two lefts and a right,” he said, straightening and handing her the paper. “You’ll see the freeway up ahead.”

“Thank you.”

He studied her. “Are you all right?”

“Sure. I’m great.” She looked around at the crowded space. “Do you live here?”

He grinned. “Yeah. Me and an old cat. Just as well. There’s no room for anyone else.”

“You run programs, preach, help the poor?”

He frowned, as if confused by the question. “Something like that.”

“The flowers outside are nice.”

“God is into nature.” He shrugged. “Sorry. I was kidding. Not everyone gets that.”

“Do you accept donations?”

“It’s how we survive.”

She probably had a few hundred dollars in her purse, but instead, she reached into the front pocket of her designer jeans. The small blue stone slipped out easily, as if it had been waiting to be set free.

The flawless diamond nestled in her palm.

The man took a step back. “What is that? A sapphire or something?”

“A blue diamond. There aren’t very many in the world that are natural rather than manufactured. A friend gave this to me. I didn’t know what to do with it. I want you to have it.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“It’s not stolen. I swear.” She put it on the table. The instant she released the stone, she felt oddly light inside.

He eyed it suspiciously. “Why are you giving it to me?”

Because she didn’t want to give it back to Nigel, but she couldn’t keep it. Because in the end, a diamond was just a hard rock, and what she’d lost instead was much more heartbreaking. Because she’d never once done anything selfless in her life.

Because of Jayne.

“Because God is into nature,” she said.

She returned to her car and glanced at the map. Ten minutes later, she was heading east on I-10. Dallas would take a couple of days, which was probably just long enough for her to figure out how she was supposed to say she was sorry.

There was a lot more she needed to do, but she would start there and somehow find her way back to where she was supposed to be.