Cathy stared hard into the painting of the Rockies on the principal’s wall, while at the other end of the line, Dr. Niki Burton explained.

Slowly the snow-tipped peaks blurred through Cathy’s tears.

She squeezed the phone hard, wishing she could reach Will Fortin’s hand; she swallowed air and found her voice.

“Yes, I can confirm he would have wanted that. We discussed it when we were marri- yes, you have my consent.”

In the adjoining office, the principal and her assistant heard the thunk of the phone hitting the desktop, then a loud sob, and they rushed into the office to comfort Cathy.

-Chapter 61-

Seattle, Washington

At Harborview Medical Center the specialists with the rapid organ recovery team prepared Lee Carter for an emergency kidney transplant.

In the waiting room nearby, Lee’s wife, Eileen, after countless attempts, finally succeeded in reaching Lee’s mother on her cellphone.

“Ren, they found a donor! Our prayers have been answered! They’re prepping Lee now!”

“Oh, thank God!” Ren released a sob. “I – I don’t know what to say right now … I just don’t know …”

“Ren? Is everything all right? Where are you?”

“I hit somebody!”

“You hit somebody?”

“Two men.”

“What? What happened?”

“They were on the road. I have to pray for them. I think one might die. Oh dear God, forgive me!”

“Ren?”

Eileen struggled to comprehend what was happening at Ren’s end of the line. She’d sounded overcome and Eileen heard a brief muffled conversation with another person. Eileen called Ren’s name again before another voice responded, a state trooper, who’d explained.

“We’ll take care of her here,” the trooper said, “and then we’ll arrange for her to join you in Seattle at the hospital as soon as possible.”

-Chapter 62-

Seattle, Washington

At that moment, somewhere over the edge of Seattle within sight of the Olympic Mountains in the east, Will Fortin’s heart stopped beating as his life slipped away.

Instantly he was in the kitchen of Elena Grabowski’s basement apartment, the air smelling of spices and onions, her stern-faced relatives watching from the old pictures on the walls, the huge battered trunk, padlocked to hold her family’s secrets. The room’s dimmed light and the red candle flame flickering in her pretty, dark eyes. Elena’s soft warm hands working on his, her fingers tracing the lines in his palms, her face becoming serious as she draws it closer to his palm, feeling her soft breath on his skin as she revealed his destiny … I see darkness for you then you’re going to do something great, something wonderful …

And in his final moment of life, Fortin knew.

He’d found peace and the joy that comes at the successful end of a heart’s pursuit.

His open eyes were staring, but at nothing of this world.

Billy Dolan and his little sister, Daisy, had been waiting for him.