Another flock of geese shrieked above her head. Nola released her grip on the tree, feeling cleansed and complete. No more crying. Without looking back at the remnants of her former home, she strolled toward the path leading to the big house. At its end would be Lulu.

Just before reaching the first line of trees, Nola heard the scrunching of leaves and the rustle of breaking twigs from the path she had taken from the cliff. Daniel emerged, carrying Lulu.

Nola's eyes locked with his. His eyes sparkled green, or perhaps it was a reflection of the color in his shirt. Lulu, holding a stuffed toy kitten, prattled into the furry face and tasted one ear.

The day was so bright and sunny that the red and orange of the oaks, elms and maples shimmered all around them. Nola took a step forward, and Daniel wrapped her in his free arm. For a moment, neither moved, and she savored the clean smell of his skin. Her head sang with the significance of the moment.

Lulu's fidgeting brought her back. “I was planning to meet you later at the Far-Off Cloudy River.” She laughed.

“We didn’t say a proper good-bye.” He lowered his face to hers and kissed her. His lips were dry and warm, just as she had thought they would be. “I wanted to come get the two of you.”

“Da-da,” Lulu said.

His arm around Nola tightened. “If your mom will have me, that is,” he said to Lulu.

Nola felt her heart beating against his. “Yes, she will.” She tasted his lips again.

Lulu chose to stay in Daniel's arms as Nola took him on a tour of the big house and its facilities. She had added an indoor swimming pool on the east side to give the children year-round exercise. Two deserted rooms on the top floor had been converted into classrooms for tutoring. “My orphanage,” she told Daniel. “The Beverly Cutter Home. Named after the woman who didn’t let me sink.”

After leaving Lulu in Leslie’s and the nanny's care, she led Daniel down to the beach.

The storms had gouged a new cave several feet away from the old one. “This is the place where my story begins,” she said, hearing the echo of her voice reverberating against the rock around her. “And where it ends.”

“And where it begins again.” He kissed her, at first tenderly, then, with her ardent response, more demanding.

There was hunger in his body, an urgency more intense than she had expected to find. When he laid her on his jacket, she looked up at his face, and for the first time it had lost its poise. Veins pulsated in his temples, but his eyes were soft as he kept them locked on her. She gasped and held on to his back, kneading the harnessed strength of his muscles and feeling the rippling skin just as she had dreamed.