“Oh, you, hush now,” I told the Chihuahua as I nudged her gently with the side of my foot, then called to our guest, “C’mon in!”

A fashionable young woman strode in with sunny yellow locks cut short against her neck. It took me a good thirty seconds to realize I knew her. “Harmony?” I gasped and covered my mouth with my hand in an attempt to minimize the rudeness of my unplanned gesture.

“I changed my hair,” she said with a small grin.

“I see that,” was my reply. “It’s quite becoming.”

Truth was, I liked her hair better in its previous incarnation, but Harmony seemed lighter, happier with this change, which made me like it very well for the aforementioned reasons.

“Thank you,” she mouthed without quite voicing the words aloud.

“How can I help you this afternoon?” I prompted. Folks like Harmony didn’t just show up unannounced for no reason.

She glanced around my office, then, seeing Cupcake, stooped down to pick her up and shower her with kisses. Ha, I’d known there was a dog person hidden in there!

When that Chihuahua was acceptably covered in kisses, Harmony looked back up at me and said, “Seeing as my head feels tons lighter, I figured it might also be time to unburden my soul.” She shrugged as if she hadn’t just said something monumental, especially for her.

“If you’re looking to confess, there’s a nice Catholic church right down the street,” I joked. “But if you’re here to seek counsel, then I’m all ears.”

“Actually, it’s a bit of both.” She sank onto the couch and Cupcake settled onto her lap, then flipped on her side to demand a belly rub.

“Go ahead when you’re ready and I’ll do my best to help in whatever way I can.”

She smiled, frowned, smiled again. Clearly it wasn’t easy for her to be here, and I appreciated that she had sought me out despite her reservations. “I want to tell you why I came back to Charleston,” she began, and the words that followed sent a special blend of sadness and rage to my very core.

That poor, poor child…

Chapter 21

Harmony

“I’m here to talk about Alan.” Harmony kept her eyes glued to the dog in her lap as she spoke. That made it easier to tell the full details of what had happened to trigger her Charleston homecoming. “I just heard word for Jolene that he’s back in town and looking for me. Figured that meant it was time someone knew the full story. In case…” Her voice cracked, and she paused, unable to finish voicing the horrible thought aloud.

“Go ahead,” the pastor told her. “I’m a good listener.”

She let out a slow, shaky breath. Might as well start from the beginning, or at least their reintroduction as adults.

“Well, at first being with him was really nice,” she told the pastor. “Like I’d finally found someone who understood what I’d been through and didn’t judge me for it. It was freeing in a way, knowing he just got it without me having to say a word, that it wouldn’t be a problem later.”