“You took a twenty-minute ferry ride and you got to know the captain? I've lived in town for months, and I didn't even know his name.”

Sam smiled, her dimples showing, looking half-embarrassed as she shrugged. “T.J. and I hit it off—what can I say?”

“Can we please find Flora a hotel room?” Jessica asked. “And make sure there's a spot on the ceili schedule for Fallen Angels?”

“Sounds like a great plan,” Patrick said, grinning at Marisa.

Then Sam linked arms with her and began to march toward the inn. Glancing over her shoulder, Marisa saw Patrick handing Jessica one end of Flora's red leash, showing her how to slip her hand through the loop.

“I had a puppy once,” Jessica said.

“You did?” Patrick asked. “So, you like dogs?”

“I love them,” Jessica said.

“Me too,” Patrick said.

And Marisa was glad she was walking ahead, with Sam, because she wouldn't have wanted them to see the look in her eyes, realizing what it meant to Jessica to encounter a man who loved his dog.

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

On the day Maeve finally came home from the hospital, Lily and Liam and Rose went to pick her up. The nurses pushed Maeve down to the lobby in a wheelchair, and Liam helped her into the car. All the way home, Maeve kept exclaiming about how wonderful everything was: the greenness of the marshes, the blue of the sky, the brightness of the day, the smell of salt in the air. She kept leaning forward to touch Lily on the shoulder, as if she couldn't quite believe they were together again. Then she'd pat Rose's hand, sitting next to her.

“I can't believe this,” she said. “We're all together.”

“I tried to call Patrick, to invite him to join us,” Lily said. “But he's gone to Cape Hawk.”

“Ah,” Maeve said. “That's my dear boy.”

As Liam pulled under the train trestle, into Hubbard's Point, Lily fell in love with the place all over again. Could a landscape actually be in a person's blood? The summer wind blew through the open car window, bringing the essence of roses and the sea, soothing her more than anything she'd ever known. Yet a strong longing for the wilds of Cape Hawk surged within her as well.

Clara was waiting by the wishing well. Rose had made a sign saying WELCOME HOME, MAEVE! Liam had hung it over the front door. When Clara came forward to embrace the friend she'd known and loved for the whole eighty-three years of their shared life, Maeve began openly weeping.

“I'm so sorry, my dearest,” Maeve cried, gripping Clara's hands. “I wanted to tell you the truth, but I couldn't.”

“You were desperate to protect our girl. I understand, darling. I do, and I'm so grateful you've come home safe. I don't think I'd be able to live without you!”