Patrick frowned. He had seen the kind of connections humans made. He'd been at many crime scenes where husbands had killed wives, wives had killed husbands, parents had killed children. He had seen every possible permutation of hurt and evil known to mankind. His divorce had left him bitter and afraid to believe in love, yet talking to Marisa filled him with the strangest feeling of peace.

“You don't believe me,” she said.

“I want to . . .” he said, trailing off.

“Is she still there?” Marisa asked.

“The whale? Yes,” he said, peering into the dark water. There she was, just resting on the surface. The waves and incoming tide would move her toward shore, and she would circle around, just so she could stay facing him. The rising moon cast a silver net all around her, but she was unfettered and free, and just rode the waves.

“Patrick?” Marisa asked after a few seconds.

“I'm here,” he said. He stared out over the water. A few fine clouds had blown in, covering the bright moon with gossamer folds. He was afraid the whale might be too hard to see, with the light slightly dimmed, but she was still there.

“Thank you for today,” Marisa said. “For going to see Sam.”

“You're welcome.”

“I just wish . . .” Marisa said.

“What?”

“I just wish you were both coming here,” she said. “You and Sam. To the ceili.” Then, as if she couldn't speak anymore, she said goodbye quickly, and hung up the phone.

Patrick sat on the porch steps, trying to catch his breath. She had just said she wished he were coming . . . Sam, but him too. He bowed his head, staring at the phone. He hadn't wanted the call to end; he wasn't ready for the connection to be broken.

He took a deep breath. He took a picture of Nanny with his cell phone and sent it to Marisa. He hoped that she would like seeing the whale, that it would remind her that wonderful, unlikely things could happen.

Then he stood up and moved to Maeve's wicker rocker, watching the whale swim in the moon's silver path. He had Marisa's voice in his ear, and he felt it in his pounding heart. He thought of Liam, too far away. Talking to Marisa had made certain things clear to him, so he sent Liam a picture too, along with a quick message. Just then, he heard a puff of air, saw the whale arch her gleaming back and disappear into the black sea.

Patrick sat back, wondering what had just happened.

Chapter 13

Chapter 13