“YOU CAN’T TRULY be thinking of leaving!” Caitlin exclaimed when Heather confessed her plans several days later. It was Sunday afternoon, and the two of them were watching the children play in Caitlin’s yard after church service.

Heather looked away, regretting her friend’s distress. Yet she couldn’t bear to remain with Sloan, not with such bitterness and hostility between them. She hurt all the time. Sloan was never more than a heartbeat away from her thoughts, a raw ache that never left her. But he could never love her, and she couldn’t live with such heartache any longer. It was best if she severed their relationship, now while she still could.

“Once the election is over,” she said quietly by way of explanation, “Sloan will no longer need me.”

She felt Caitlin’s stare. “I take leave to dispute that. But even if you’re right, what about Janna? She certainly needs you. You’ve worked wonders already. Just yesterday Mrs. Elwood told me she means to invite Janna to her youngest daughter’s birthday celebration next month, and you know what an impossible snob she is. She may be rich as Midas with that gold mine of her husband’s, but she knows you can’t buy class. She’s hoping your elegance and grace will rub off on her own daughters—she told me so herself.”

Caitlin paused in her argument to allow Heather a response, but she got none. “You must realize what that means for Janna’s future, Heather. If a woman like Francine Elwood can set aside her bigotry, even if it’s for selfish reasons, then Janna is likely to be accepted by the white community. And you’re the one who’s made that possible. Our neighbors are starting to think of Janna as your daughter—”

Her stoicism crumbling, Heather buried her face in her hands.

Instantly she felt Caitlin’s gentle touch on her arm, a gesture of compassion.

“I’m sorry, dearest, I’m a beast. I don’t mean to make this harder for you. Janna will prosper, with or without Mrs. Elwood. I’ll see to that.”

After another moment, Caitlin added quietly, “It’s not my business to tell you how to live your life, but I feel responsible for you being here. And I can’t help but think you would be making a terrible mistake by leaving.”

“Perhaps so… but … I can’t live this way any longer. Sloan doesn’t love me, Caitlin.”

“Perhaps not yet, but he will learn someday. I know it.”

“I once hoped he might, but now…” Heather shook her head, despairing of ever winning Sloan’s love. “He doesn’t want a future with me. He only wants to live in the past. I remind him of the love he lost.” Heather drew a shuddering breath. “I’ve tried, Caitlin, truly I have.”