Dan joined them and D’Arcy could still see, in the cast of his face, the handsome soldier from last century who’d embraced her mother as if she were the most precious thing on the earth. Yes, his skin was worn with age, his hair white, his movements stiff but he still stood tall and his blue eyes held stories, and a sparkle for Victorine. He kissed her cheeks, after which she shyly introduced D’Arcy as her daughter.

“You have quite some explaining to do,” he said to Victorine teasingly, forgiveness wrapped up in every word.

“And we all have a lot of catching up to do,” D’Arcy added.

“Is Jess…” Dan hesitated and D’Arcy could see both uncertainty and hope in his eyes.

Victorine squeezed his hand. “She’s coming. You’ll be able to see her again.”

Dan breathed out slowly. “I can’t quite believe it. After all this time.”

“I think you’ll find she’s exactly the same person as the one you used to know,” D’Arcy said with a smile, which Dan returned, and D’Arcy felt her heart expand—that love could make another person look the way Dan did right now. Shimmering, alive; the years suddenly stripped away.

Then she saw another familiar face across the room and her smile grew so big it almost hurt. She excused herself and went to greet Josh.

“Hi,” she said, wondering if she was imagining it or if he was smiling a little too. “How are you? And where’s Jess?”

“The flight knocked her around,” Josh said, eyes not leaving her face. “She’s resting. She said she’d prefer to come tomorrow when everyone won’t be staring at her. I think she’d like the news of who she is to sink in a little with the media first. I’ll bring her back in the morning.”

“Of course she’d feel like that,” D’Arcy said contritely. “I really should have thought of it. I’ll arrange for her to come through an hour before the gallery opens tomorrow morning. I’ll organize for Dan and Victorine to come back then too. They both want to see her so much. And there’s something Jess needs to tell Dan.”

“What?” he asked.

“I’ll tell you everything later. The most important thing is for her to talk to Dan, and to see what she’s done; that she’s created a magnificent body of work.” D’Arcy flung her hand around as she spoke so the gesture took in not just the photographs, but also Dan and Victorine. “Let me just tell them she’s not coming tonight.”

D’Arcy slipped back over to Dan and her mother and told them they would all see Jess tomorrow.

Dan’s face creased momentarily with disappointment, then he nodded his head. “It would be good to rest up tonight. To see her tomorrow when we’re both less disoriented from flying. Although,” he confessed, “I’m not sure that rest is going to make me feel any less muddled when I see her again.”

D’Arcy kissed his cheek. “I can’t wait to see you both here, standing in front of the pictures that brought you together.”