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Back The Ursulina Save as PDF
Chapters (45)
  1. I know you'll never forgive me...
  2. Part One - Your Father
  3. Chapter One
  4. Chapter Two
  5. Chapter Three
  6. Chapter Four
  7. Chapter Five
  8. Chapter Six
  9. Chapter Seven
  10. Chapter Eight
  11. Chapter Nine
  12. Chapter Ten
  13. Chapter Eleven
  14. Chapter Twelve
  15. Chapter Thirteen
  16. Chapter Fourteen
  17. Chapter Fifteen
  18. Chapter Sixteen
  19. Chapter Seventeen
  20. Chapter Eighteen
  21. Chapter Nineteen
  22. Chapter Twenty
  23. Part Two - Your Mother
  24. Chapter Twenty-One
  25. Chapter Twenty-Two
  26. Chapter Twenty-Three
  27. Chapter Twenty-Four
  28. Chapter Twenty-Five
  29. Chapter Twenty-Six
  30. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  31. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  32. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  33. Chapter Thirty
  34. Chapter Thirty-One
  35. Chapter Thirty-Two
  36. Chapter Thirty-Three
  37. Chapter Thirty-Four
  38. Chapter Thirty-Five
  39. Chapter Thirty-Six
  40. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  41. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  42. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  43. Chapter Forty
  44. Chapter Forty-One
  45. About the Author

He loved me, too. I saw it in his eyes. I felt it in how he kissed me.

When we breathlessly broke apart, he said in a rush: “I was at the lake. I was in my boat out on the water, and—this sounds crazy, crazy!—an owl flew down and sat on the end of the boat. It was like a sign that I had to go home. Someone was waiting for me. And here you are. God, here you are! What’s going on, Rebecca? Tell me how I can help you.”

I bent down to that little Easter basket and lifted you up and cradled you against my breast. “Meet Shelby,” I said.

Tom stared into your eyes, and you stared into his. Just like him and me, it was love at first sight for the two of you. He didn’t ask why I’d brought you there. He didn’t ask if you were his. He beamed at you with a sweetness I didn’t think was possible in this cruel world. He reached out in that moment and took you from me and pressed your cheek against his soft brown beard.

“Shelby,” he murmured, with a kind of reverence in his voice.

And I knew. There was still so much to explain, so much to tell him, so much I had to ask, so many questions and answers. We had hours ahead of us to talk, but I knew right then and there when I saw you in his arms.

Everything was going to be all right.

*

So you see, Shelby, by the time Darrell found me at the trailer, I was already at peace. I’d made peace with my past, with my crimes, with my choices. You had a father who would love you and care for you, and no matter where I was, I would know that you were safe with him.

That’s why I was able to tell the terrible lie I did.

Because I had to lie. We both did. Tom and I made a sacred vow between us, a promise sealed with a kiss and blessed by God, an oath to keep you safe. It was also a crime. He knew what I’d done, because I told him. I confessed, holding nothing back. By letting me go, he was risking his career and his future. If anyone found out about us, he would have been ruined. They would have put him in prison like me. They would have taken you away, too, and everything we’d planned would have been lost.