Wendy’s eyes were big, and she was smiling. “It’s so nice to meet you, sir.”

“Um, it’s nice to meet you, too,” he said, but as soon as they were out in the parking lot, he took Lovey by the arm. “Why did she act like she knew who I was?”

“It’s a long story,” Lovey said. “Which one is your car?”

“Oh. Right. It’s over here,” he said as he aimed the remote and unlocked it. They got in together, then turned to face each other.

“Janie…I mean, Lovey…I had already planned to start searching for you as soon as I finished the story I’m working on. Talk about the hand of fate delivering you into my lap! I’m still in shock.”

“What story?”

“I’m a photojournalist–documentarian. I’ve worked for National Geographic most of my adult life, and as soon as I finish this last documentary, I’m retiring.” Then he reached for her hands. “Why didn’t you tell me about the baby? You know I would have come for you!”

Lovey sighed. “Lord, help me get through this,” she whispered, and then once again began to explain. “The first thing you need to know is that keeping it from you was not my decision. You’d been gone two months before I realized I was pregnant, and when I told my parents, they hit the ceiling. I told them I needed to find you, but they cut that dream off fast. They already didn’t want the baby in their lives and told me if I contacted you, they’d have you arrested and charged with raping an underage girl because I was only fifteen.”

“Oh my God,” he said, and wiped a shaky hand over his face. The words of her story were like blows to the gut. “If only we hadn’t moved.”

Lovey stopped him short. “No! I gave up on all the what-ifs years ago, so don’t do that.”

Marc took her by the shoulders, his voice rough with pain and anger. “I don’t care what your parents threatened. If I’d known, I would have found you both. My people don’t abandon their own blood.”

There were tears running down Lovey’s face now. She’d been afraid to cry in front of the people of Blessings, and yet here she was crying with him.

“It was too late, Marc. I signed the paper. I gave our baby away. He was no longer legally mine.”

“I heard you stayed with him for a while, and then one morning you were gone.”

Lovey nodded. “It was bound to happen. I was nursing him and only going to stay until he was weaned. But he had started to babble, and when he finally said ‘mama,’ it was to me, not Dolly Raines. She came to me later that same night and told me to pack my things and get out, and she never wanted to see my face again. I left in the night. It nearly killed me, but I never looked back.”