Ah dammit. Don’t cry, honey.

The urge to reach out to her was strong, but the bruises on her forehead and cheek were vivid reminders not to touch. Shoving a hand through his hair in frustration, Sully sat back down and read ten more years of newspapers before he turned off the reader.

Chapter 6

Sully had hit another roadblock. Blessings was a small town. If Janie Carter hadn’t been mentioned during the first fifteen years after her arrival, he doubted she was still there. He felt defeated, and he hadn’t heard from Marilyn to see if she’d found any other leads.

It was already after 2:00 p.m. He was getting hungry, and he imagined Melissa was, too. He went to the sofa where she was sleeping and gave her a gentle shake.

“Melissa, it’s me, Sully. Time to wake up.”

She opened her eyes, then rolled over on her back and looked up.

“Is it time to go?”

He nodded.

“Did you find anything?” she asked.

“No. I’m beginning to think she didn’t stay long enough to make an impression.” He held out his hand. “Get up, sleepyhead, and I’ll take you to a late lunch at Granny’s.”

She grabbed his hand, and within moments she was upright and staring at the small scar on the underside of his chin.

“How did that happen?” she asked, tracing the shape with the tip of her finger.

“I slipped on ice when I shoveling snow off my mother’s driveway a few winters back.”

“Ow,” Melissa said. “We don’t have much of that kind of weather here.”

“I wouldn’t mind trying out weather like that,” he said.

The comment was intriguing, but she didn’t respond. Instead, she finger combed her hair.

“Is my hair sticking up anywhere?” she asked.

He smoothed a little bit down over her left ear and winked.

“You’re good to go,” he said.

They thanked Gina on their way out and were blasted with the midafternoon heat as they walked to the car.

“Good thing you parked in the shade,” Melissa said.

“And it’s a good thing we’re leaving now, because the shade is abandoning us.”

He started the car the moment they were in and rolled down the windows at the same time he turned on the air-conditioning.

“This will get cool in a few seconds,” he said, and off they went.

They hadn’t gone far when Melissa suddenly cried, “Stop!” Before Sully knew what was going on, she was out of the car and running into the alley they’d just passed.

He jumped out to follow her, and the moment he turned the corner into the alley, he saw her holding an old man’s hand and walking him back toward the street. When she signaled for Sully to stay there, he stepped back. As they neared the sidewalk, he could hear what she was saying.

“It’s okay, Billy. I know where you live. I’ll take you home.”

The wisps of white hair on the old man’s head were awry and twisted. His shirt was gray and buttoned all the way to the neck, and the red suspenders he was wearing were holding up a pair of brown pants. He was barefoot and crying, and Melissa kept patting his hand as they walked. They were almost to the street when Sully heard a commotion and looked up.