She approached the patch of land where Chase’s body had come to rest after he’d been thrown from the vehicle. Today, wild blue violets blanketed it. They weren’t fully blooming yet, but soon they would.

She sat cross-legged as cleansing tears drifted over her eyelashes.

She cried for him and the tragic way his life ended. For how young and wonderful he’d been. For all the things he hadn’t had a chance to do and give. But she also cried from a place of thankfulness. She’d had the opportunity to know him and love him. Their relationship had made her life richer, and thank goodness they’d experienced all they had before his death.

She’d put up a shield to protect herself from love. It had done its job; it had kept her safe. But the time had come to move out from behind that and walk forward.

It’s what Chase would’ve wanted for her. It’s what God wanted for her. It’s what she wanted for herself.

In all earnestness, she’d planned to rehabilitate Luke. However, it seemed the reverse had happened.

To her astonishment, Luke was rehabilitating her.

A server dressed in traditional German garb approached the table where Ben, Akira, and Mr. Wrigley sat. “Guten Tag!”

“Guten Tag,” Ben answered gamely. Poor thing. Dressing in a costume for work every day had to suck.

“Will you be having the Wiener schnitzel or the bratwurst?”

Ben politely let the others order first. They opted for the schnitzel. He went for the bratwurst.

The woman scribbled on her notepad.

The water main that serviced both Misty River High School and East Side Elementary had broken in the middle of the night. Crews were still at work, so administrators had canceled school today. Akira’s kids had the day off, but their parents did not, so she’d scrambled to organize a daylong field trip. She’d asked Ben to come along because she needed more chaperones than herself and Mr. Wrigley, the elderly gentleman who volunteered with the after-school program. This morning, Ben had driven everyone to the town of Helen in Furry Tails’ van.

More than fifty years ago, Helen had reinvented itself as a Bavarian village. They’d painted frescoes of dancing German people, hung flower boxes, opened beer gardens, and plastered everything with old-fashioned German lettering. The town felt like a German theme park, which had turned it into a tourist magnet.

They’d taken the kids zip-lining before stopping to eat lunch on this covered patio. German pennant flags curved in the March breeze.

“Would anyone like a stein of beer?” their server asked.

The adults declined but of course one kid shouted, “Me!”

“Water for the kids, please,” Akira said.

“Danke schön!” the woman replied before moving to her next table.

“What do you have planned for us after this?” Ben asked Akira.