Velda blinked back tears and pulled her gaze from the empty future stretching before her. She looked at Destiny’s face. “Child, you’re such a wonder to me. I look at your aura and it is light and beauty. You have no need of a burned-out, empty old woman. Your life is all ahead of you, and mine is behind me.”
“You’re a woman of courage and compassion and most of all, wisdom. I have a great need of you, and so does this community. Please, Velda. Allow Nicolae to help you separate more. It won’t take away the pain, but it will lessen it so that you can bear it. Stay with me now when I need you so much.”
Velda studied her face for a long time before sighing softly. She patted Destiny’s cheek. “Take me to this miracle worker, dear. If I am to survive, he will have to work some kind of magic. I feel empty and lost.”
Nicolae? Are you listening? Help her now, while she consents. She knows it is manipulation but she can’t bear the pain.
There was a small silence.
It is done. She will remember, but the pain will be even less. Her love for you is great enough to sustain her.
Destiny felt her love for Nicolae so strongly, she couldn’t contain it. It spilled from her mind and into his so that, sitting in the kitchen, he was shaken by the force of it. He wanted her, wanted to be alone with her. Wanted time with her.
He held out his hand to her when she entered the room with Velda, standing as he did so out of respect for the older woman. He bent to kiss Velda’s cheek. “It is wonderful to see you, Velda. I hope you are better?”
She nodded, managing a smile. “Thank you. I appreciate your help.”
Father Mulligan had risen too. “I did call Mary Ann,” he told Destiny, indicating that her friend had arrived. “Nicolae said you wouldn’t mind.”
Mary Ann hugged Velda and Destiny. “He said it was a town meeting.”
They sat around the table and talked long into the night. Nicolae and Destiny listened quietly to the story of the doctor’s unexpected confession and suicide. Blythe was already home with Harry, although she was very withdrawn and refused counseling. Mary Ann was hoping eventually she would come to her. Helena and John Paul were once more together and seemed happy. Tim and Martin said little about what had happened, but Father Mulligan was keeping a close eye on them.
Destiny looked around the small, comfortable kitchen, listened to the murmur of voices, inhaled the scent of tea as Inez served the others. She studied Nicolae’s dark, sensual features.
Have I told you lately that I love you? Because I do, very, very much.
Her heart was so full, she was afraid it might burst. She had never dared to dream she would have a home and a family. She had never conceived of having friends. Life might never be perfect, but she had Nicolae, and he would always understand those terrible moments when the memories crept out from behind the doors in her mind. He would be there to hold her and help her.
You are my everything, Nicolae.
Have I told you that, although I enjoy all these wonderful people, I have had enough of visiting and I want to go home and spend the rest of the night making love to you?
A very good idea. Destiny was in complete agreement.
There’s this one thing that you do...
They stood as if by mutual consent, hands linked, murmuring a hasty goodbye, and hurried out. When Father Mulligan looked out the window, all he saw was a comet streaking low across the night sky.
CHRISTINE FEEHAN
I live in the beautiful mountains of Lake County California. I have always loved hiking, camping, rafting and being outdoors. I’ve also been involved in the martial arts for years—I hold a third degree black belt, instruct in a Korean karate system, and have taught self-defense. I am happily married to a romantic man who often inspires me with his thoughtfulness. We have a yours, mine, and ours family, claiming eleven children as our own. I have always written books, forcing my ten sisters to read every word, and now my daughters read and help me edit my manuscripts. It is fun to take all the research I have done on wild animals, raptors, vampires, weather, and volcanoes and put it together with romance.