One was unmistakably Elena. She had Esperanza’s eyes and the same gentle tilt to her smile.
The other woman was Sister Esperanza herself.
She was not wearing her habit.
She stood with one hand resting over the beginning curve of a pregnant belly.
On the back of the photograph, in Esperanza’s handwriting, were seven words:
I have chosen this. Please help me remember.
Esperanza stared at the sentence.
Mother Caridad turned the photograph over again.
In the window of the house behind the two sisters, a third figure stood partly hidden by the curtain.
A man wearing a ring with a dark stone.
And beneath the photograph, written in a different hand, was a final line:
Ana remembered everything once before.
PART 3
The photograph remained on the table between them.
Mother Caridad studied the younger version of Sister Esperanza standing outside the small house in San Aurelio. Without the white habit, she looked almost unfamiliar. Her hair fell loosely over her shoulders, and one hand rested against the gentle curve of her stomach.
