Paloma nodded.
“I understand.”
“But I do know this: I need you to stop deciding what I can bear.”
The doctor’s eyes shone in the mirror.
“I will.”
It was not absolution.
But it was the first honest promise between them.
San Aurelio was smaller than Mother Caridad expected.
The town rested near the sea, though the water was hidden behind a line of pale cliffs. Its streets were narrow, its houses painted in faded blues and yellows. Laundry moved in the breeze above small courtyards.
They found the address on a quiet lane near the edge of town.
The house from the photograph stood behind a low stone wall.
Its shutters were green now instead of white, but the front steps were the same. A lemon tree grew beside the window where the man with the dark ring had once been standing.
Esperanza remained in the car.
Mother Caridad did not hurry her.
