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finished for him in her head. She knew all about those kinds of decisions.
    As she drove through the center of town, he sat a little straighter and looked around. “So this is Sentinel Pass, huh? My two daughters love that Sentinel Passtime TV show. They think that Cooper guy is a hunk. They say he’s going to fall in love with the postmistress and get married and live happily ever after.”
    He said the last with such disdain she knew all was not right with his love life. “You and Bobbi aren’t together anymore?”
    “Maybe we never were.”
    She hated the way her heart did a crazy flip hearing him say that. “Three kids might be hard to explain,” she pointed out.
    “Two, not three.”
    “Pardon?”
    His elegant black eyebrows drew together above his nose. “How long is this stop going to take?”
    Char deliberately slowed the car to a crawl to make her point. “As long as it takes. If you don’t like waiting, I can drop you off here,” she said, pointing to Elana Grace’s corner coffee shop, the Tidbiscuit. “It might get a little chilly in the car, and I’m not so trusting I’d leave the engine running and hope to find either you or the car here when I came out.”
    “The cold doesn’t bother me.”
    She stepped on the gas. “My friends would never turn away a stranger, Eli. There’ll be food. You look like you could use—”
    “I’m fine. I need to get to Sturgis before dark.”
    “What’s in Sturgis?” Not that she had any right to ask, but…
    He hesitated so long she didn’t think he’d answer, then he muttered two words, “Bear Butte.”
    Bear Butte was a landmark in the northern Hills that had significant historical and spiritual significance to his people. She’d attended a festival and powwow there a few months earlier with Jordie Petroski, Kat’s younger son.
    She turned into the cul-de-sac where Mac McGannon lived. There were a lot of cars spread out along the street. She pulled to a stop behind Libby’s white SUV and turned off the engine.
    “Here,” she said, handing Eli the money she’d lifted from her till. “It’s not much, but business has been slow since the Hollywood people left. You don’t have to pay me back. Like I said, if you want to leave, fine. If you want a ride, I’ll be back in half an hour or so. I promised Megan I’d be here and a promise is a promise.” The old black woman had taught her that.
    He looked at the money but didn’t say anything. She wasn’t surprised.
    She stuffed her purse under the seat. There wasn’t anything of value in it—she kept her credit cards locked in her wallet in the glove box. She got out and retrieved the balloons that Eli had shoved into the backseat.
    “Thank you.”
    The low, gruffly spoken words made her smile. “You’re welcome.”
    She was still smiling when she knocked on the front door of Mac’s house. Given the din coming from inside, she only hesitated a few seconds before turning the handleand poking her head in. “The balloons are here. Where’s the birthday girl?”
    “Miss Char.” Megan’s loud squeal of joy made Char’s heart swell as full as one of the helium balloons she carried.
    The dark-haired child raced to Char and threw her arms around Char’s legs. “You’re here. And you brought balloons. They’re so beautiful. I love you.”
    Tears pricked the corners of Char’s eyes. She wasn’t a crier—ask any of her book club friends—but those three words from the mouth of a child could bring her to her knees. She knew why. Until today, she’d chosen to ignore the reason behind her particular Achilles’ heel.
    But now, with the cause of this weakness sitting in the front seat of her car, Char knew fate had come full circle. She needed to make peace with her past—one way or another.

CHAPTER THREE

    E LI WATCHED HIS RESCUER walk into the average-looking ranch house. Not all that different from the one he’d lived in with Bobbi and the kids since their move to the reservation.