“Thank you for saying that,” Lorelei said quietly. She looked over at her daughter. “What makes this all so poignant is that we drove down to Grand Isle the night of the incident. We stopped at Arcadias’s treasure shop. Alisha wanted to extend forgiveness to her father, and offer to have a relationship with him. But of course he wasn’t there.”

Rafter spoke to the girl. “Alisha, I admire your courage. Most girls your age wouldn’t have considered doing what you attempted to do.”

Alisha looked up at him. Her brown eyes had grown moist. “I had to do it. I couldn’t stay angry at my dad any longer. The bitterness was changing my personality little by little. I hated what I was becoming. And Jesus said in Matthew 6:15, ‘But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.’ This verse convicts me. I can’t get it out of my head.”

Lorelei placed an arm around her daughter. “Alisha just turned sixteen and she’s already more mature than me. I’m still not sure I’ve completely forgiven Arcadias. And if he’s ever found, I don’t know if I can attend his trial.”

“Most people stumble over this verse, Lorelei. I know I do,” Annie said. “But just think if everyone on the planet kept the verse. Peace would rule the world.”

A sudden prompting entered Rafter’s head. He’d never been an impulsive person. He preferred to weigh his options, research the cause and affects, the pros and cons before acting on an idea. But this prompting seemed divine in nature. An invisible hand pushed at his back, urging him to respond. “Alisha, do you have a summer job lined up?”

“Not yet. I intend to get one though. I want to save up for a car.”

Rafter looked at his wife. “We haven’t talked this over, Annie, but I didn’t think of it until now. We’re about ready to reopen for business. And summer is right around the corner. We’ll be swamped with guests and weddings. And now we have Grace to take care of. I think it might be time we hire our first ever employee to help us out.”

Annie nodded. “I think you’re right, Jon. So what do you say, Alisha. Would you like to work here?”

Alisha smiled. “Sure I would. What would I be doing?”

“Mostly cleaning and preparing rooms, assisting me with weddings, running to town for supplies, and probably helping me with Grace.”

“I can do all those things, no problem.”

“Great, you’re hired,” Rafter said. “But there is only one stipulation. When you go to town for groceries, you have to drive my old truck, the one sitting by my art studio. Whenever I go to town for something I drive the pickup and skip the big supermarket. I go straight to McDougal’s General Store. I feel like I’m stepping back in time. It’s the coolest thing.”

Alisha looked over at the restored 1954 Ford F-100 pickup truck. “It’s cute, but I only know how to drive an automatic.”

“That’s okay. I can teach you. We have a long driveway and the road is quiet. Hardly anyone drives down it.”

“Okay, that sounds fun.”

Lorelei looked at Annie and then Jon. “But wouldn’t this be like a conflict of interest at the trial? My husband tried to kill you and now you’re employing his daughter.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it, Lorelei. As slow as it takes the judicial system to work, summer will be over and Alisha back in school before the jury is even selected,” Annie said.

Lorelei wiped at her eyes. “You two are so kind. I didn’t know what to expect when we came here. If anything I expected to receive cold indifference. But you’ve offered only grace. I can’t begin to thank you.”

“Life is a challenge for everybody. But if we all help each other out life becomes easier,” Rafter said. He looked at his daughter Grace, awake now but content in Alisha’s arms. “God knows we all need a little grace every day.”

Chapter 61

That same moment

Sitting in his recliner and surrounded by his grown children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Ned Hoxley felt conflicted. He celebrated his ninetieth birthday today, and the love and attention showered on him made him feel young, but seeing his great grandchildren growing up so quickly made him feel old.

The whole family had come over and squeezed into his tiny house to help him celebrate his milestone birthday. His daughters had helped Cora prepare a delicious meal of jambalaya and corn on the cob. After the main course they served him cake and ice cream. Stuffed to the gills, he forced down the dessert obligingly. And then he’d opened a few gifts. Now everyone sat around him and talked. Laughter rang out often.

Connor Hoxley, his oldest great-grandchild moved from his spot and squatted down next to him. He held a pen and spiral notebook in his hands. “Hey, great-Grandpa Ned, I need your help with something,” Connor said.

Ned looked at Connor, a strapping fourteen-year-old boy who reminded him a great deal of Bobby. His size and mannerisms, personality, and even hairstyle brought Bobby to mind. “Sure, I’ll be glad to help you any way I can. Do you need money?”

Connor laughed. “No, I have a school assignment I need your help with, Grandpa.”

“What subject? If its math you better find a different tutor.”

Connor shook his head. “It’s a history assignment. I have to write a paper on World War II. This paper is worth a lot of points. It’s taking the place of our final.”

“Okay, how can I help you?”

Connor looked down at his notebook and fiddled with his pen, shoving it up and down into the metal rings. He looked back up. “I need your insight, Grandpa. And I need your story. I know you’ve never told anyone about your war experience. I understand it must be painful. But I’m hoping you can share a little with me today.”

Ned closed his eyes and sighed. He said nothing for a moment. And then he opened his mud-colored eyes. “I’ve held in my war experience for 72 years. And it’s been an unwanted companion all this time. So maybe it is time I let it out.”

“If the memories become too painful, we’ll stop. I’ll figure something else out,” Connor said as he flipped open his notebook.

Ned cleared his throat and began. “The invasion of Normandy, or D-Day as it is most often called took place early on the morning of June 6, 1944. It was the largest amphibious assault to ever be launched. The landing took place on five beaches: Utah Beach, Omaha Beach, Gold Beach, Juno Beach, and Sword Beach. The main purpose of the invasion was to gain a foothold in France and liberate Paris, and then bring the war to Germany’s western border.

“Over a hundred and fifty thousand Allied soldiers stormed the beaches that day. And I was one of them. Unfortunately I landed on Omaha Beach—a beach surrounded by steep cliffs and fortified by three German infantry battalions. The Germans had dug in well and used their 8 bunkers with 75 mm guns; 35 pillboxes; 85 machine gun nests; and dozens of rocket-launching sites to their advantage.

“Before we landed an aerial bombardment was supposed to cripple the German artillery placements. But the weather worked against us. Dark, heavy clouds and mist rising up off the beach that morning hid the placements and the Allied shelling mostly missed their targets. To make matters worse only two of the 29 amphibious tanks launched from the sea even made it ashore because of the English Channel’s rough waters.

“The landing craft I was on didn’t make it to shore either. About fifty yards from shore its hull was breached by one of the many hidden obstacles placed into the water by the Germans. We had to swim to the beach.

“We were pinned down as soon as we stepped onto the sand. It was like we walked into a firing squad. The Germans strafed us with machine-gun fire from their pillboxes. Men dropped like flies. It was so bad General Omar Bradley almost nixed the whole operation.”