WE CAN ALL START TO HEAL...

The trip to Boston gave her an entirely different perspective on wealthy men than what she had clung to from the time her birth father abandoned her and her mother.

...David walked slowly around the gift shop, carefully looking at items and occasionally glancing her way with a slight smile. 

Finally, he reached to the back of a shelf. Then he carefully lifted out the African-American doll Rochelle had lovingly tucked away, hoping someday she would buy it for herself. 

"What do you think of this?" David asked as Rochelle rang up the purchase. 

"The doll is beautiful. Exquisitely made." Rochelle paused and a frown flitted across her forehead. "Though it's not exactly my mother's style." 

"It's not for your mother." Then he handed the doll to her. "It's for you." 

An unexpected stillness settled over Rochelle, and something shifted inside her. 

"I'm so sorry," he whispered and turned to leave. 

By recognizing we've all been hurt, we can all start to heal. Rochelle's friend, Beth, had spoken those words about the woman who had attacked her with a knife and nearly killed her and her child. If Beth could forgive an act so heinous, couldn't Rochelle take one step in accepting David's gesture of reconciliation? "Wait!" 

David paused with his hand on the doorknob and turned with a hopeful look on his face. 

"Do you think you might--maybe--would you be able to join us for dinner some time?" 

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A beaming smile emerged, changing his whole tired, world-weary face. "Yes, I think I could." 

Rochelle touched the doll's porcelain face with reverent fingers. "Good. Maybe Tuesday?" 

"I'll be there." 

After he was gone, Rochelle hugged the doll to her heart, a single tear sliding into the shining black hair and glittering like a jewel. 

(Excerpt from Shadow of the Legacy, copyright Genene Valleau, writing as Genie Gabriel.)