Bracewell,” he said, with a warm grin.

“That suitcase looks awfully heavy.” She paused, looked down at the handle, then up at him.

“Yes, Corwin.

It’s quite heavy.” “Need a hand with it?” She smiled.

“I certainly do.” He took one side of the handle and she took the other, and together they rolled it out to the waiting car.

And as the young mother was driven off toward somewhere safe, Espe understood a plain and durable truth: life doesn’t erase the old pain, but it can turn a moment of humiliation into a doorway for someone else’s hope.