He wished he had some kind of X-ray vision for the human heart.

This is what he knew that Paul didn't: the world was precarious and sometimes cruel. He'd had to fight hard to achieve what Paul simply took for granted.

He had never even glimpsed her.

Norah watched him, serious and utterly absorbed in his task, overcome by the simple fact of his existence.

She saw herself moving through another life, an exotic, difficult, satisfying life.

The challenges in this place are real and sometimes very difficult, but I've learned to slow down and look for beauty in my days, for the mysteries and blessings woven into everything, into the very words we speak.

So something had begun, and now she could not stop it. Twin threads ran through her: fear and excitement. She could leave this place today. She could start a new life somewhere else.