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.Even if he had a yearning to dash in that direction, there was no way he’d outrun them.So, Manny alternately lifted his head to catch a breeze, then rested it on top of his bandaged leg.Nina scratched behind his ears, remembering Greg’s litany of instructions when they checked Manny out of the clinic.He helped Aretha settle the dog in the car while Nina wrote a check for his treatment.Once outside, she’d thanked him for his help with Manny and with the charges.“I appreciate all you did for Manny, and I meant it when I said I didn’t want this costing you more than it cost me,” she told him“Not at all.And even if it did, you.I mean Manny, was worth it.”Aretha was packing a dinner to take to Luke who worked late shift, and Nina had started writing her feature about Carlys when Greg called about dinner and a movie Saturday night.“Or it could be a movie and dinner, either way.”They were still talking when Aretha came back almost an hour later.“Did you read it? What did you think?”Elise and Peyton had stopped by Saturday on their way home from lunch to spend time with their niece, but Greg knew his sister.She didn’t want to just hear his reaction to Nina’s first article, she wanted to examine every pore on his face for a reaction.Greg relocated a collection of stuffed bears from the couch to the coffee table so his sister and brother-in-law could have a place to sit.Sheets had been loosely tented on the furniture in one-half of the family room.A play kitchen, art easel, and a stack of books took up space in the other half.“I haven’t had a chance to read it yet because I’ve been a tent-building, water-coloring, tea-partying daddy most of the morning,” Greg said as he picked two dolls and a broken cookie off the floor.“I may need to spend time at the gym to build stamina just to play with my daughter.”Peyton looked around the room.“Ever thought of putting up a train or a race track? Get one of those, and I’ll join the play group.”While Peyton talked, Jazarah’s little round singing could be heard coming from one of the flowered tents.“I hiding.I hiding.I hiding.”“I’ll write them both on your Christmas list, Peyton,” said Elise.“We’ll entertain the princess.You go read that piece that Nina worked on for the past three weeks.” Elise slipped out of her heels, and in a too-loud voice said, “Uncle Peyton, we have to find our little lost niece.Where could she be?”A soft giggle floated into the room.Greg watched as his sophisticated sister and her husband crawled the short space to where Jazarah hid under a sheet draped over a chair.As Greg left the room, he heard Peyton exclaim, “There you are!” followed by the delighted squeals of his daughter.In that moment, Greg realized God’s reunion with Lily must have sounded much the same.And if what Greg experienced with his daughter was a mere shadow of what God experienced with His daughter, he knew Lily’s joy was more spectacular than he could imagine.Have fun, my sweet Lily.Fill the heavens with your laughter.The features had started weeks ago when Nina opened her email to read one of Elise’s “see me” directives.Nina closed her laptop and waited for her insides to stop practicing aerobics.At one time, the internal gut-bouncing meant she feared the dragon-lady’s fire belching.Not now.Not today.The knot was her own.“Nina, these interviews are powerful and poignant.The feedback we’re receiving is incredible.Every story resonates because this disease may be pandemic, but it’s personal.And you’re not only telling stories, you’re weaving in facts that people might not ever know or feel comfortable asking.”Elise’s office door was already open when Nina arrived.As soon as she walked in, Nina eyed a stack of magazines on her desk.“Have a seat.” Elise’s voice was the excited impatience of someone waiting for a show to start.“Water?”When Nina turned down the offer of water, Elise picked up the magazine with her first article, the one featuring Kelley’s daughter Carlys, from a stack on her desk.“The information here about federal funding of needle exchange programs, the number of infections from injection drugs, is getting people’s attention.”The second interview, with Pam and Eli, already parents of three biological children, told their story of finding their adopted son Jacob begging on the streets.“If Eli had not been there with the medical team, Jacob and his sister would probably have died by now.We saved two children,” Pam had said, “but since 1984, over 14 million children have been orphaned in Southern Africa because of AIDS.” Elise said local organizations contacted her to thank her because they’d experienced an increased interest in volunteer teams after the article published.Nina appreciated Elise’s enthusiasm, but knew if she didn’t say something soon, her courage would stomp out like an unwelcome visitor.Before Elise picked up another magazine, Nina blurted, “Elise, there’s another story I want to discuss with you.”Elise’s eyes switched to high beams
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