Americas, New York, NY 10020
ISBN: 0-671-00333-X POCKET and colophon are registered trademarks of
Simon & Schuster Inc. Printed in the U.S.A.
Ac1cnowledgments A special thanks to the following: To Jo Ann for
keeping me accurate, focused, and on track . . . and for putting up
with me.
To my agent, Andrea Cirillo, and my editor, Linda Marrow, for believing
in my dreams . . . and for never saying the word 'impossible.' And,
to all the readers who fell in love with the Claybornes and encouraged
me to continue their story. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
@ For winters rains and ruins are over, And all the seasons of snows
and sins, The days dividing lover and lover, The light that loses, the
night that wins, And time remembered is grief forgotten, And frosts are
slain and flowers begotten, And in green underwood and cover Blossom by
blossom the spring begins.
From Atalanta in Calydon Algernon Charles Swinburne
But for the grace of God and an untied shoelace, she would have died
with the others that day. She walked into the bank at precisely two
forty-five in the afternoon to close her account, deliberately leaving the
task until the last possible minute because it made everything so final in
her mind. There would be no going back. All of her possessions had
been packed, and very soon now she would be leaving Rockford Falls,
Montana, forever.
Sherman MacCorkle, the bank president, would lock the doors in fifteen
minutes. The lobby was filled with other procrastinators like herself,
yet for all the customers, there were only two tellers working the
windows instead of the usual three. Emmeline MacCorkle, Sherman's
daughter, was apparently still at home recovering from the influenza
that had swept through the peaceful little town two weeks before.
Malcolm Watterson's line was shorter by three heads. He was a
notorious gossip, though, and would surely ask her questions she wasn't
prepared to answer.
Fortunately Franklin Carroll was working today, and she immediately
took her place in the back of his line. He was quick, methodical, and
never intruded into anyone's personal affairs. He was also a friend.
She had already told him good-bye after services last Sunday, but she
