Alex stared at herself in the mirror.  For the last half-hour she’d been trying to figure out what to wear for her dinner with Daniel, looking through the clothes in her closet at least a dozen times.  This was ridiculous.  Why was she so nervous about eating dinner with Daniel in his house?  He wasn’t even fixing the dinner.  They would just be eating food from the Widow’s Walk that she’d be bringing.  There was no reason whatsoever for her to be nervous.

Giving an exasperated sigh, Alex turned away from the mirror, deciding to just go as she was.  There was no reason to dress specially for the occasion.  The redhead glanced at her watch.  The dinner crowd would be starting soon.  She’d help Molly and Boris through the worse of it, then head up to Daniel’s with their meal.  Alex had to admit that she was looking forward to this dinner with Daniel.  There was a lot more that she wanted to know about him, and maybe this would be the opportunity to learn.

Smiling faintly, Alex left her room and headed downstairs and back to work.

Daniel looked at his watch.  Alex would be arriving in a little over an hour.  He had no clue about why he was so nervous.  This was just going to be dinner with a friend, or at least someone he would like to consider a friend.  True, she was beautiful, spirited, intelligent, caring, and strong, but that was beside the point.

The minister had been visited by several people this afternoon, including Linda and her parents.  The girl’s parents had been as grateful for Daniel’s rescue of their child as Michelle’s parents had been.  Among the other people who visited was Ruby.  The woman had fussed over him like a mother and had come with a bag full of groceries in case he was out of anything.  The minister smiled at the memory.  He could come to love this place and the people here very easily.  It was no wonder that Rollie didn’t want to lose his life on Hope.

Yet another visitor was Kevin, who had come to ask questions for his report.  The cop had looked at him with amazement the entire time, and a lot of the questions were ones that the minister knew the cop didn’t need to ask for his report.  Though embarrassing at the time, the incident made Daniel chuckle now.

Callie had also come to get his story for the newspaper.  She had been intending to wait until tomorrow, but when she found out that Daniel was awake and already had several visitors, she’d rushed right over.  She had grilled him even more thoroughly for all the details than Kevin had, her eyes alight with the excited gleam of a reporter who’d found a great story.

There was a knock on the door, and, for a moment, Daniel thought that Alex had arrived extremely early, but when he opened the door, it was to see Father Mac standing on the porch.

“Hey, Father Mac.  Come in.”  The minister stepped aside to let his fellow cleric in.  Once inside, the priest looked around.

“I haven’t been in here since the last Protestant minister was here, and that was some thirty years ago,” he said.  “Rollie has fixed it up nicely.”  He turned to Daniel, looking down at the minister’s bandaged feet.  “How are they?”

“They sting and hurt a bit, but they’re all right.”

“Well, perhaps we should get you off of them.”  Father Mac sat down on a chair, and Daniel settled on the couch.  “I suppose you know that word of what you did is all over the island now.”

Daniel made a face.  “Yes, I know.  It certainly is different in small towns than it is in the big cities.  If something like this had happened in Irvine, people would hardly have given notice to it.”

“Oh, I seriously doubt that.  What you did would get noticed no matter where you were.  It isn’t every day that a man who can’t swim jumps into the ocean and rescues two children from drowning.”

Daniel shook his head.  “You know, it really isn’t all that amazing that I was suddenly able to swim.  Lots of people teach themselves how to swim by just doing it.  I had a friend who did that.”  A smile curved his lips.  “He tried to talk me into doing the same, but I said no way.”

“Yes, you’re right, but those people didn’t learn how to swim by diving into the ocean and pulling two children to safely.”

“No, but I wouldn’t have been able to do that if God hadn’t given me the strength to do it.  He deserves the credit more than I do.”

“I think you are underestimating yourself, Daniel.  God may have given you strength, but He didn’t make you get into that water in the first place.  He didn’t give you the heart, the courage, and the determination to do it.  That came from here.”  He laid a fingertip on the minister’s chest over his heart.

Daniel remained silent, not knowing what to say in response.  When he’d gone in to save those kids, he’d just done something he felt he had to do because his heart wouldn’t let him do nothing.  A little startled, Daniel realized that Rollie had once said exactly the same thing when he’d talked about why he helped the police put criminals behind bars. ‘I wonder what Rollie would say if I told him that I’m even thinking like him now,’ the minister pondered.

Father Mac shifted in his chair.  “Daniel, according to what I’ve learned from Kevin and Lily, you came very close to drowning out there.  I know how traumatic a brush with death can be.  I came over to find out if you’d like to talk about it.”

Daniel felt his heart warm at the kind gesture from the Catholic priest.  Rollie had told Daniel that his relationship with Father Mac was contradictory and confusing at times, the priest alternating between patience and impatience, friendliness and displeasure toward him, but that, whenever Rollie truly needed guidance or a few words of wisdom, Father Mac was there for him.

“Thank you, Father Mac.  I appreciate that,” Daniel said.  He took a deep breath.  “I have to admit that I was pretty scared for a while.  I was really beginning to think that I wasn’t going to make it.”

“And how did you feel about that, besides the natural fear of death?” the priest asked gently.

Daniel was quiet a moment, trying to analyze and sort out his feelings in those moments when he thought he was going to drown.  “I . . . I was sad, I guess.  Sad that I’d never see my family and friends again, that I’d never patch things up with my father.  I regretted that there were so many things left undone in my life, so many things that I’d never see or do.  I’d never marry again, have children, experience the joys of having a family.  But . . . I was also angry.”

“At whom?”

“Myself, because I was failing Michelle.  She was going to die with me because I wasn’t strong enough to save her.  And I wouldn’t be there to help Rollie when he needed me.  I was letting everyone down, just like . . . just like I let Kate down.”  Daniel’s eyes dropped to the floor between his feet.

“Daniel, I know what it feels like to believe that you failed someone you care about,” Father Mac said quietly, a faint tremor in his voice.  “And I know what it’s like to look death in the face and feel the regret of all the things you didn’t do with your life.  But now that your ordeal is over, you have to look at all the things you have done, all the ways that you have helped others.  No human life is ever truly wasted unless a person never does anything for another living creature.  Whether your contribution is through knowledge or the invention of new technology, or it’s performing simple acts of kindness to others along the way, or even just giving and receiving love, when you touch other people’s lives with your own and make those lives a little better in some way, then your life was not for nothing.  I don’t know how it is that you feel you failed Kate, and I’m not asking you to tell me, but I truly believe that she’s forgiven you and understands why you did or didn’t do whatever it is that troubles you so.  And I also think that, whatever that thing was, you believed that you were making the right decision at the time.”

Daniel drew in a shaky breath.  “I did believe that I was making the right choice at the time, but . . . but afterwards, I knew that I’d made a terrible mistake, that I had been weak and foolish . . . and there was no way to undo what happened because of it.”

“Do you want to tell me about it?  I will understand if you don’t.”

Daniel lifted his eyes to the priest’s.  He had never talked, really talked to anyone about Kate before, except for what he’d told Alex.  He would have talked to Rollie about it, but with the grief and troubles that were already in his twin’s life, it hadn’t seemed right.  But Daniel knew now that he needed to talk about it, to unburden himself of the weight that had lain upon his heart for so long.

With another deep breath, Daniel told Father Mac about his father, Kate, and the decisions and events that led up to her death.  Once he was finished, the priest was quiet for a moment.

“Daniel, you can’t blame yourself for Kate’s death,” he said at last.  “She made the decision to leave.  You didn’t drive her away or force her to do what she did.  She chose to leave, and because of a tragic and unforeseeable accident, she lost her life.  If you blame yourself for her death, then you must also blame her.  You say that you should have done things differently, gone against your father’s wishes and went with Kate.  Well, she could also have done things differently.  She could have stayed.  She could have waited for you to finally decide to break with your father and be with her.  If she had stayed, then she may not have died.  We’ll never know for sure.  She made a choice, just like you did, a choice that she thought was the right one.  Was it the right one?  Some would say yes, others would say no.  The point is that it was what she felt she needed to do, just like you felt that you could not defy and leave your father.  We all have twenty-twenty hindsight, Daniel.  We can all look back on things we did and say that we should have done them differently.  But we can’t live our lives regretting every mistake and perceived mistake that we made.  We have to live for the present and the future and live our lives the best that we can so that, in the end, our satisfaction in what we did outweighs our regrets.”

Daniel stared at the priest, letting the man’s words seep into his heart.  He knew down deep inside that Father Mac was right.  Both he and Kate had made choices, done what they thought they had to.  Right or wrong, it could not be changed, and to keep blaming himself for what happened was not helping anyone.  Kate wouldn’t want that.

“Thank you, Father Mac,” the minister said, his gratitude echoing in his voice.  “I now know what Rollie meant when he said that, when he really needed your help, you were always there for him.”

The priest gave him a smile.  “Well, don’t tell Rollie this, but there were times when he was the one who made me see things clearly.”

Daniel grinned.  “It’ll be our secret.”

Father Mac rose to his feet.  “Well, I’d better be going now.  It is dinnertime.  Are you all set in regards to food?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.  Alex is bringing something up.  She’s, um, been mothering me a bit.”

The priest chuckled.  “Don’t worry.  She won’t stay like that for long.  She’ll soon be back to her usual self.”

“Yeah, I bet,” Daniel said with a laugh of his own.  He said goodbye to his fellow cleric and settled back on the couch, putting his feet up on the cushions.  He looked at his watch, surprised at how little time had passed during Father Mac’s visit.  It seemed like they’d been talking for hours.

Daniel spent the remaining time until Alex’s arrival reflecting on what had happened today.  When her knock finally came, he was feeling relaxed and content.

“Hi there,” he greeted the redhead.  He took a deep whiff of the food.  “Mmm.  Smells good.”  He stepped aside for Alex to enter.

“Well, I hope it tastes as good as it smells and that you’re very hungry, because Boris piled it on when he found out it was for you.  He said something about you needing plenty of good Russian food after being the hero.”

“Well, as it so happens, I’m starving, so I appreciate his thought.”

They went to the kitchen and settled down to eat.  There was silence for a while as they enjoyed the food.  Abruptly, they both started talking at the same time.

“How are your--” Alex began.

“I was wondering if--” Daniel started.

They both stopped and laughed.  “You first,” Daniel then said.

“How are your feet?” Alex asked.

“Better.  The ibuprofen is helping.  They’re starting to itch now, which I guess is a good sign.”

Alex nodded.  “Now, what were you going to say?”

“I was wondering if there was someone who could take me to town tomorrow.  I want to visit Michelle, and I know that if I walk down there, both you and Doctor Watson will have my hide.”

“You’re right about that,” the redhead said emphatically.  “I’m sure that I can arrange for somebody to take you over to see Michelle.  Actually, her parents would probably be happy to bring her here.”

“No, that’s okay.  I’d like to go there.  I don’t want to stay cooped up in here.”

“I hope you don’t have any intentions of doing repair work around here, not with those feet of yours.”

Daniel laughed.  “I wouldn’t dare.  You and the doctor wouldn’t be the only ones who’d jump all over me if I did.  Rollie would be in on the action, too.”

“Good.”

They fell silent again, though, this time, the silence was more relaxed.  As he ate, Daniel found his eyes repeatedly drawn to Alex’s face.  He began noticing details, the shape of her eyes, the sprinkling of freckles over face, how her eyelashes were the same color as her hair.  When he began to think that he could look at that face for a very long time and not get tired of it, he quickly put a halt to what he was doing.  These were not thoughts he should be having.

As they ate, Alex had felt like she was being watched several times, but every time she looked at Daniel, he was focused on his meal.  She took these opportunities to study his face.  She still could not get over how identical to Rollie he was.  Except for the suntan, every inch of his face was the same, the slight downward curve of his nose, the shape of his lips, the way his face would light up when he smiled.  And then there were his eyes.  She’d never really thought about how much she liked Daniel’s eyes until now, when she was in the company of the real Daniel Cooper.  They were warm and deep, the kind of eyes that you could sink into forever.  Startled and alarmed at her thoughts, Alex hastily returned her gaze to her food.  This was not good.  She shouldn’t be thinking this way.

They finished their meal, making small talk throughout the remainder of it.  As they took their plates to the sink, Daniel was thinking that he didn’t want the evening to end yet.

“Would you like some coffee?” he asked tentatively.

“Sure.  That would be nice,” Alex replied, glad that Daniel had made the offer since she really wanted the evening to continue for a while longer.

As Daniel made the coffee, Alex wandered around the house.  She realized that, in the months that Rollie had been there, she’d never really spent a lot of time in the parish house.  She began reading the titles of the books on the shelves.  She spied one that she recognized and pulled it out to look at it.  The book was very old, the brown and gold cover worn but still in good condition.  She liked the feel of its cool, smooth surface.  This was the book that Rollie had loaned to Callie when he was trying to help her with her Internet romance.  Callie had asked Alex to give the book back to him.  The redhead remembered what Rollie had said after she returned the book to him and he quoted a verse from it.  He had made the comment that he’d better put the book away until he could use it for himself.  Well, Rollie had found the love of his life, and he most certainly wouldn’t need to read poetry to woo her.  Would Daniel woo his lady with poetry if he found another woman to love?  Alex decided that she really liked the idea of a man reading poetry to her.  That sure wasn’t something that Steve would ever do.

“Do you like poetry?” asked a soft voice behind her.

Alex turned to find Daniel standing in the doorway of the kitchen, leaning casually against the door jamb.  She was suddenly struck by how handsome he was.  Hastily pushing that thought aside, she cleared her throat.

“Yes, I do, though I don’t really get the chance to read it, and I don’t know enough to tell what poems were written by which poets.”  She laughed.  “And I couldn’t write poetry if my life depended on it.”

Daniel smiled.  “I doubt that I’d be very good at that either.  Writing poetry, that is.  Rollie told me about the poet who was living in the woods.  I would like to have met him.”

“So, you share Rollie’s love of poetry?  You certainly do have a lot in common with each other.”

Daniel’s smile broadened.  “Actually, before he met me, Rollie hadn’t read a poem in his life.  It was an acquired taste for him.  He had to learn about poetry to become me.”  The minister chuckled.  “He was pretty resistant at first.”

“Really?  I’d never have guessed that.  It’s amazing how much he became like you.  I have to wonder where Rollie ends and Daniel begins.”

“That all depends.”

“On what?”

“On whether you’re talking about the Rollie before his life fell apart or after.”

“He really changed that much?”

“In some ways, yes.  I got a pretty good picture of what he was like before from the things he told me about himself and his life.  What happened to him changed him profoundly in a number of ways.  But in a lot of other ways, he remained the same.”

Daniel looked over his shoulder and saw that the coffee was ready.  He and Alex filled their cups and walked out onto the balcony.  They stood in silence for a while, staring up at the stars.

“Starlight, star bright,” Daniel murmured.  His gaze went to Alex’s profile.  “If you could make a wish and have it come true, what would it be?” he asked quietly.

“Hmm.  That’s a tough one.  There are so many things I’d like to wish for.”  She smiled.  “Are there any limitations for this hypothetical wish?”

Daniel returned the smile.  “Hmm.  Let’s limit it to personal wishes, something for yourself, a family member, or a friend.”

“Ah, no wishing for world peace or the end of hunger, huh?”

“Nope, sorry.”

Alex’s smile widened, then she grew serious.  “I’d wish for Dylan to have a long, happy life.  What about you?”

“I’d wish for my relationship with my father to be healed and become what I always wanted it to be,” the minister said in a low voice.

“Were things really bad between you?”

Daniel shook his head.  “No, it wasn’t what I’d call bad.  It just wasn’t good.”  He sighed.  “I can only pray that will change someday.”

“Does he know about Rollie and that he’s been serving as minister here rather than you?”

“No.  I couldn’t tell him.  He’d never have agreed to let Rollie pose as me.”

“So, what’s going to happen if your father decides to take the first step toward mending things and comes here?”

Daniel was silent for several seconds.  “I don’t know.  To be honest, I didn’t think that Dad would ever do that, not with the way he reacted after the Las Vegas thing.  It was pretty ugly.”  His gaze went back to the night sky.  “If everything works out for Rollie, and he can come out of hiding, I guess I’m going to have to make some decisions on what I’m going to do about my parents.  I may have to tell them everything.”  He sighed.  “I’m afraid that isn’t going to endear me to my father.”

“Even though you did it to save someone’s life?”

“He won’t look at it that way.  He’ll only think about the fact that I deceived him, led him to believe that I was here when I was really in Africa.”

Alex had the urge to make a comment about how narrow-minded and self-centered Cliff Cooper apparently was, but she held her tongue.  Daniel didn’t need to hear that from her.

Daniel shook off his melancholy with a visible effort and returned his gaze to Alex.  “So, if you were given two more wishes, what would they be?”

“Wow, two more whole wishes?  Still personal ones, right?”

Daniel nodded.

“Okay.  Um, I guess my second wish would be for me to have the same thing I wished for Dylan.  My third wish . . . ditto for all my friends and family.”

“Ah, but since Dylan is part of your family, that should be your first wish.  Then it would cover not only him, but everyone else as well,” Daniel pointed out with a smile and a twinkle in his eyes.

“You know, you’re right.  I would like to trade in my first wish for this one, please.  So, does that mean I still have a third wish?”

Daniel grinned.  “Yes, I guess it does.”

“All right, then for my third wish, I want Hope to prosper without losing what it has now.  Oh, but is that personal enough to be allowed?”

“I think we can allow it,” Daniel said, his grin growing even wider.

“Okay, your turn.”

“Hmm.  My second wish would have to be the same as your first one, long life and happiness for all my family and friends,” a mischievous smile curved his lips, “except that I’d include myself in with the wish.”

“Hey!  No fair!  Now I feel cheated.”

They both laughed.

“And your third?” Alex then asked.

The smile left Daniel’s face, and he looked away down at the bay where the water shone silver with moonlight.  He was silent for so long that Alex was beginning to think he wasn’t going to reply.  She was just about to ask again when he finally spoke.

“I’d wish to find someone to love again, someone to spend the rest of my life with,” the minister said in barely more than a whisper.

Alex felt an ache grow in her chest.  She reached out and laid her hand over Daniel’s where it rested on the railing.  The minister looked down at it, then lifted his eyes to hers.  Their eyes locked upon each other for what seemed like forever.

Just then, one of the moths that had been fitting around landed in Alex’s hair and got tangled there.  She broke away from the gaze and reached up to free the moth.

“Here.  Let me.  I can see what I’m doing,” Daniel said.  He took a step closer and gently began freeing the insect from Alex’s hair.  Being this close to him, Alex could smell not only the minister’s cologne, but also his own personal scent.  It and his nearness were making her feel slightly giddy.  Except for when she and Rollie shared the stage kiss for the Hope Island Community Play, she hadn’t been this close to a man in years.  She found herself fighting off the desire to close the distance between them.  This was crazy.  They’d only just met a few days ago.  How could she be feeling this way?  It had to be because he was so much like Rollie.  Sometimes, it was as if he was Rollie.  Or, more precisely, it was as if they were both the same Daniel Cooper.

Daniel fought to concentrate on getting the moth out of Alex’s hair, but it wasn’t easy.  Being this close to her was doing funny things to his pulse and respiration.  The smell of her perfume, the feel of her silky hair beneath his fingertips, the sound of her breathing, were all filling his senses.  He wanted to touch her face, to pull her into the circle of his arms and just hold her.  This was ridiculous.  He’d just met the woman barely more than a week ago.  How could he be feeling like this?  Maybe it was just because he was lonely and missed having someone in his life.  Seeing Rollie and Angie together had made him miss that kind of relationship more strongly than he had in months.

Feeling a cross between relief and regret, Daniel managed to free the moth from its prison and took a step back.  “There you go,” he said, his voice slightly husky.

“Thanks,” Alex murmured.  “I, um, guess I’d better go.  It’s getting late.”

They went inside and took their cups to the kitchen, their coffee having barely been touched.  Daniel then followed Alex to the door.

“Thank you for inviting me to join you for dinner,” Alex said.  “It was nice.”

“You’re welcome, and thanks for bringing the dinner.  Tell Boris that I enjoyed it.”  The minister paused.  “I enjoyed your company, too.  It’s been a long time since I had dinner with a woman.  This isn’t exactly something that you have occasion to do out in the African bush.”

“No, I can imagine it isn’t,” Alex responded.  “So, what time would you like to go see Michelle tomorrow?”

“In the morning would be great, but whenever someone can take me is fine.  Linda’s parents mentioned that both they and Michelle’s parents would be keeping the girls out of school tomorrow just to give them a little time to recover and make sure they don’t come down with a cold from being in the water.”

“Okay, I’ll give you a call in the morning and let you know what I arranged.”

“Thanks.”

Daniel said goodbye to Alex.  He watched her go to her car and drive away down the hill.  With a silent sigh, he went back into the house, thinking how quiet and lonely it suddenly felt without her in it.  He went into the bedroom and got his knapsack.  Reaching into one of the front pockets, he pulled out a photo of Kate.

For weeks after her death, he had dreams of her nearly every night, dreams in which they were together forever.  He’d awaken from the dreams missing her even more and wondering if he would always feel the pain of her death.  To this day, he still had dreams of Kate, though they grew less frequent with each passing month.  And, though the pain was still there, it, too, had lessened greatly.

It had been a slow process, but he was healing.  Perhaps if he’d come to a place like this, a place where he could feel loved and cared for, he would have healed more quickly.  It had clearly helped Rollie with his pain and grief.

Though it would take more time, someday, he’d be ready to give his heart away again.  Someday, he would find the heart to let Kate go and allow another take her place.  It was one of the things he prayed for most fervently.

With a silent sigh, Daniel returned the photo to the pocket of the knapsack.  He then readied himself for bed.

Later that night, deep in the midst of sleep, Daniel dreamt of a woman with hair the color of autumn and eyes like the summer sky walking toward him with a smile on her face as Kate took his hand, said goodbye, and walked away.