"I'd like to think so. I met her shortly after she moved here, I took her confession when she arrived. She was a mess; still reeling from the rape, her dreams of college shattered, and facing single motherhood. I counseled her for months, helping her get past her feelings of grief and shame. If that wasn't enough, he own mother was crushed by her return, and her health was failing. It was a lot to take."

"She was a good woman?"

He nodded. "Your mother was very strong woman. She did the best she could, and when she could do no more, she did what she thought she had to...