Everyone was stunned.
They followed the voice toward the doorway.
There stood a woman, drenched from head to toe, pale as a ghost, with scratches on her forehead and cheeks. She looked battered and weak, yet still beautiful enough to take one’s breath away.
Candice!
It was Candice!
Everyone from the company and the factory recognized her—the breathtakingly graceful Miss Hale.
Charlie shot to his feet and strode quickly over to support her, his eyes gleaming like stars in the night sky.
“Candice, you’re okay.”
Relief flooded through him like a crashing wave, overwhelming his heart and triggering a near-irresistible urge to pull her into his arms.
Candice managed a faint smile.
“I got lucky. Didn’t die.”
Her grandmother’s house was by the sea, and before elementary school, she had
