Rainy Day Man [antikvár]

Prologue Merle Pierce left the BART station and made a high-heeled dash through the San Francisco March rain, her face flushed with anticipation and happiness. When she stepped into the foyer of the coffeehouse, a young woman in tailored slacks and a blue plaid blazer shot up off a deacon's bench and stared at her with large brown eyes that were a perfect match for her own. "Ms. Pierce . . . ?" the young woman asked uncertainly. "Yes," Merle whispered, numbed by the realization that her dream had finally come true. "And you must be Ellen Ehrhart." "I'm Ellen." Merle ached to gather her daughter into her arms, but they were strangers. Another woman had raised her child. So many questions had tormented her since the adoption, twenty-three years before. What kind of life had she ordained for her baby? Fear of the answer drained the color out of her face. After they'd shaken hands. Merle studied Ellen hungrily. It was a relief to see that all she'd inherited from Shane was his black hair, though hers was smooth and straight where his had been a curly mop. 1