A seemingly lost little girl leads Bart to the scene of a horrible accident. As he consoles Sawyer, who crashed his bike into a New York City bus, he finds himself comforted instead when Sawyer offers him a pendant to keep him safe as he heads off to boot camp and eventually war.<br><br>More than a decade later, the pair are reunited on Thanksgiving Day, one on one side of a soup kitchen serving table, one on the other. They nearly miss each other, but fate -- or something else -- seems to want to bring them together.<br><br>It isn’t only on that day, either, but throughout the holiday season, during which Bart discovers the significance of the pendant and both men learn to believe in angels and second chances.

Angel Wings and Bullets

“What’s your story?” I asked him.


“Grew up the son of a police officer. Me and my sisters, Molly and Melissa—we called her Missy. Now, it’s just me.”


“How come?” It felt intrusive, but my lack of social graces meant I’d only realized that after I’d asked.


“Dad was killed in the line of duty.” Sawyer’s hand went to the chunk of metal at his throat. “Missy died before that. Molly died later…over there…where you were. My mom is still alive, but she’s not.”


There was a statement! And I got the message.


“She, uh, lives in a bottle—a couple—pills and alcohol. I can’t blame her. We’ve faced a lot of tragedy.”


Maybe the tears had come because I had mentioned mine.


Chapter 5