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

“I guess because that’s the side that touches skin.”


We’d arrived at the building by then. As Sawyer showed me around, he apologized again for sharing so much, and from then on kept the conversation strictly business. By the end of the tour, I’d taken the job and the apartment. Before I’d even been handed the key, I was looking ahead, dreading the day I’d fuck up and get booted back out onto the street. I hoped I would at least make it past the coldest days of winter. 2


By Christmas week, I was well settled into my new job. The work was plentiful, everything from “The bulb blew over the sink” to “My toilet is overflowing,” both at three A.M. I also got a call when Mr. Finerini couldn’t reach the top of his tree to put the star on. I didn’t mind. It surprised me to learn I kind of liked people—most of them—in small doses. As long as I had my quiet time too, I was okay. Maybe I was finally getting better.


Chapter 6