To her surprise, Jo had a nice time with Doug, Clay, and Jamie at the river that day. Doug caught five fish, Clay caught three, and Jo and Jamie caught one each.

"Not bad at all, for beginners," Doug said encouragingly. They went back to his house, where Doug cleaned the fish and cooked them for dinner. Afterwards, Jo and Jamie stayed and visited for several hours, laughing and talking, until Jo started yawning.

"I guess it's about time we headed home," she told Doug.

"Already?" He looked disappointed, then glanced at the clock. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Coming along, Clay?"

"Nah, I think I'll just hang out here," his son replied.

Back at Jo's apartment, Jamie quickly went back to her bedroom while Doug and Jo lingered at the doorway, talking.

"This weekend was totally different from the way I thought it was gonna go, but I can't imagine having had any more fun than I did," Doug told Jo.

"The weekend isn't over with yet," Jo reminded him.

"No, it isn't," he agreed. "Say, why don't you come to church tomorrow morning? I mean, if you don't already go someplace..."

"I don't," Jo told him. "In fact, that sounds like a good idea. I haven't even been to church at all since I moved here. It would be good to get back into the habit again."

"Good! I hope you'll come." He kissed her good-bye, a more lingering kiss this time.

Jamie refused to go with her mother to St. Jude's the following morning, preferring to sleep in, so Jo went alone. Doug beamed when he saw her enter the sanctuary and made room for her beside himself and Clay.

In the end, Jo was glad she'd decided to attend. The priest's message was about new beginnings, putting past sorrows behind and embracing the opportunities of the present.

"I think that was meant for both of us," Doug said to Jo when the service was over. "Why don't you come over later? I'll take you to meet Grace and Earl."

"OK, just let me make sure Jamie's all right," Jo replied.

"You're really into this guy, aren't you?" Jamie asked when Jo returned home.

"I do like him a lot," Jo admitted.

"Are you sleeping with him?" Jamie's eyes narrowed.

"That's none of your business, young lady!" Jo's eyes blazed with anger.

"So you are, then," Jamie said nonchalantly.

Jo stormed out of the house in anger and arrived at Doug's in a sour mood.

"What is it?" Doug asked anxiously.

"It's Jamie." Jo sighed. "She asked...something that was none of her business."

"Teenagers." Doug laughed and shook his head. "Well, you ready to go, then?"

"Doug tells me you're an angel," Jo said to Earl when she met him. To her, he looked like a very ordinary scruffy middle-aged man.

"I am," Earl replied. "Want to see proof?"

"Yeah." Jo glanced at Doug, wondering whether they were both mentally unbalanced. Without hesitation, Earl removed his shirt and opened his wings.

Jo gasped, shocked. "How the heck did you do that?"

"It was easy." Earl grinned.

"Can I touch them?"

"Sure!"

Jo examined Earl's wings and found that they seemed to be completely natural appendages, such as limbs. In the end, she had to concede that his claim to be an angel must be genuine.

"I couldn't believe it either, at first," Doug told Jo as he drove her home.

"Had you ever seen his wings before today?" asked Jo.

"Yes."

"How many times?"

"Not that many. He ain't a show-off about them. He doesn't want a lot of attention, articles written about him in the 'National Enquirer', stuff like that. He's only here to help Grace."

"Why only Grace?"

"She cried out to God, and He sent Earl to look out for her. But he's a nice guy, Jo. Any time you need him, just ask him, and he'll help you all he can."

"Has he helped you before?"

"He sure has." Doug grinned as he drove into the apartment building's parking lot.

"Must be handy knowing an angel," Jo remarked.

"Well, now you know him too, don't you?"