After much frantic searching, Blair was just about to call the police when Jo spotted Earl and Alyssa walking toward them hand in hand. "There she is!" she exclaimed.
"Oh, thank God!" Blair cried, running to the little girl and embracing her, then turning to Earl. "I met you in church last weekend, didn't I?"
"Yes, ma'am," he replied. "I'm Earl."
"Thank you so much for finding my little girl! I was so worried!"
"It's no problem at all!" Earl replied.
"Earl's nice," Alyssa told her mother. "He told me a story so I wouldn't be afraid."
"Well, I think we've had quite enough of the park for one day," an obviously shaken Blair told her children. "Thank you again for finding Alyssa," she added to Earl, who nodded acknowledgement.
"So is this good-bye, then?" asked Jo, dismayed. "I'd hoped we could spend the whole afternoon together."
"Oh yeah, that's right." Blair looked uncertain. "Meet me back at the motel," she finally said. "We need to talk."
Jo took Bethany back to the motel and met Blair in the lobby. Blair turned the television on for Adam and Alyssa."There's something different about that guy," she said to Jo. "I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's definitely something different about him."
"If I told you who he really is, you wouldn't believe me," Jo replied.
"Try me."
"If you don't believe in God, then you must not believe in angels, either," said Jo.
"Are you telling me Earl's an angel?" Blair sounded incredulous.
"I couldn't believe it either, at first,' said Jo. "Not until he showed me his wings."
"His...wings?" Blair burst out laughing.
"I swear to you, it's true!" Jo raised her voice in annoyance.
"I'm sorry for laughing, but that is a bit hard to swallow," said Blair.
"I'll get him to show you next time we meet up with him," Jo replied, then remembered. "Oh, yeah."
"Oh, I'm not gonna leave right away," said Blair. "I was going to, but not anymore. This is something I've got to see."
Jo returned home to find Doug practicing guitar. He looked up when she entered. "So did you see your friend off?"
"It turned out she decided to stay a bit longer, after all," Jo replied. "Alyssa got lost in the park, and Earl found her. Later on, Blair and I were talking and I told her about Earl being an angel. I said I'd seen his wings, and now she wants to see them, too."
"Well, that's good. At last she's being open-minded about it."
"I told you she's not so bad," said Jo.
"Perhaps I did judge her a bit hastily," Doug admitted.
Blair went to church again the following Sunday. She was far more warm and cordial to everyone, especially Earl. "Jo told me about you," she said to him.
"Nothin' worth tellin'," he replied. "I'm just an ordinary guy."
"That's not what Jo said."
"Well, believe it or not, it's the truth," said Earl. Blair looked disappointed but didn't say anything as she walked out to the car with Jo and Doug.
"So what's this about Earl having wings?" she asked Jo. "He told me he was just an ordinary guy!"
Jo frowned. "I don't understand. He showed me his wings right away."
"I'm going back in there to talk to him," Doug announced, striding back toward the church. He returned several minutes later with Earl in tow.
"Are you a believer?" he asked Blair.
She frowned. "Um...I'm not sure."
"Cause if you're not, nothin' I could show you would change your mind."
"Well, then...I guess I am."
Earl led the group into the lobby of the now-empty church, where he removed his shirt and opened his wings for Blair.
"Wow!" she exclaimed, glancing at her friend. "You were right after all, Jo!" She turned to Earl. "So why bother with taking cars and buses and trains when you can just fly wherever you want to go?"
"It would attract unwanted attention," Earl told her. "I"m not here to attract attention to myself. I'm here to do the Lord's work."
Blair nodded. "That makes sense."