Miracle in the Mist by Elizabeth Sinclair

she returned his smile.
    Frank stared into her sparkling eyes, and instantly his day seemed brighter, his emotional burden lighter. He couldn't bear the thought of destroying her good mood by relating what he'd imagined the night before—that her painting had been the cause or, at the very least, the vehicle that had been responsible for his night of disturbing dreams.
    Forcing a smile, he sat beside her on the rock. "What would you like to do today? I don't know about you, but I'm finding it hard to cope with all this leisure time."
    "I'm sure you are. Your days must be very hectic at the hospital."
    He sighed, realizing for the first time how much he missed being in the operating room. "'Hectic' is putting it mildly. They often start in the middle of one night and end in the middle of the next, but I really love it."
    Carrie studied the flowers growing near the rock. "It must be wonderful to know you hold a life in your hands and that you have the power to—"
    He bolted to his feet and held out his hand to her. "Let's take a walk in the woods."
    Frank didn't want to get into a discussion about his ability to save lives. After all, the lives that had mattered most to him had been anything but safe in his hands. The image of Sandy in the painting ran through his mind. What was she trying to tell him? Had she been there at all, or had she just been a figment of his imagination, a product of the supper of bread and cheese Alvin had left for him?
    Carrie looked down at her paint case. "Let me take this inside."
    Frank grinned. "Do you really think it won't be safe here?" He looked up at the clear blue sky. "It doesn't look like rain, and I doubt there's a thief within miles of this village."
    She giggled. The sound skipped over his nerves like fingers strumming the strings of a harp. How did she have the ability to change his mood so drastically simply by laughing?
    "You're right, of course." She bent over and stood the case against the rock, then leaned the blank canvas against it. "Let's go."
     
    ***
     
    Several hours later, Carrie and Frank sat on a fallen tree, resting. From their vantage point, they could look down on the village nestled snugly in the glen. A soft breeze carried the heady aroma of cedar to them as it blew through the pines above their heads. The resulting sound was almost like a sigh. Nearby, a squirrel scampered up a tree, causing a cascade of loose bark to tumble to the ground. They hadn't ventured far enough from the village to leave the eternal spring that embraced it, making it hard to imagine that just a few hundred yards away winter still held everything in its icy grip.
    Carrie had gone quiet, deeply immersed in thought.
    "Penny for your thoughts," Frank said, digging in his pants pocket and then holding out his hand. A bright copper penny rested in his palm.
    Carrie stared at the penny, and then snatched it up. "Sold," she said, but then immediately fell silent again.
    "Oh, no. You can't take my money, then renege on the deal." Frank shifted his position to face her squarely. His features softened. "Friends talk to friends."
    "If that's true, then why did you sidestep talking to me about what was bothering you this morning?" When he opened his mouth, she read in his eyes the excuse that hovered on his lips and added, "And don't tell me nothing because I won't believe you."
    Frank sighed, and then told her about the painting and seeing Sandy in it. "I can't make up my mind if I really saw her or if I'm just going bonkers."
    Carrie laughed. "I've only known you for a short time, but I doubt you're going bonkers."
    He stared at her. "Then how do you explain the part about seeing Sandy?"
    She stood and walked to a large pine tree a few feet away. Turning and leaning her back against its rough trunk, she studied him. "A lot of strange things have happened to me since I came here. Seeing a moving figure in the painting is just one more to add to the list of the inexplicable." She glanced at a squirrel