Carter stayed there and watched until Sheila had reached her front door and gone into the house.When the door closed behind her, he felt somehow empty inside, as if he had just lost something that he knew he might never find again. It made his heart grow heavy, and he turned to go inside, puzzled to realize that suddenly he was thankful that before long, summer would finally be over.

The next day, a sullen Carter went about his duties at the construction site with little of his usual enthusiasm. His altered disposition did not go unnoticed by his bosses, who playfully needled him throughout the day in the hope that he might reveal just what it was that had darkened his mood. These efforts came to no avail, and the two concluded that their young employee must have been suffering the ill effects of a late night out on the town. Not wishing to discuss the subject, for he was as much at a loss about it as they were, Carter said little to dispel that notion.

Later that afternoon, when he returned home from work and stepped out of the car, Carter glanced across the yard to the Mahoneys’ house, half expecting to see Sheila come strolling out of the front door on her way to the mailbox. By that late hour, he knew full well that she was already at the airport in Boston, waiting to board her flight. The thought did little to bolster his spirits, so he turned and walked out to his own mailbox to see what the mailman had brought that day.

Carter opened the box and pulled out the stack of envelopes inside. He gathered the mail into a neat bundle and brought it all to the front step, where he sat down for a moment to sift through it. Most of it was bills and junk mail addressed to his father or mother, and he was just about to bring it all inside and leave it on the kitchen table when he happened to spy an envelope addressed to him. At the sight of the return address, Carter felt a rush of excitement. At once he forgot all about the blues that had dogged him since the night before, and he eagerly ripped open the envelope and pulled out its contents. For the first time all day, Carter let himself give in to a smile.

His passport had arrived.

CHAPTER 22

CHAPTER 22

Giancarlo opened his eyes.