“Oh, she has?” he said. “She hasn’t sucked you into that Ladies Aid thing of hers, has she? You go to our church?”

“Why, yes. I’m new in town.”

“My mom hated that group. So did my grandma. She said her ears would burn every Tuesday afternoon all summer long, because she knew they were sitting over there looking at this house and talking about her.”

Dolly looked at her shoes.

“So, what have you heard about my family?”

She looked up again, and met his eyes. “Well, I’ve heard about your great-grandpa Knute, your grandma Wilma and grandpa John, and your father, Jack, and your mother, Mary, and about Chase—and I’m so sorry—and then they’ve been talking about your sister—about Elissa—lately. But I haven’t found out what happened. Judy says it was her fault, but the rest of them say she couldn’t have known. Something about that boy she met during the war—”

Taking a last drag of his cigarette, he limped to the front edge of the porch. He stubbed his cigarette out on the railing, tossing the butt into the garden below.

“I wish you wouldn’t do that!” she said, stepping up next to him.

He looked at her, his face pinched in a scowl, his eyes rife with evil, goodness, and desolation. So unexpected was this glimpse of his essence—as clear as if he’d hollowed himself out with a spoon and spread the contents before her—that she was stunned into silence. She clutched the porch railing in both hands and looked out across the highway toward where the Bear Trap glinted through the trees, conscious of his hands gripping the railing next to her, feeling at once gratified and a little queasy with fright.

Chapter 39

Pine Rapids
Spring 1943

Suddenly, it seemed that Ty Lofgren was everywhere. Elissa saw him between almost every class period, after school at Emory’s, Saturdays when she went to the library or the market. There he would be, pulling his cap down low over his eyes, giving her a wink and a smile. She wondered if he had always been so present in her life, and she just hadn’t noticed, or if lately he was somehow contriving to put himself in her path.

Muriel encouraged her to acknowledge the possibility. “He’s cute, isn’t he? Even if we have known him all our lives, you’ve got to admit he’s turned out all right. And Nick’s out of the picture, Liss. You’ve got to move on. I know you thought you were in love with him, but you have to face the fact that it’s over.”

Elissa tried, but every time Ty caught her eye, she just felt embarrassed, and she could never think what to say to him. She blamed everything on Nick, for making such a fool of her. She had lost all confidence.