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Chapters (77)
  1. Cover
  2. Title
  3. Also by Silas House
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. Contents
  7. Part One
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. 7
  15. 8
  16. 9
  17. 10
  18. 11
  19. 12
  20. 13
  21. 14
  22. 15
  23. 16
  24. 17
  25. 18
  26. Part Two
  27. 1
  28. 2
  29. 3
  30. 4
  31. 5
  32. 6
  33. 7
  34. 8
  35. 9
  36. 10
  37. Part Three
  38. 1
  39. 2
  40. 3
  41. 4
  42. 5
  43. 6
  44. 7
  45. 8
  46. 9
  47. 10
  48. 11
  49. 12
  50. 13
  51. 14
  52. 15
  53. 16
  54. 17
  55. 18
  56. 19
  57. 20
  58. 21
  59. 22
  60. 23
  61. 24
  62. 25
  63. 26
  64. 27
  65. 28
  66. 29
  67. 30
  68. 31
  69. Part Four
  70. 1
  71. 2
  72. 3
  73. Epilogue: The Everything
  74. Acknowledgments
  75. About the Author
  76. About Algonquin
  77. Copyright

“She had heart disease. She knew for a couple years, that she might not make it very long. I never thought she would go so soon. They had told her that if she ate right and took her medicine she’d be okay for a while.” In the gray shadows he watches as she wipes at her face.

“Need me to check on the guests?” Asher asks.

“One set left. I guess it freaked them out. The other couple has been gone out on a boat all day. I think they went to the Dry Tortugas.”

“They should be back soon, then. The boats dock at dark.”

“She was all I had,” Evona says abruptly, as if she has not meant to say that aloud.

Asher gives Justin the look that means for him to move over, so he hops down off the love seat and takes Shady with him down into the shadows of the yard, where they settle by the pool.

“I’m here,” Asher tells her as he sits down next to her. He holds her against him and doesn’t say anything else for a time.

Asher is thinking about where Bell’s body is right this moment. He hopes she is not in some morgue with bright lights ticking above her. And what about Luke? Is he sitting in some small room—he doesn’t even know where his brother lives despite the catching up they were able to do briefly in the church courtyard—studying about all of the years he lost with Asher and Justin? Is he thinking about how he doesn’t know his nephew at all?

He can see Justin clearly in the light coming up from the pool, sitting on the edge with his feet in the water and Shady panting beside him. Every once in a while Shady quits breathing hard so he can lick at Justin’s ear.

Asher listens to the little waves washing up against the edges of the pool. He looks over at Bell’s house where all the lights have been left on. He knows Evona couldn’t stand to look at the house with the windows all dark.

“There was something about you she took to right away,” Evona says after a while. “Bell either loved people completely or she didn’t like them at all. With you, it was on sight. That’s worth something. To have someone like her give you their approval.”

I reckon it is, Asher thinks.

26

26

The sky is the pink of grapefruit meat as they sit on the beach together, looking out at the Atlantic. Evenings in Key West are calm down here at Smathers, where the homeless folks gather at the turquoise picnic tables to eat and drink and tell big stories.