One night she came in and sat on the edge of his bed. Shady raised his head and perked his ears at her, thumped his tail against the mattress a couple times. She sat there without saying a word, her back to Justin, her eyes on his open window, but he felt like by being there she was telling him that she knew it wasn’t all his father’s fault, that she had had plenty to do with it, too, and that she was sorry, and that she hoped he could forgive her someday.

Forgiveness is the easiest thing in the world, Justin thinks. All you do is just decide to do it, and then it’s done. Instantly you feel better, like pushing aside a quilt that is too heavy for sleeping. Forgetting is the hard part.

The thing Justin can never say to anybody is that he’s glad it all happened the way it did. Otherwise he’d never have known Evona and Bell. He wouldn’t have Shady. He’d never have known Key West and all of its special sounds and smells. His father would’ve never found his Uncle Luke. He never would have seen Olivia Street and the frangipani tree in Bell’s courtyard. He would have never laid eyes on an iguana or a bougainvillea.

He still says those words in his head when he gets scared or sad or when he starts to think his father might never get out of that jail. Olivia, bougainvillea, iguana. He always says each of them three times and then he’s calmed down:

Olivia Bougainvillea Iguana

Olivia Bougainvillea Iguana

Olivia Bougainvillea Iguana

That’s how he prays.

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments

On page 59, the line “Sometimes the hurt is so deep deep deep” that Asher finds on the postcard is from the Patty Griffin song “Rain,” which appears on the 2002 album 100 Kisses.

On page 242, Bell says, “Everything that is, is holy,” which is a phrase popularized by Thomas Merton and coined by James Agee, who was inspired by William Blake’s adage that “everything that lives is holy.”

On page 303, Bell borrows a line from the same-titled William Wordsworth sonnet when she says, “The world is too much with us.”

I am thankful to early readers Alice Hale Adams, Kevin Gardner, Amy Greene, Karen Salyer McElmurray, Jennifer Reynolds, and Aimee Zaring. Kathi Whitley was a guiding force throughout the writing of this novel. This book could not have been written without Annie Dillard and Bob Richardson, who helped me to understand the spirit of Key West and connected me with the generosity of the Studios of Key West. I cannot thank Lee Smith enough, for everything. Michael Croley offered advice and support for which I am grateful. My thanks for research help goes to my dear friends Donavan Cain, Carla Gover, Donna Birney, and Martha Copeland. I am indebted to the kindness and artistry of Jim James and My Morning Jacket.