BooksBarbecue
Back The Brighter the Light Save as PDF
Chapters (40)
  1. TITLE PAGE
  2. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  3. CONTENTS
  4. PROLOGUE RUTH
  5. CHAPTER ONE IVY
  6. CHAPTER TWO IVY
  7. CHAPTER THREE IVY
  8. CHAPTER FOUR RUTH
  9. CHAPTER FIVE IVY
  10. CHAPTER SIX IVY
  11. CHAPTER SEVEN RUTH
  12. CHAPTER EIGHT IVY
  13. CHAPTER NINE RUTH
  14. CHAPTER TEN IVY
  15. CHAPTER ELEVEN IVY
  16. CHAPTER TWELVE ANN
  17. CHAPTER THIRTEEN RUTH
  18. CHAPTER FOURTEEN IVY
  19. CHAPTER FIFTEEN IVY
  20. CHAPTER SIXTEEN DANI
  21. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN CARLOTTA
  22. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN RUTH
  23. CHAPTER NINETEEN RUTH
  24. CHAPTER TWENTY IVY
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE IVY
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO IVY
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE IVY
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR RUTH
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE RUTH
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX CARLOTTA
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN IVY
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT IVY
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE IVY
  34. CHAPTER THIRTY EDNA
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE IVY
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO IVY
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE RUTH
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR IVY
  39. EPILOGUE IVY
  40. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

“Don’t tell my mother,” he begged. “She won’t let me go in the water again.”

“Promise you won’t go in alone?” She held out her hand.

He took it. “I swear.”

“Then it’s our secret.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN IVY

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

IVY

Friday, January 21, 2022, 11:00 a.m.

As tempted as Ivy was to ask Mr. Manchester about the summer of 1950, she didn’t. Dani had said once that her grandfather died around that time, and her father’s life had changed forever. Every time Dani tried to ask her father about her grandfather, he changed the subject.

“What do you remember about Ruth?” Ivy asked Mr. Manchester.

“She was a funny girl. Nice. Full of energy. Pulled my stubborn butt out of the ocean when I got in over my head.”

“When was that?” Ivy asked.

“The first or second day of vacation in 1950. When Mama was napping, I sneaked out to swim in the ocean.”

“Alone?” Dani asked.

Mr. Manchester shrugged. “It was a different time. Parents didn’t hover like they do now.”

“Grandma always did like her gin and tonic,” Dani said.

Mr. Manchester didn’t deny the claim. “Anyway, I was bored. I grabbed my suit and sneaked out of our bungalow.”

“Where was your sister, Bonnie?”

“Getting dressed for dinner with her friends. She saw me pass Jessie’s room and told me to be careful. I waved and told her not to worry.”

He’d been six years old. Ivy wasn’t a parent, but her skin prickled when she remembered the time that she’d been badly pummeled by the waves. “What happened?”

“I got caught in the undertow. Ruth was walking along the beach and must have seen me. She swam out and grabbed me and held me against her. Cussed like a sailor. When we got to shore, she told me I was stupid. She was right. We swore never to tell anyone about what happened. And I never did until now.”

“She was always adamant that I never swim by myself,” Ivy said. “And the one time I did, she had to pull me out too. I was grounded for two weeks.”

“Living down here gives the locals a healthy respect for the ocean,” Dani said.

“I was a mainlander at the time,” he said, smiling. “I didn’t think the Atlantic was any more dangerous than the pool.”

“Never made that mistake again, did you?” Dani asked.

“No, ma’am.” His self-deprecating tone didn’t quite square with the shadows hovering behind his eyes. “Edna shot me a couple of disapproving looks over the next few days as I looked out toward the ocean.”

“Do you think Ruth told?” Ivy asked.