Contents ( 66)
- Cover
- Books by Valerie Fraser Luesse
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Map of Florida
- one
- two
- three
- four
- five
- six
- seven
- eight
- nine
- ten
- eleven
- twelve
- thirteen
- fourteen
- fifteen
- sixteen
- seventeen
- eighteen
- nineteen
- twenty
- twenty-one
- twenty-two
- twenty-three
- twenty-four
- twenty-five
- twenty-six
- twenty-seven
- twenty-eight
- twenty-nine
- thirty
- thirty-one
- thirty-two
- thirty-three
- thirty-four
- thirty-five
- thirty-six
- thirty-seven
- thirty-eight
- thirty-nine
- forty
- forty-one
- forty-two
- forty-three
- forty-four
- forty-five
- forty-six
- forty-seven
- forty-eight
- forty-nine
- fifty
- fifty-one
- Epilogue
- Keep Reading for a Preview of Valerie Luesse’s Next Book!
- Prologue
- one
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Back Ads
- Back Cover
“I don’t know how!”
“You’re the best dancer in the whole school! If Aunt Gert can teach me, I can teach you.”
Lisa was light on her feet, quickly mastering every step, twirl, and kick.
When the music stopped, Peyton found two barstools beside the pier railing and bought them limeades from the concession stand. “You could’ve at least made it look hard,” he said.
“Hard to breathe, with you making me laugh the whole time. Oh, Peyton, look!” Lisa pointed to the sky, where a gorgeous moon was raining light on the water. “It’s just a little sliver of moon in the sky, but it’s so bright. Isn’t it beautiful?”
“I got to see the Strawberry Moon right after I left Gina and Mama Eva. Finn said it would bring me good luck. And it has.”
“Was it any prettier than this one?”
Peyton turned his attention to the night sky. “No. Because this one’s shining on you. Hey, wait a minute. I saw the Strawberry Moon—so this is June.”
Lisa frowned at him. “Yes. This is June.”
“What day?”
“The seventeenth, why?”
Peyton slapped his knee. “Now this has got to mean something. June the seventeenth is my birthday. I got you and a perfect slice o’ moon for my birthday. Not bad, Miss Wallace. Not bad at all. You should probably dance with me or something. Listen—they’re playing our song.”
“I didn’t know we had one.”
“Sure we do. It’s . . . that song playing on the jukebox.”
Lisa listened intently till she could make out the tune. “‘Dream a Little Dream of Me.’ That’s a good one. Let’s claim it before somebody else does.”
They walked onto the dance floor, which had thinned out with the band on break and a jukebox filling in. “You mind dancing to an ol’ jukebox?” he asked as he took her in his arms.
“I’m not dancing to a jukebox,” Lisa said, looking up at him and smiling. “I’m dancing to Ella and Louis, with you, over the ocean.”
Satch and Ella Fitzgerald crooned about the stars and the night breezes and little kisses as Peyton felt the graceful curve of Lisa’s back beneath one hand, her soft palm in the other. He bent down and gave her a lingering kiss he hoped would never end. She looked up at him and said, almost in a whisper, “Happy birthday . . . And Peyton . . . I love you too.”
forty-two
Kate sipped her morning coffee and watched Aunt Gert crumble two strips of bacon into Pirate’s bowl. The clouds were thick in the sky, giving hope for a rain.
Aunt Gert filled two plates with scrambled eggs, bacon, and fried plantains—Kate’s childhood favorite—then joined her at the table. “You’d already gone to bed when Finn brought me back last night,” Aunt Gert said. “Did Peyton call?”
Kate nodded, picking at her eggs with her fork.
“Anything wrong, Katie?”
Again, Kate only nodded as she kept fidgeting with her fork, staring at her plate.