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
“Well, honey, is he hurt? Is he in trouble?”
Kate shook her head. Finally looking up at her aunt, she put down her fork and flatly said, “I’m a terrible mother.” Tears were streaming down her face, though she didn’t make a sound.
“Come with me,” Aunt Gert said, leading Kate outside, down to the river dock, and into the Madame Queen. She untied the boat and drove them to the slough that had always been Kate’s favorite, then dropped anchor in the center of it and shut off the engine. They sat together, listening to the water slap against the boat and letting the river soothe them with its rocking.
At last, Aunt Gert looked up at the sky and said, “Now tell me, Katie, what’s all this ‘terrible mother’ business? You’re a wonderful mother and always have been.”
“What kind of mother lies to her son?”
“I imagine most of ’em at one time or another. You’d walk in front of a train for Peyton, and you know it.”
Kate pulled her feet up in the seat and rested her chin on her knees. “He found Lisa, and I’ve never heard so much happiness in his voice.” She smiled at the memory of it. “He’s so in love with her, Aunt Gert.”
“And you’re afraid there won’t be room for you? Because that’s not true.”
“No, that’s not it. He found the cottage—the one where Marshall and I stayed on our honeymoon. The sailboat was still there. Peyton said it was beached, but he could still make out the name. He said he knew right away Marshall had been there and had named him for that sailboat. He wanted to know why. I made up something vague—that it had been special to him and he wanted to share it with Peyton. I never even told him we spent our honeymoon there.”
“What’s the truth of it, Katie?”
“That we never wanted to share that moment in our lives with anybody. That we wanted it to be ours and ours alone. We named Peyton after the sailboat because we wanted to remember it always—and remember to protect him from anything that might deny him a whole life of sailing, if that makes any sense.”
“So you wanted a little moment as a couple, and you wished for your child a whole lifetime of moments that special? You’re right. You’re a terrible person. I don’t see how you live with yourself.”
Kate looked up to see Aunt Gert smiling at her.
“Katie, do you think you and Marshall are the only husband and wife to wrestle with the dividin’ line between bein’ a couple and bein’ parents? Because you’re not. So you wanted to keep something for yourselves—that’s true of every man and woman who ever loved each other. Doesn’t mean you love Peyton any less. Marshall would’ve died for him, same as you.”
“But Aunt Gert, when I realized he had found Lisa and they had spent a rainy afternoon in the exact place where Marshall and I had been so happy . . . I felt . . . I felt jealous. What kind of mother is jealous of her own child?”