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
“How come, if you don’t mind my asking?” Peyton covered his head with one of the towels, rubbed it back and forth over his hair, and then ran his fingers through the mess he’d made to try to comb it out.
“Son, I want you to remember something,” the chief said as he turned on his blinker and slowed the truck down. “Your daddy ain’t a bad man. He ain’t a weak one neither. He’s a good man that went through some real bad stuff. I’m still hoping he can find his way back—for your sake as much as anybody’s. And as for your mama, well . . . people don’t come no finer.”
“Thank you.”
The chief pulled into the hospital parking lot and stopped his truck at the front entrance.
“Want me to carry these towels home and get ’em washed?” Peyton asked.
The chief took them from him and crammed them under the truck seat. “No, that’s alright. Ada’s used to me bringin’ home something or other for her to throw in with her washin’. How ’bout I drop your bike off at your house so you don’t have to fool with it?”
“I sure would ’preciate that. And everything else too.”
“You’re more’n welcome. Go on inside, and give your folks my best. And you remember what I said. Julian takes it too far, you gimme a call.”
“I will. I promise. Say hey to Miss Ada for us.”
“I’ll do that.”
four
Inside the hospital, Peyton walked as fast as he could in hopes of escaping the required stop at the front desk. Luckily, the receptionist was away from her post.
Knocking softly on his dad’s door, he could hear a man’s voice on the other side and didn’t have to think twice to know who was in there. As he slowly opened the door, his mother gave him a tired smile from her chair beside his father’s bed.
Uncle Julian crossed the room and laid a hand on his shoulder. “It’s good that you came, Peyton, but you’ll need to leave now.”
Peyton saw his mother rub her forehead as if she had a bad headache. “Marshall’s his father, Julian.”
“It’s for his own good, Kate. You’ll need to listen to me from now on.”
Just as Peyton was about to protest, Nurse Buck came into the room. With her crisp uniform and stern demeanor, Peyton imagined she could put General MacArthur in his place.
“Only two visitors at a time and only during visiting hours, which will be ending in thirty minutes,” she said firmly.
Uncle Julian turned to Peyton’s mother. “There now. We all agree.”
Peyton doubted that his uncle was aware enough of other people to see the subtle change in his mother’s expression—the tightening of her jaw, the way she balled one hand into a fist as she slowly stood from her chair.
“You’ve been here for an hour, Julian,” she said. “And now it’s Peyton’s turn. Goodbye.”
Uncle Julian gave her a patronizing smile, part sneer, part smirk. “Kate, I’m trying to be patient with you, but you’re tired and you aren’t thinking straight. Just do as I say.”