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
“No,” she said, “I’m not sleepy.”
“Well then, let’s watch the show together.”
“What show?”
“That one!” Peyton waved his arm at the open water, the occasional boat going by, the sound of music coming from somewhere on the beach. He helped Lisa settle in and handed her a Coke. “Here’s to the future—when we can actually travel in a car like normal people.”
Lisa laughed and clinked her Coke bottle to his. “I don’t know about that. Car travel might be overrated. I’m starting to like the sound of water slapping against a boat.”
“Me too. Also, I really like the sound o’ your voice. I don’t think I’d ever get tired o’ hearing it.”
“Even if it were reminding you to take out the trash?”
“Music to my ears.” Just as Peyton leaned over and kissed Lisa, they heard a loud boom and looked up to see the sky showered with color.
“Now that’s timing,” he said.
They heard a scream from below deck right before Bonnie and Jasper came running up the steps, calling out to them. Peyton and Lisa jumped down from the bow and picked up the kids.
“It’s okay,” Peyton said to Bonnie. “It’s just fireworks.” He pointed up to the sky.
“What’s fireworks?” Bonnie’s eyes were as big as saucers, and her mouth flew open at the next burst in the sky.
“Just pretty lights for you to look at,” Lisa said. “They’re noisy, but they won’t hurt you. Come on up here with us and we’ll watch them together.”
She and Peyton carried the children onto the bow and sat back down on the beach towels with the kids on their laps.
“Jasper, look!” Bonnie shouted as a big red, white, and blue starburst exploded over the water.
Jasper’s eyes were as wide as Bonnie’s, but he didn’t speak. He only gasped at the sound of the first few explosions, then buried his face in Lisa’s shoulder.
Peyton put one arm around Lisa, still holding Bonnie with the other. Any passerby who saw the four of them silhouetted against the boat, looking up at sprays of color lighting the night sky, would have thought they were a family. And maybe that’s what they were—a family trying to find the way home.
forty-six
At the marina bathhouses, Peyton and Lisa helped the children get a morning shower and wash their hair. Then they all went shopping. Lisa said kids should never have to wear dirty clothes that made them feel ashamed, so Peyton had asked around and found a huge souvenir shop that carried everything from seashell lampshades to toys and sundresses.
Peyton carried Jasper to the boys’ section, while Lisa helped Bonnie find three sundresses, along with flamingo-covered underpants, a bathing suit, sandals, a comb, a hairbrush, and hair bows—all pink, her favorite color.
Lisa didn’t want anything for herself, but Peyton loved giving her presents and found an abalone ring with a rose-gold band to match her hair. He tucked it into the front pocket of the coral shirt Millie had sold him. The right time would come, but it wasn’t now.