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
“Hello,” said Bonnie, her voice breaking as tears rolled down her cheeks. Seeing his sister in tears made Jasper cry.
“Oh, sweethearts, what’s the matter?” Kate said.
“It’s a long, long story, Mama,” Peyton said as he and Lisa picked up the children.
“I trust more information will be forthcoming, but for now, everybody into my house,” Aunt Gert said. Will turned to get back in the car. “You too, Will. Get yourself in here. I’ve got questions and I want answers. I’m willin’ to feed you for ’em.”
Peyton hadn’t realized how much he missed the sleeping porch at Aunt Gert’s. St. Augustine had seen more rain than usual, she said, and the river was running high. Peyton could hear the swift flow outside and the calls of crickets and cicadas like voices harmonizing in a church choir. The palms and bananas surrounding the purple bungalow were whispering in the wind, which was blowing the rain outside, and thunder was rumbling off in the distance. There was no more peaceful place on earth than Aunt Gert’s sleeping porch in an early morning thunderstorm.
Peyton wished Lisa were lying here beside him. Nothing would be more perfect than sharing a thunderstorm in the quiet darkness with her. Then again, sharing anything with Lisa made it perfect. Now that he had seen what it would be like to actually live with her, to have her beside him morning and night, he didn’t know how he would get through the tedium of high school—of passing her notes in class and “no going out on a school night” and movie dates with everybody else in town. He felt married to Lisa and knew he always would.
Pirate climbed onto the bed and stretched out next to him. Peyton scratched the cat under its chin, which was the only affection it would tolerate, at least from him. “You’re a poor substitute, ol’ boy, but I guess you’re all I’ve got right now.”
Staring out at the darkness, listening as morning birds took over the night song of crickets and cicadas, Peyton wondered whether Lisa was fast asleep or lying awake, longing for him as he longed for her. Was it wrong to hope so? Nothing would ever convince him of that.
Aunt Gert fed Pirate his bacon before dishing out more of it, along with eggs, toast, and plantains, to a tableful of hungry guests. Peyton’s mother poured the orange juice, Aunt Gert offered thanks for a safe return, and everybody dug in.
“Where’s Lisa?” Bonnie asked.
“She’s calling her sister back home,” Peyton said. “Sure hope she gets good news.”
“She did,” Lisa said as she came into the kitchen and Peyton pulled out a chair for her.
Aunt Gert filled a plate for Lisa and set it on the table. “You don’t look too happy about it.”
“That’s because I don’t feel right about it,” Lisa said. “Judy got hold of Bobbie Ann in Key West. She said she didn’t tell anybody when I left. And she’s happy to lie to her mother and say I got homesick and caught a bus to Savannah this morning. It’s a two-day trip, so as long as I catch the bus in the morning, my folks will never know any different. I can go home and act like nothing ever happened.”