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 know. I’ve done all I can to talk him into showing himself. But he says a boy ought to be able to play ball for the sheer fun of it and not spend his time on the field wondering when his father might show up drunk. So he always comes—completely sober. He makes sure he gets there after the game starts, and he watches from someplace where nobody will notice him. Your daddy’s always cheering for you, honey. Just not out loud.”
Peyton leaned back and rested his head against the wall. “I feel like such a dope.”
“What on earth for?”
“Because I couldn’t see what I couldn’t see, if that makes any sense.”
His mother leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, giving Peyton the courage to broach the difficult subject he dreaded most of all.
“Mama, there’s something I need to—”
Interrupted by a knock on the door, he looked up to see a doctor with curly salt-and-pepper hair and wire-rimmed glasses step into the room.
His mother gasped and stood up. “Eli? I can’t believe it’s you!” They hugged like old friends.
“It’s mighty good to see you, Katie,” he said with a smile. “Sure wish the circumstances were different.”
“What are you doing here?” his mother asked.
The doctor closed the door and motioned for her to sit down. Then he said, “Ida called me.”
five
Peyton was sitting beside the hospital bed while his mother went to the lobby to meet a courier delivering money from his father’s law office. He heard footsteps in the corridor outside and looked up to see her come through the door with the girl who occupied most of his waking thoughts and all of his best dreams.
Lisa wore a white dress with a full skirt and a wide belt with little clusters of strawberries all around it. He remembered it from their last date. Her dark red hair fell onto her shoulders in a cascade of waves and soft curls.
“Son, there’s someone here to see you,” his mother was saying.
“Hi, Lisa.” He finally managed to speak as he stood up.
She gave him an encouraging smile. “Hi.”
He couldn’t seem to find his voice, not with both of his parents in the room, and was grateful when his mother gave him an out. “Peyton, why don’t you take Lisa to the waiting room where you can visit?”
He held the door open, then escorted her to the empty waiting room just down the hall, where they sat next to each other on the rock-hard sofa Peyton had napped on the night before.
“Sure is good to see you,” he said. “Sorry I haven’t been around much.”
“You don’t need to apologize for taking care of your family. How’s your daddy?”
“Not so good. He needs surgery, and that’s what we’re trying to work out. Say, how’d you get out o’ school to come here?”
Lisa gave him a playful nudge with her elbow. “It’s Saturday, silly.”