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
“That’s absurd. Get me his surgeon.”
“No.”
“I’ve had about enough—”
Julian was mid-sentence when Nurse Parsons stepped just outside the waiting room door and motioned for someone to join them. “Please escort this gentleman out of the hospital,” she said as two security guards came into the room.
“You can’t force me to leave!” Julian argued, angrily pointing his finger at the nurse.
“Hide behind a bush and watch me,” she said.
Before Julian could protest, the guards took him by each arm and all but carried him out of the waiting room. Kate could hear him sputtering all the way to the elevator.
She poured herself a cup of coffee from an urn in the waiting room and returned to the sofa, where she covered her legs with a blanket. Hospitals were always cold. Getting Marshall to this one—and getting him away from his family—was the best thing she could do for him right now. Maybe she should’ve tried a long time ago.
“How long was Uncle Julian here?” Peyton had returned to the waiting room.
“You saw him?”
“Two guards were hauling him off the elevator as I was getting on downstairs.” Peyton sat next to her on the sofa.
“He was here just long enough to remind me how much I despise him.”
“Ooh, feisty!” Peyton said with a grin. “Never heard you say that before.”
“I probably shouldn’t say it now, but it’s true. It’s a good thing he’s not as smart as he thinks he is, or he might really be dangerous.” She reached over and took Peyton by the hand. “How was Lisa?”
He didn’t answer.
“Son—did you call her?”
Peyton leaned his head against the wall behind them. “Yes, ma’am. I called her. But she wasn’t home. Her mama says she’s going away for the summer.”
“To where?”
“Miami.”
“Does she have family down there?”
“Apparently. Her mama said she’d be spending the summer with her cousins. But Lisa never said anything about that to me. Why didn’t she tell me at the hospital in Savannah when she came to visit?”
“Maybe she didn’t know. Could’ve been a last-minute invitation.”
“I doubt it. She told me her mama thinks we’re getting too serious.”
“Well . . . if the trip wasn’t Lisa’s idea, she’s probably missing you as much as you’re missing her.”
“Think I’m that lucky?”
She put her arms around him and hugged him. “I think you’re that special.”
“Sure hope you’re right.” He stretched out on the sofa, resting his head on her lap. “I’m so tired, Mama,” he said. “Aren’t you?”
She stroked his hair and looked down at him. “I feel like I’m a hundred and ten. But I reckon love gives you strength—either that or it kills you dead as a hammer.”
Suddenly, they were laughing together. Peyton was still giggling like a little kid as his mother tried to stop laughing and collect herself. Once she did, she hit him with a question that took him by surprise, something she seemed to do often these days. “Son, before Herschel left, he mentioned to me . . . that you might be planning a trip?”