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, we’re not related.”
“Well, bully for you. Don’t just stand there lookin’ like you ain’t got good sense. Hand me 150.”
Peyton gave her the money and waited patiently while she took her time typing up a form, stamping it, and giving him a carbon copy.
“He’ll be back,” she said with a sneer. “Don’t let the door hit you in the backside on the way out.”
Peyton got away from her as quickly as he could. Why would anybody be that way—treat people so mean for absolutely no reason? Maybe she hated her job. So get another one. He couldn’t wait to free Will and get out of there.
Once they were in the parking lot, he asked his friend, “Why’s that woman in the bail office so mean?”
“Hazel?” Will swatted at a mosquito. “Peyton, you ain’t gonna believe this, but me and her’s known each other since we was kids. And I’ll tell you somethin’ else—she was born that way. Yessir, Hazel Scoggins was mean as a snake when she was a toddler, and she’s mean as a snake to this very day.”
“So I guess there’s no chance of a jailhouse romance between you two?” Peyton said with a grin.
“Whoo-ee!” Will whooped. “I’d sooner snuggle up to a big ol’ alligator.”
They laughed as Peyton reached into his shoe and pulled out his money. “Listen, this is all I’ve got, but I’ll split it with you.”
“You done enough—more’n anybody else woulda done. You keep your money. I still got a few greenbacks left. That’ll carry me awhile—if I can stay away from the casino.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.” Will scratched the stubble on his face. “Guess I better get me a shave somewhere. Can me and the number 10 car give you a ride?”
“No, thanks,” Peyton said. “I’m leaving town.”
“On that bicycle?”
“Yep.”
“Well, where you headed?”
“This might sound a little crazy, but Key West.”
“Key West? You got any idea how far that is?”
Peyton laid a hand on Will’s shoulder and grinned. “Why do people keep asking me that? I guess you might say the distance is kinda the point. Part of it anyway.”
“Well, alright then. But you run into any trouble, I work down at the A&R Marina. You remember that—Will Fournier, A&R Marina, Daytona, Florida. I ain’t got no phone where I live, but you can call down at the marina and tell ’em to find me if you get in a scrape. Me an’ the number 10 car’ll come a-runnin’.”
“I’ll do that.” They shook hands as Peyton said, “Good luck to you, Will.”
“You too, Peyton.”
Pedaling out of the parking lot, Peyton heard Will’s ’39 firing up. The Florida sun had yet to heat the early morning air, but those hot rays were coming. So was another beach town where he wouldn’t know a living soul.
twenty-five
Kate sat on an old cotton quilt and slid her bare feet into the sand. When she was about ten years old, Aunt Gert had given her this blue-and-yellow quilt in the Dresden plate pattern, already faded, and told her she could make it her beach quilt. It was a little threadbare now but still holding together. She and Marshall had sat on it and talked for hours the day they met here. And after he left for Key West, she wouldn’t let Aunt Gert wash it because it held the faint scent of him.