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
Peyton was surprised. “How’d you know her name?”
“I read your dollar, silly.”
“Oh. Right. Well . . . I don’t have much to say. I’m not a hundred percent sure she’s my Lisa—not yet anyway, but I’m working on it.”
“Is she tall or short?” Gina prompted him.
“Somewhere in the middle.”
“What color is her hair?”
“It’s this dark shade o’ red like I’ve never seen before, and it’s long and thick and wavy and shiny. I guess Rita Hayworth comes the closest to having hair that pretty.”
“What color are her eyes?”
“They’re blue, but they’ve got these little bits of green in them. Reminds me of the ocean down here.”
“I see. Does she have pretty skin?”
“Like ice cream.”
“And is she smart?”
“Very smart. And not just book smart either. Lisa thinks about things. She has opinions.”
“Forgive me for saying so, Peyton, but she sounds a little stuffy and serious.”
“Oh, no! She’s lots o’ fun. Lisa’s a great dancer. She’s easy to talk to—has a way of making you feel like you’re the most interesting person in the room, which must take some effort when she’s talking to me. And she’s got a great sense o’ humor.”
Now Gina was laughing. “For someone with nothing to say about this girl, you have told me quite a lot!”
Peyton had to smile. “You tricked me.”
“Why are you apart from your Lisa?”
“Well, first my dad got sick and I had to stay at the hospital with my mother, and then Lisa’s folks decided we got too serious too fast and sent her to Miami to stay with some of her kinfolks this summer.”
“Ah, I see!” Gina said. “Suddenly this trip to Key West makes more sense. Miami is on the way there, is it not?”
“Is it really?” Peyton said with a grin. “I had no idea.”
“But that is not all, is it? I saw the way you looked at your father’s dollar bill.”
“I guess not. You ever gone looking for answers when you weren’t even sure what the questions were?”
“That sounds more like something a man would do,” Gina said with a frown.
Peyton laughed. “Maybe so.”
“This is Mama’s driveway.” Gina led Peyton to a two-story wood-frame house glowing with light and overflowing with people. They were everywhere—on the porch, in the yard—there were even a couple of kids sitting on the flat part of the roof above the porch, their legs dangling over the edge.
“It’s cool up there at night,” Gina said, following his gaze to the roof. “We all come to Mama’s on Saturday nights.”
They were soon swarmed by the Gonzalez family, who seemed to be asking Gina questions, but Peyton couldn’t be sure because they were all speaking Spanish. Eventually, the flood of relatives swept them into the house and to the kitchen in back, where a petite woman in a red floral apron stood at the stove, dishing out yellow rice, beans, and something that looked like stew and smelled unbelievable. She turned when she saw Gina and Peyton.