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
Now Peyton was preparing to say goodbye again, this time to the firemen who had been so kind to him. Tonight he would tally up his money and pack the couple of extra shirts he had bought in the hotel gift shop. Then he would leave another piece of his father’s journey—another fragment of his story—behind.
thirty-two
JUNE 8, 1947
LOVESTRUCK BIKE BOY SEARCHES FOR HIS VENUS
BY PEGGY MARTELL
MIAMI—Peyton Cabot pedals his bicycle through “wind and rain and darkness of night” for the oldest reason of them all—love. You can hear it in his voice when he talks about her, see it in his eyes when he envisions her, the nameless, mysterious, alabaster-skinned, auburn-tressed beauty of his dreams, his own Titian’s Venus.
One can imagine the legendary painting as he describes his young paramour, the two of them separated by fate—and, no doubt, watchful parents—as their youthful passion flames with a white-hot heat.
Early reports suggested he rode for family honor. Now we know better. We heard it from his own mouth. He rides for a girl.
What is her name? Cabot will not say. Where is she? Somewhere on this lonely highway he travels, with only the ocean for company.
Make no mistake—he will find her. In Miami? In Key West? Only time will tell. This much is certain: Their tender lips will meet again; they will share a longed-for embrace. Love does indeed conquer all. Even on this long, lonely highway the Bike Boy must travel.
thirty-three
Peyton had intended to get an early start, but between working his shift and making all the preparations to leave, he was exhausted and slept late. It was nine o’clock in the morning when he pedaled out of Palm Beach, determined to close in on Miami by nightfall. Early on in his trip, he had been excited by the experience, savoring every dot on the map. The longer he traveled, however, the more road weary he grew, eager for his final destination and the hope of seeing Lisa. By the time he rode into Fort Lauderdale, his clothes and hair were drenched with sweat, and he thought he might keel over if he traveled one more mile.
A group of teenagers spotted him parking his bike on the beach and draping his sink-washed clothes over the handlebars to dry. Shouts of “Hey, it’s the Bike Boy!” went up, and they followed him into the water, peppering him with questions about his adventures. After that, they insisted on treating him to supper at a burger shack before he introduced himself at the local firehouse, where he was invited to stay for the night.
But sleep wouldn’t come. He thought about Bonnie and Jasper, wondering how their family was doing in Fort Lauderdale and hoping they had found more prosperous circumstances. Should he try to check on them? Or would their parents take offense? He thought about his mother and Aunt Gert and Finn and Pirate. But what he thought about most, lying wide awake on a cot with a cross breeze that would have lulled him to sleep in St. Augustine, was how much cooler it would be to ride at night and how he was only thirty or so miles from Miami—thirty or so miles away from Lisa.