Chapters (110)
- Cover
- ALSO BY J. TODD SCOTT
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- PROLOGUE
- I
- II
- PART ONE
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- PART TWO
- 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
- PART THREE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- PART FOUR
- SIXTY-TWO
- SIXTY-THREE
- SIXTY-FOUR
- SIXTY-FIVE
- SIXTY-SIX
- SIXTY-SEVEN
- SIXTY-EIGHT
- SIXTY-NINE
- SEVENTY
- SEVENTY-ONE
- SEVENTY-TWO
- SEVENTY-THREE
- SEVENTY-FOUR
- SEVENTY-FIVE
- SEVENTY-SIX
- SEVENTY-SEVEN
- SEVENTY-EIGHT
- SEVENTY-NINE
- EIGHTY
- EIGHTY-ONE
- EIGHTY-TWO
- EIGHTY-THREE
- EIGHTY-FOUR
- EPILOGUE
- I
- II
- III
- IV
- V
- VI
- VII
- AUTHOR’S NOTE
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- Excerpt from LOST RIVER
- LITTLE PARIS
- DILLON
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- What’s next onyour reading list?
Of all of them, Danny looked the most ashamed. He had taken off his hat when he came into the house, and had been clutching it nervously in his hands, turning it round and round. He now propped it on Zita’s head. “Ma’am, she really likes ice cream, strawberry. I’ll get her things.” He added, “I’m sorry about this. I hope you know that.”
She did, and she believed him. “Good, Danny, thank you. Javy will be knocking on the door any second. I’ll make sure we pick up some for her.”
Finally, she brought her attention back around to America. “Now I’m going to get my son. Deputy Reynosa, do you think you can come back here and help me for a second?”
—
THEY’D KNOWN EACH OTHER almost as long as Chris had known her, but Mel had never had many conversations with Amé, and none of them alone. There was a time when a younger Mel would have been furiously jealous of the beautiful girl and Chris’s relationship with her, but that time was past, and Mel wanted to believe that younger version of her had passed on as well, or at least had grown up some. She would never understand the closeness between Chris and Amé, the protectiveness he felt for her, but she’d never been threatened by it.
Until now.
Amé stood in the doorway of Jack’s darkened nursery with her arms crossed, as Mel started to fill a diaper bag for Jack.
“Can I have one of your cigarettes?” Mel asked.
Amé looked over to where Jack lay asleep in his crib.
“No, don’t worry, I’m not going to light it up here. I haven’t smoked since I knew I was pregnant. Chris would kill me if he thought I’d started up again, but I think I’m going to need one when I’m at Javy’s.”
Amé reached in her back pocket and pulled out a soft pack, and handed it over to her. “I was supposed to quit, too, a while ago. How did you know?”
“The smoke,” Mel said, as she took the pack and shook out a couple of cigarettes and slipped them in Jack’s bag. “I smelled it on your clothes.” She pulled the baby up out of his crib. He hardly made a sound and didn’t wake up.
“Do you think you want kids someday?” Mel asked, as she added a few more diapers, hiding the cigarettes beneath them. As she juggled Jack and the bag one-handed, America came over and started to help.
“No lo sé. I’ve never thought about it.”