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?
Mel knew that was a lie. Every girl thought about it at least once, one way or the other, and there was no right or wrong answer. There didn’t even have to be a final answer. Mel had been convinced for years that she didn’t want to be a mother, until all of a sudden she did. It was a lightning strike. It took the right time, the right place, the right love.
“It changes things, Amé, it truly does. In ways I can’t describe. I’ve heard it said you don’t realize how much you can love someone until it happens. And I’m not just talking about the baby.” She kissed Jack’s head, and then turned and gave him to Amé, who slowly, reluctantly, took him. It was obvious the girl had never held a baby before, and Mel helped settle her arms around him. It reminded Mel of how awkward Chris had been the first time.
“He loves you, do you understand that?” Mel asked, but Amé didn’t say anything, didn’t know who she was talking about or how to respond. “Chris. And Danny, too. He’s so obvious about it you can’t walk into a room with him and not trip over it. They’re both standing out there in my living room because they love you, each in their own way. That’s the reason, the only reason. I know that, and so do you.”
America looked down at the baby in her arms, her hair falling into her face, but still didn’t say anything. Mel hadn’t realized just how young the girl truly was until now. She’d seen so much, been through so much, and still . . .
Mel saw in her the same girl who’d followed her own daddy to Galveston and Midland, bouncing around the Permian Basin. A girl who’d made a hard life in the shadows of trailers and shitty motels, beneath the constant fire and smoke of the oil rigs. A girl who’d somehow made it through to something better.
She saw herself.
“That means you’re the only one who can put an end to this. No one else is going to change their minds, except you. Love is that powerful, that goddamn strong, and you don’t even have to be a mother to know that. It’s like a gun, and just as dangerous. I think that’s something women like us learn early, in a way a man never does. I hope to God you know what you’re doing here, because those men out there won’t stop unless you do.” She let Amé hold Jack a bit longer, while she went to get something out of her purse. She’d grabbed it earlier, and although she’d contemplated using it herself a dozen times, she couldn’t do that to Chris.