The Barefoot Summer(43)

“Looks good to me, too,” Amanda said. “About last night and all this arguing?”

Kate poured three glasses full of lemonade. “No one can live in the same house twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week and not disagree. It’s not possible. Doesn’t matter if it’s a married couple, a parent-sibling situation, or an insane one like we have. We are only here for the summer. At the end of it, we’ll split and go our separate ways. You two might stay in touch since you’ll be raising half siblings, but I’ll have no connection with you.”

“Not even for a Christmas card?” Jamie asked.

“Well, maybe that much, and maybe you’ll invite me for Gracie’s birthdays or graduation,” Kate said.

Jamie threw up a hand. “Don’t have her growing up so fast. She’s the only baby I ever get. I want to savor every moment.”

“You should,” Kate said.

“And my baby? Are you coming to his birthday parties and graduation?” Amanda asked.

“If you invite me,” Kate answered.

“You will be invited.” Amanda sipped at her lemonade. “This is a big jump from what we are talking about, but I went to my apartment and I looked at Conrad’s pictures. It was in his eyes.”

“What?” Jamie asked.

“I thought it was a twinkle, but when I really studied him, it was something else, like you see on those big game hunters on television when they bag a tiger or a huge white-tailed deer. I can’t describe it.”

“How did it make you feel?” Kate asked.

“Used,” Amanda said without hesitation. “Do you feel Conrad in this house? I don’t. I came here hoping to feel him, but I never have. At first all I had was anger at y’all and then at him.” She sighed. “This is going to sound corny, but I think Iris is smiling that we are here and we’re finding out about him.”

Kate would probably have something to say about that, but Amanda didn’t care. She wasn’t going to let either of them intimidate her.

“I believe she is,” Jamie said.

Amanda glanced at her and then back at Kate, expecting some kind of superintelligent remark about the dead being dead—forever, amen.

Kate shrugged. “I agree, Amanda. I have no idea about what happens to good folks in eternity, but it would be nice if Iris and Darcy could see that things didn’t go Conrad’s way.”

Amanda could hardly believe her ears. “Well, thank you for that.”

“It’s just my opinion.” Kate yawned.



Kate took a long shower and was on her way to her bedroom when she noticed that someone had left the kitchen light on, so she went to turn it off. Jamie was sitting at the table with a cup of hot tea in front of her.

“Still pondering the idea of a drastic move?” Kate asked. “Did you talk to your grandmother about it?”

“Yes, I did, and she told me to think about me and Gracie before I leap. Sometimes I turn a blind eye to common sense and don’t check to see if I’m leaping into fire or water,” Jamie answered.

“You have to do what your heart tells you,” Kate said. “Things happen in our lives to turn us around. I’ve never believed in fate or karma or any of that stuff, but I do believe in our choices directing our future.”

Amanda had gone into the bathroom right behind Kate and now joined them with a big white towel wrapped around her head and a terry robe belted above her pregnant tummy. “And that means?”

“Think back to the most horrible moments in your life and the happiest ones. Didn’t they both have a bearing on who you are right now?” Kate asked.

Jamie pushed the cup of tea back. “I saw a lawyer right after Christmas last year. He told me how much it would take for me to get a divorce—I was saving my money.”

“What has that got to with what Kate said?” Amanda asked.

“Just going there made me happy, even though I was terrified. It gave me back some of my power. I understand what she is saying,” Jamie answered.

“When were you going to divorce him?” Amanda asked.

“I’m not sure I would have gone through with it. Gracie loved her dad, and even having a part-time father was more than I had as a kid.”

“Sometimes anything isn’t a bit better than nothing,” Kate said.

“Hindsight.” Jamie chuckled.

“My two cents—you should apply for the job,” Kate said. “If they hire you, then it was meant to be. If they don’t, you won’t have regrets later. And you need to get in touch with Social Security. I think Gracie is entitled to some benefits. You could put it in a trust fund for her college if you are too proud to use the money to make her life easier.”

“I never even thought of that,” Jamie said. “And I’m not crazy. Moving here would be an adjustment, going from the big city to Bootleg, from being a team of teachers for any given grade to being the single third-grade teacher in the whole elementary school.”

“It’ll be a tough decision, but only you can make it,” Kate agreed.

Jamie smiled. “It would be great if we were little kids and our parents still made our decisions, right, Kate?”

“Hell, no!” Amanda yelped. “I wouldn’t want my mother to make a single decision for me.”