At Last (The Idle Point, Maine Stories)(3)

She gunned the engine and reached into the glove box and withdrew an envelope thick with bills. "Here," she said, handing it to Eb through the open window. "Now you can take yourself that vacation you and Sarah always talked about."

Her wheels spun on the gravel as she roared out of the gas station.

"Hold your horses!" Eb's voice floated after her. "There's money in this envelope! What do you –?"

The last thing Gracie saw in her rear-view mirror was old Eb standing in the middle of the road with Simon Chase's blood money dangling from his fingers like a flag of surrender.

She didn't slow down again until she reached Boston.





Chapter One





Gracie Taylor fell in love with Noah Chase on the first day of kindergarten. She was five-and-a-half years old and so homesick she thought her heart would stop beating when Gramma told her that she had to stay there in that cold and scary schoolroom and that she wouldn't come back for Gracie until two o'clock. She was standing near the coatroom and trying very hard not to cry when he appeared at her side. "You'd better hang up your sweater before the bell rings," he said, "or else Mrs. Cavanaugh'll give you a black star." He had bright blue eyes and thick dark lashes and when he smiled at her she thought her heart would float up to the ceiling like a birthday balloon. She'd never seen anyone like him before in her entire life except in storybooks where beautiful children lived in beautiful houses with parents who loved them forever and ever.

He tugged at her sleeve and his smile grew even brighter. "Better do it," he said. "I'll save you a seat."

Gracie, who never said a word unless she had to, looked deep into those twinkling blue eyes and said, "How do you know about the black stars?"

"Everybody knows," said her new friend. "Gold stars when you're good. Black stars when you're bad."

Gracie didn't care a bit about black stars but if he thought they were a bad thing, so did she. She hung up her favorite red sweater on the last empty hook in the coatroom. Gramma Del had given her that sweater for her last birthday and she loved it. It had always seemed special but now it only looked shabby and not special at all, hanging there with the other kids' sweaters. Their sweaters were hand-knit of the softest wool, with tiny ducks and bunnies embroidered along the edges. You couldn't buy sweaters like that at the discount store where Gramma Del bought Gracie's. Gracie was sure that each one of those special sweaters had been made by a mommy.

The classroom was filled with noisy, laughing children, all pushing and shoving each other like puppies in a basket. She lived out by the docks, an only child in a world of adults. Her best friends were her books (especially the ones about animals), her goldfish, and her beloved hamster named Wilbur. She felt like herself around animals, not shy and quiet the way she did around people.

Gracie jammed her hands into the pockets of her corduroy jumper. Her feet felt big and heavy, too heavy to move her into the room. Why did she have to go to kindergarten anyway? She already knew how to read and she could print out her name and her address and her telephone number with her favorite Crayola. Who wanted to sit around with a bunch of dumb kids, playing with blocks and finger paints when you could be reading about Lassie or the Cat in the Hat?

The boy with the bright blue eyes twisted around in his seat then pointed at the desk next to him. He smiled at her like it was Christmas morning and having her sit next to him was the best present under the tree. Suddenly she was moving forward, her eyes locked with his, moving right past the other kids just like she was one of them. She slid into the cold wooden seat and folded her hands on top of the desk.

"What's your name?" he asked, leaning across the aisle.

"G-Gracie," she said, wishing she had a pretty name like Tiffany or Marisa. "What's yours?"

"Noah," he said, screwing up his face like a dried-up lemon.

She giggled. Two of the other little kids turned around and saw what Noah was doing and they giggled too and before she knew it, she was right there in the center of a group of laughing children, almost like she belonged there.





#





It was the best day of Gracie's life. When Mrs. Cavanaugh said, "Class dismissed!" Gracie wished she could blink her eyes and start the day all over again. She followed the other kids into the coatroom to claim her sweater and the buzz of talk and laughter all around her felt like a big hug. They all liked Noah and since Noah liked Gracie, they opened their circle wide enough to let Gracie in too. It was like being welcomed into a magic place where only good things happened and she hated to see it end.