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“I’m so flattered.” Lily reached out from the couch to shake her hand. “It’s great to meet you, Moxie.”
Moxie shook Lily’s hand and paused, seeming to consider her words more than once before she said them. “I saw your book in the window at Barnes and Noble right before my mom went back to jail.” She paused, pulling her sleeves down over her hands. “I bought it the next day and it…kinda saved me.”
“Books have save
d me since I was a kid.” Lily’s face softened as if she were looking at a forgotten picture of herself at that age. “That totally makes sense.”
“You know, I have a copy of Lily’s latest, Embers Into Fire,” Sara said with a glance at Lily. “If you want to read it, I’ll leave it on your bed.”
“Really? There’s more than one?”
“Actually, I flew here straight from a signing in LA, so I have an extra copy with me. I’ll sign it for you personally and drop it by the house if you’re interested.” Lily smiled warmly up at Moxie, who suddenly looked like she didn’t know what to do with her hands. I can relate, Lily thought as she felt herself warming to the quiet girl with the crack in her glasses. “That way, it’s all yours.”
“That’s amazing.” Moxie shoved her hands into the pocket of her jeans. “And thanks. I’ll find some way to repay you.”
“Nope.” Lily shook her head. “I wouldn’t even be able to do this if there weren’t readers like you who really love the stories, so you can just consider us even.”
Moxie smiled, which somehow caused the cracked left lens of her glasses to drop to the floor and break into three jagged triangles.
“Perfect timing.” Sara laughed, picking them up and dropping them on the table.
“Let’s go get you some new glasses so you can read that book.”
Chapter Eight
Sam reached for the last bolt with her wrench just as her cell phone buzzed in her pocket. She tightened it quickly and retrieved her phone, holding it between her face and her shoulder as she climbed back down the ladder.
“Hey, Alex.” Sam dropped the wrench into the back pocket of her jeans and wiped a smear of grease off the back of her hand with her T-shirt. “How can I help you?” Sam hit the speakerphone button and leaned against the ladder, enjoying the late afternoon breeze sweeping in off the lake. Once she was away from both the station and the retreat, there seemed to be more fresh air and space to breathe it.
“Hey.” Alex’s deep voice echoed in the wide-open space. “Do you happen to have time for a chat? I’m done with the last class of the afternoon, and there’s something I want to run by you.”
“Yeah, of course.”
“Great, are you at home? I can walk over, if that works.”
“Yeah, of course.” Sam looked at her watch. “Just come to the front of the house and follow the stone trail that leads to your right down to the water. You can’t see me from the driveway, but I’m right beside the barn.”
Just as Sam was hanging up, she saw a text from Sara: Moxie and I are picking up dinner before we head home. Still meeting Murphy in town tonight?
Sam replied and ran both hands through her hair as she looked out over the lake to the island, shimmering with iridescent greens and blues under the low-hanging afternoon sun. Lately, she’d been leaving her clothes on the dock every evening and swimming to the island. Years ago, the water had saved her in the first few months after her father died. She’d swum from her house to the island over and over, letting it smooth and cool the rough edges of grief that had threatened to consume her like fire. Now she felt drawn to it again, but this time, there was no obvious reason, which somehow bothered her even more. When her dad had died, she’d known on some level that swimming to the island was helping her work through her grief. This time, she just had a vague feeling that something was missing, and she didn’t have a clue what that was.
After a few minutes, she saw Alex striding down the stone pathway in loose khakis rolled up at the ankle and an unbuttoned tropical shirt over a white tank.
“Damn, Alex,” Sam called. “You couldn’t look more Cuban if you tried.”
Alex laughed, stopping to tie her shoe as she answered. “Yeah, well. Occupational hazard.” As she stood, she looked around before meeting Sam at the bottom of the path. “I knew you had a barn, but I swear, when you showed me around at the start of the summer, there wasn’t a lighted half-court basketball setup down here.”
“Good eye.” Sam smiled and stepped off the concrete. “I actually had someone from town frame it out and pour it a couple of days ago, and I just set up the goal before you got here.”
“Nice.” Alex scanned the empty square. “But did you remember the basketballs?”
Sam nodded to two new balls at the north end of the court. Alex picked one up and stepped onto the court in a slow dribble, alternating hands several times before she tossed it in Sam’s direction.
Sam caught it and shot a perfect basket, retrieving it quickly and tossing it back. “You said you had something you wanted to run by me?”
Alex nodded and went for a layup, which bounced twice around the rim just to fall away. She tossed it over, rolling up her shirtsleeves as Sam tucked it under her arm. “Yeah.” Alex paused. “It’s about Lily.”
“Lily?” It took Sam a few seconds to remember she’d given Lily the only available spot open at the retreat in Alex’s staff cabin. “Sure, what’s up?”
