AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He had excellent manners but a lousy poker face. It was obvious he’d asked only because he was a nice guy. The invite was theneighborlything to do. “Thanks, but I already ate,” I lied, waving away a mosquito from my face. “But I’ll walk back toward the square with you, if you don’t mind. I’m lousy with directions. I can get lost in a grocery store.”
His shoulders relaxed as he clipped the leash to Norman’s collar. “No worries there—if you got lost, Norman would find you. He’s the best unintentional search dog around. Kids in my old neighborhood loved to play hide-and-seek with him.”
“Good to know,” I said as we started walking. Porch lights had started coming on, glowing deep amber. Moths flitted. Frog chirps grew louder and cicadas screamed. Gulf waves provided a pleasant backdrop to their raucous symphony. “Where did you move from?”
At the end of the street, I looked over my shoulder, back toward Dez’s house. Again, I saw a white light flicker in the attic. Goose bumps popped up on my arms as I thought about ghosts and tried to convince myself there was a logical reason for that flash of light. A light fixture on the fritz, perhaps.
“A small town outside Nashville.”
There was hardness in his voice, thick as armor. He didn’t want to talk about his old home. I could take a hint, but to keep from asking nosy follow-up questions as we walked, I turned my attention to the dollar bill, folding it this way, that.
One block north of the beach, Sam finally broke the silence between us. “You’re staying with Maggie, right?”
The tongues around here had to be mighty tired by now. “She’s been really kind, taking me in like she has.”
“The Brightwells are good people.”
I nodded. “Seems to me there are lots of good people around here.” Some unusual ones, too. Like Estrelle. And now me.
Norman trotted in between Sam and me and kept looking my way as if checking to see if I was really there. For a foolish second, I almost asked to hold his leash, stopping myself only because I didn’t want Sam to think I was some crazy dog lady. Though, honestly, I might be. I just hadn’t been around enough dogs to know for sure. I bent another corner of the dollar bill, smoothing it with two fingernails. “Florida seems a far way to go for a lottery ticket.”
“It was either Florida or Mississippi, and Florida’s a far sight closer. Only half an hour in good traffic. There’s no lottery here in Alabama, though that might change soon.”
As we turned another corner, Maggie’s house came into view, looking inviting with the soft yellow light filling the windows and spilling out onto the porch. I stopped at the walkway and faced Sam. His face was bathed in the light thrown from a lamppost. I said, “Are you still feeling luck blowing around me?”
He tilted his chin upward and breathed deeply. “There’ssomethingblowing. Why?”
I held up my hand. In my palm was the dollar bill. “What do you think about letting our luck ride, see how far we can take our winning streak?”
Leaning in for a closer look, he said, “Did you fold that bill into the shape of a dog?”
“It’s basic origami. I had a lot of time on my hands as a kid.”
Laughing lightly, he took the money from my hand. “All right, Ava. Count me in on letting it ride. I was heading back that way in a couple of days anyway. I’ll pick up another scratch ticket.”
“Headed that way for work?” I asked, curious about him. What had brought him here to Driftwood? What happened in Tennessee that he didn’t want to talk about? Did it have anything to do with the sadness in his eyes?
He shook his head. “Appointment in Orange Beach—only minutes from Perdido Key.”
“Don’t suppose you need a dog walker while you’re gone?” I asked, unable to stop myself. I bent down to rub Norman’s ears again, and his tail thrashed about.
“Nah. Norman will be okay on his own.”
Disappointment flowed, thick and heavy. “Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find me.”
“That I do.”
“I guess I’ll be seeing you two around.” I gave Norman one final pat and started up the sidewalk. Halfway, I turned around, readying to call out, expecting to see Sam much farther up the street. But he still stood where I’d left him. I realized that he was waiting to make sure I got inside safe and sound, and for some reason the gesture had me blinking back tears.
“Something wrong?” he asked.
“No. I was just going to ask if you know who plays the fiddle around here. I heard it late last night, then again just a little while ago. And well, I’m curious is all. It’s beautiful.”
His chin jutted and he pulled his ball cap lower over his brow. “Can’t say I do.”
I tried to figure out what it was I saw in his eyes, but couldn’t quite.
However, as I walked into Maggie’s I knew full well it had been a lie I’d heard in his voice.
