AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He named her Scout?” I laughed. “Scout and Atticus.”
“He thinks it’s amusing. In fact, he’s threatening to get a pair of cats and call them Jim and Boo.”
“Perfect.” My chest ached, thinking of all the years I’d missed with him. Every Thanksgiving until the year my mother decided to wreck all our lives, we’d been together, fighting over who got a drumstick.
“I’ll let you be for now. If you want to talk about your mom or anything else, I’m here.” Stella walked to the door but before twisting the knob, turned back to me. “How’s your dad?” The sadness in her voice did not escape me.
“He’s really good. My stepmom gave him two little girls. Twins. They’re in high school. Holy terrors. But I love them to pieces. They brought so much love and light to our family.”
“That makes me very happy. Please give your dad my best. We were very close back in the day.”
I know. Until my mother ruined everything.
5
ATTICUS
Headed for lunch at the Bunkhouse, I ventured out of the thicket of trees that blocked the dude ranch from my house. Scout barked and took off running toward one of the cabins in the opposite direction of the restaurant. “Silly dog,” I muttered under my breath. Without her leash she might bother some unsuspecting guest with her enthusiasm. She never met a person she didn’t like, regardless if they returned the affection.
My stomach growled. It was Wednesday, which meant the soup of the day was corn chowder, my favorite. Caspian put just the right amount of bacon bits in for a salty, smoky flavor.
Scout ran toward cabin 6. A woman stood on the porch, wearing a knit hat and puffy jacket. She held a steaming mug of something in her hands.
Scout barked again and then barreled toward her. I called after the dog to stop, but she had no intention of obeying me. She bounded up to the small porch of the cabin and hurled herself against this poor woman’s legs. The guest’s feet pointed out, like a dancer in ballet’s first position. Annie had often practiced her positions in our kitchen. I smiled, remembering howshe used to make Thad giggle when she would pirouette across the floor, hair flying every which way.
“Scout,” I shouted again. “Come. Now.”
Regardless of how obnoxious my dog was currently acting, the woman didn’t seem to mind. She set her mug on the railing and leaned down to greet my naughty Scout. As she did so, her cap slid off her head, landing on the porch.
Curly copper hair splayed over her face.
Long, delicate fingers scratched Scout’s head.
Annie.
Could it be?
She looked up. Hazel eyes in a heart-shaped face. Alabaster skin sprinkled with freckles.
Annie Armstrong.
“No, it can’t be,” I whispered. Was I seeing things? Imagining her? Or was it only a woman who looked like her?
Don’t be an idiot. It’s her.
“Hi, Atticus. Surprise.”
“Annie? What are you doing here?”
Her gaze met mine, eyes wide, an expression of uncertainty on her face. “Honestly, I don’t know exactly.”
She gave Scout one last pet and then straightened, wiping her hands on the front of her jacket. A nervous habit. She’d always done that when she was anxious, as if she had something sticky on her palms. “I decided it was time, finally. To come home. To see you. And your brothers. Your mom. It’s been too long.”
I just stared at her, my ability to speak completely obliterated.
“I’d have known you anywhere,” she said. “Your eyes are the same, even though the rest of you is considerably larger.”
I’d been a skinny, nerdy boy the last time she’d seen me. Glasses and floppy hair. Now I hid my nerd under a muscular frame I’d developed at the gym under the tutelage of apersonal trainer with a mean streak. Contacts had replaced my glasses.
