A Heart in a Body in the World by Deb Caletti

Author:Deb Caletti [Caletti, Deb]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781481415231
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Published: 2018-09-18T07:00:00+00:00

18

As much as she might want to, Annabelle cannot stay in that pasture like a lady cow. So, she gets up and heads back to Bair Reservoir and to whatever might happen next. Her back is arched with fatigue and sorrow, and she clutches Luke Messenger’s shorts around her middle. Now, she definitely looks like Mr. Giancarlo of Sunnyside Eldercare during that unfortunate attack of colitis.

There is a little dot on the horizon. A moving dot. She squinches her eyes. She probably needs glasses. The dot is growing a bit larger. Now what? she thinks. It’s probably a raging bull coming to gore her, or a Harley Davidson racing to slice her in two.

No. It’s slow, whatever it is.

From that distance, the figure is serpent-y, with wavy anemones on its top half. It’s a creature, walking out of the sea. It’s a man. A solitary man. Now, she sees that the anemones are messy curls and the creature is Luke Messenger.

“Hey!” he calls.

Shit! A warm wind whips through the valley. The yellow grass sways. He’s huffing and puffing right in front of her. A drop of sweat hightails it down Luke’s forehead and drops right off his nose, like those goats that fling themselves from cliffs.

“Hey.”

“How do you do this? I tried to jog a mile out here and I’m dying. My chest is burning. Jesus, I’m out of shape.”

He doesn’t look it. Forget she thought that.

“Well, your sweatshirt must weigh two pounds. And . . . cargo shorts? All those pockets. Pound and a half. Boots! Hiking boots. Might as well wear two toddlers on your feet.”

“So, sleek as a seal, like . . .” He nods toward her own clothes.

“These are not my fault.”

“Mine either. I’m not exactly the silky-basketball-shorts type. They were a Christmas present from my father, who played forward for his college team.”

“If he also gave you a jersey with his old number on it, I can see why you’re out here with your grandma.”

“That was for my birthday,” he laughs. He doesn’t say more, and she respects that. She’s glad of it, too. She doesn’t want to hear the whole history of him. Wanting to hear the whole history of a person, wanting to know their story, lured by the mystery of what you don’t yet know—it’s gotten her into plenty of trouble.

Stop!

Why’d you guys move from Burlington? It sounds so nice, she asked The Taker.

My dad got a research job here, at the university. I was glad we moved. I hated my old school.

Why?

Private school. Lots of rich kids who lived on the lake. Acted like they were hot shit. My mom wanted us to get out of there. She thought I was friends with a bad crowd ’cause this kid I know robbed an old guy.

“Are you okay?” Luke Messenger asks.

“Sure.”

“Mim suggested I come and check on you. I don’t know. She was worried you’d run off or something. Hey, I wouldn’t have wanted to be out in that storm today.”

“It was crazy.

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