Words of Stone by Kevin Henkes

Author:Kevin Henkes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins

Thoughts of the girl stayed with Blaze all afternoon like a film on his skin. She baffled him and intrigued him. His mind strayed to her even as he set the table for dinner. He saw her face in each plate and bowl. Her teeth and her eyes materialized vaguely on the china like the Cheshire cat.

The day had grown hotter and hotter, so they were going to have a big salad and gazpacho. “Too hot to use the oven today,” Nova repeated as she moved around the kitchen. Her skin had taken on a sweaty sheen. When she turned from reaching for the large wooden salad bowl in the cupboard, her forehead glistened and Blaze noticed damp saggy half-moons under her arms on her thin housedress. The heat didn’t bother him nearly as much as it did Nova.

Glenn was slicing hard-boiled eggs for the salad. It had been just over a week ago that he had introduced Claire to Blaze and Nova. Since then, he had been spending a considerable amount of time doing domestic things: helping to make dinner, washing dishes, shopping for groceries. He wasn’t painting nearly as intensely as he usually did.

“I’m going to freshen up before Claire arrives,” Nova said. She flapped her dress and sighed. “Too hot,” she murmured on her way upstairs to change clothes.

“You seem quiet,” Glenn said to Blaze.

“Not really.”

“Well, then talk to me,” Glenn said as he arranged the eggs on a ruffly bed of various lettuces from Nova’s garden. “How are you?”

“I dunno,” Blaze answered, and it was purely the truth. He didn’t know. And if he didn’t know, how could he give his feelings a name and discuss them? He had too much to think about. Claire. And now Joselle Stark.

“I understand how you might feel about Claire,” Glenn said. “I do . . .” He smiled his assurance and squeezed the back of Blaze’s neck.

“I know,” Blaze replied, hoping that he sounded cheerful and cooperative. But Glenn couldn’t understand. Blaze hadn’t told him about the words of stone.

At first it had made perfect sense that Claire had been the one to write them. Blaze had told her about the fire, and the next morning the words appeared. But since then Claire had acted completely normal—whatever that meant for someone you hardly knew.

Although Blaze had tried to avoid Claire, she still treated him kindly, which puzzled him. Even if he had been ignoring her throughout an entire meal, she would present small gestures—a look, a grin, a compliment—that would cause Blaze to drop his silverware.

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