Island on the Edge of the World by Deborah Rodriguez

Author:Deborah Rodriguez
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780143793618
Publisher: Penguin Random House Australia

22

Charlie was happy to be alone. She sat on the patio outside the sliding glass doors of the hotel room, basking in the night air with an unopened book by her side, savoring the solitude.

At dinner, Bea and Lizbeth had both been particularly energized, Lizbeth howling at Bea’s account of the girls and the attempted braids, Bea getting Lizbeth all pumped up about the possibility of finding her grandchild the next day. When Franz, the hotel owner, showed up with a trio of giant, twitching langoustines dangling from his fingers, the two of them practically squealed.

The meat was delicious, Charlie had to agree. They dined under the stars, cracking and picking and sucking every last bit from the shells, their chins dripping with butter, until their plates resembled little crustacean boneyards. Even the two Dobermans—who had been lurking behind a hedge, panting, all throughout the meal—had given up hope of snagging a taste. Charlie had seen them trotting off together into the shadows, like a pair of sleek wolves on a hunt.

Now Bea and Lizbeth had gone to bed. Mackenson had taken the car, off to visit a cousin who lived in Jacmel, promising to pick them up in the morning to return to town and resume their hunt for the mother and baby.

Charlie was beginning to think that, in believing she was doing the right thing for the woman, she may have made a mistake in leading Lizbeth on with all this. Mackenson, in private, had shared his suspicions about Senzey with her. He sounded like Lizbeth had sounded at times, questioning the relationship between Senzey and Luke, questioning the baby’s paternity. In the meantime, Lizbeth seemed to be getting more committed by the hour to tracking down the child. And exactly what, Charlie had to wonder, was she planning on doing if and when she found the baby? And Bea—had it been a mistake to lead her on as well, getting her hopes up about reuniting their broken little family? Maybe they should head back to Port-au-Prince first thing in the morning, before any more disappointments came their way. Besides, she’d already been away longer than she’d intended. She shuddered to think about the mess of appointments that would be waiting for her when she returned to Carmel.

Charlie closed her eyes and tried to enjoy the symphony of crickets and tree frogs blasting from the greenery around her. It reminded her of the jungle, which, of course, made her think of her mom. Sometimes, late at night, Charlie would find memories clawing to the edges of her consciousness, fighting to be recognized. She’d see her mother clear as day, her long hair loosely knotted on the top of her head to alleviate the heat, a ready kiss on her lips to chase away the scrapes and bruises that were the jungle’s revenge on a curious Charlie. She remembered her mother’s humor, like the time when, faced with an invasion of army ants that came marching across their dining room table one day during lunch, she turned the whole thing into a game.

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