afford to pay. A trip out there showed me that it was like no other place I'd ever seen. I fell in love with the kids and admired the nuns. So—" and he shrugged his shoulders and laughed as if to say that he'd had no choice but to help.
"Most people wouldn't have cared," Lisa said softly in a way that told him that she admired him, which only embarrassed him. He didn't want admiration because he didn't think he deserved it. The way he saw it, he could never give too much. Never.
"I don't do enough," he said tersely. "I don't have as much time to devote to the mission as I would like. Or to Connie."
At that moment, Connie crashed through the clearing. "I saw a deer! It ran away when it saw me! I know it was a deer!" she cried.
"I'm sure it was," Lisa said, collecting herself quickly. "Sometimes I see them tiptoeing out of the woods near my house before it gets dark at night."
"I never saw a deer before," Connie said, settling herself comfortably between Jay and Lisa and accepting the drink that Jay dug out of the cooler.
"Not even at the zoo?" Lisa asked.
"I've never been to a zoo," Connie said. "Once we passed a zoo sign on the highway, but Daddy said we had to keep going because the boss man up the road wouldn't wait and the crop wouldn't, either, so we never went."
"How about it, Lisa? Would you like to go to the zoo with Connie and me sometime?" Jay asked.
A quick look at him told her that he was serious.
She drew a deep breath. "That sounds like fun," she said, hoping she sounded casual.
"Good," he said with more enthusiasm than she had expected. "I think we should go to the zoo in Miami and make a whole day of it."
"When will we go? I can't wait," Connie said. She looked as though she could barely contain herself.
"Well, doodlebug, I'll have to look at my schedule and see if next weekend is free. That is, if Lisa can go then."
"Next weekend would be fine," Lisa said. A whole day with Jay Quillian! She let out a long breath that she hadn't even been aware she was holding.
"Yay!" Connie said, hopping up and running down to the water, where she splashed for a while in the shadows and soon interested herself in the fiddler crabs that scurried in the sand.
"Now," Jay said to Lisa as he sprawled out more comfortably so that his face was fully in sunlight, "tell me more about yourself. Do you go canoeing often?" He was regarding her with an intriguing mixture of interest and pleasure.
"I head for the canoe whenever I want to get away from the house," Lisa admitted before she could stop herself, thinking of Adele's sour expression over breakfast that morning.
"Your housemate—is she the one I talked with on the phone?"
"Are you the one who called?" she asked.
"Yup. The lady didn't give me a chance to mention my name before she hung up." He smiled at her, and she could only return his smile with embarrassment.
"You'd have to understand Adele," she said.
"Maybe you should find another housemate," Jay pointed out.
"I couldn't do that," Lisa said quickly.
"Why not? Who is she—your aunt? Mother? Grandmother?"
Lisa gazed across the river, a host of visible emotions playing over her face.
"Adele isn't my mother, although she's more or less taken that role since my mother died. And she lives with me because she doesn't have anywhere else to go. I really do like her. She's had a lot of difficulties, that's all."
A quick glance at Lisa's expression told Jay that she was sincere. Sincere—and something else. Worried? Guilty? He wondered why.
"What's her story?" he asked gently.
"The long version or the short?" she asked.
"Short," he said. "Unless you prefer the long, of course."
Lisa took a swig of root beer. She still found it hard to talk about Megan's death.
"Adele was the mother of my best friend when I was growing up. My friend died years ago, and Adele's marriage fell apart when her husband left her in the aftermath of the tragedy. Adele remarried happily, but that husband died. She sold her house
"Most people wouldn't have cared," Lisa said softly in a way that told him that she admired him, which only embarrassed him. He didn't want admiration because he didn't think he deserved it. The way he saw it, he could never give too much. Never.
"I don't do enough," he said tersely. "I don't have as much time to devote to the mission as I would like. Or to Connie."
At that moment, Connie crashed through the clearing. "I saw a deer! It ran away when it saw me! I know it was a deer!" she cried.
"I'm sure it was," Lisa said, collecting herself quickly. "Sometimes I see them tiptoeing out of the woods near my house before it gets dark at night."
"I never saw a deer before," Connie said, settling herself comfortably between Jay and Lisa and accepting the drink that Jay dug out of the cooler.
"Not even at the zoo?" Lisa asked.
"I've never been to a zoo," Connie said. "Once we passed a zoo sign on the highway, but Daddy said we had to keep going because the boss man up the road wouldn't wait and the crop wouldn't, either, so we never went."
"How about it, Lisa? Would you like to go to the zoo with Connie and me sometime?" Jay asked.
A quick look at him told her that he was serious.
She drew a deep breath. "That sounds like fun," she said, hoping she sounded casual.
"Good," he said with more enthusiasm than she had expected. "I think we should go to the zoo in Miami and make a whole day of it."
"When will we go? I can't wait," Connie said. She looked as though she could barely contain herself.
"Well, doodlebug, I'll have to look at my schedule and see if next weekend is free. That is, if Lisa can go then."
"Next weekend would be fine," Lisa said. A whole day with Jay Quillian! She let out a long breath that she hadn't even been aware she was holding.
"Yay!" Connie said, hopping up and running down to the water, where she splashed for a while in the shadows and soon interested herself in the fiddler crabs that scurried in the sand.
"Now," Jay said to Lisa as he sprawled out more comfortably so that his face was fully in sunlight, "tell me more about yourself. Do you go canoeing often?" He was regarding her with an intriguing mixture of interest and pleasure.
"I head for the canoe whenever I want to get away from the house," Lisa admitted before she could stop herself, thinking of Adele's sour expression over breakfast that morning.
"Your housemate—is she the one I talked with on the phone?"
"Are you the one who called?" she asked.
"Yup. The lady didn't give me a chance to mention my name before she hung up." He smiled at her, and she could only return his smile with embarrassment.
"You'd have to understand Adele," she said.
"Maybe you should find another housemate," Jay pointed out.
"I couldn't do that," Lisa said quickly.
"Why not? Who is she—your aunt? Mother? Grandmother?"
Lisa gazed across the river, a host of visible emotions playing over her face.
"Adele isn't my mother, although she's more or less taken that role since my mother died. And she lives with me because she doesn't have anywhere else to go. I really do like her. She's had a lot of difficulties, that's all."
A quick glance at Lisa's expression told Jay that she was sincere. Sincere—and something else. Worried? Guilty? He wondered why.
"What's her story?" he asked gently.
"The long version or the short?" she asked.
"Short," he said. "Unless you prefer the long, of course."
Lisa took a swig of root beer. She still found it hard to talk about Megan's death.
"Adele was the mother of my best friend when I was growing up. My friend died years ago, and Adele's marriage fell apart when her husband left her in the aftermath of the tragedy. Adele remarried happily, but that husband died. She sold her house
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