knuckles and the blood caked in their creases.
“Birch came off the worst for it.” Alex stared beyond the trees and onto the quiet town far below them. “Dorothy looks so much better from up here. I can see your pool.”
“It looks like an ice mint Jelly Belly.”
“Can I have that back?” he asked, indicating his hand with a tip of his chin.
“No.” Faith held his hand tighter, and he made no move to take it from her. “Why did you let Leland get under your skin? He’s a total ass.”
“He thinks he’s so much better than me,” Alex said.
“Do you think he is?”
“Hell, no.”
“Then if it isn’t true, who cares what he thinks?”
Alex chuckled. “I wish it was that easy to let go of stuff like that.”
“It is,” Faith assured him. “You think I don’t get crapped on? Every time Leland Birch calls me Brillo Head, or Bethany Brewer tells me that there are no black prima ballerinas, I just think about where I’ll be in ten years and where they’ll be. Leland will be running his dad’s used car lot, and he’ll probably have the same terrible comb over. Bethany will find a way to trap Travis Gates into marriage, and she’ll be living the soccer mom life with a frooty bigger than the mayor’s wife’s.”
“Where will you be, Faith?” Alex asked.
“Anywhere but here,” she answered wistfully. “I hate it here sometimes.”
“You’ve got it made, princess. You don’t have any problems you won’t outgrow.”
“I won’t ‘outgrow’ being black in an all-white town,” she said. “I can’t ‘outgrow’ being thought of as the spoiled rich girl.”
“Those aren’t real problems,” he said.
“They’re as real as yours.”
“You’ve got the whole world out there for you, Faith,” he said passionately. “I was born in this town, and I’m gonna die in this town. There are only two Brannon family traditions—alcoholism and dying in the mines. My dad’s got the alcoholism sewed up, so I guess I’ll end up dead in a mine like my granddaddy.”
“Then I guess you have to get outta Booger Hollow,” Faith said dryly.
Alex laughed, and the sound echoed off the trees. “You always know the right thing to say.”
“You have a nice laugh,” she told him. “It’s a shame you don’t do it more often.”
Rubbing his hands together to warm them, he shrugged. “Yeah, well, I don’t have much to laugh about most days.”
Faith unzipped his jacket and slipped out of it. “Put this back on,” she directed, handing it to him.
“I’m good,” he said, refusing it. “You’re only half dressed.”
“Just put it on,” she said.
He did so, and she switched position on the log, sitting with her back to him and scooting back until she was nestled between his legs and cradled against his chest. “We can both keep warm this way,” she said, pulling his arms around her.
“I’ll say,” he sighed, nuzzling her soft curls with his nose and chin.
“Let’s not go back,” Faith suggested. “We could just stay up here forever.”
“It might be a little noisy with your dad blasting the mountain away to get to the coal.”
“Don’t mention him,” she said. “You’ll ruin the fantasy. Did you ever read a book called My Side of the Mountain ?”
“Didn’t catch that one.”
“It’s about a boy who spends a year living in a hollow hemlock tree in the Catskills,” Faith said. “Any hollow trees around here?”
“I think there’s an old pine stump somewhere nearby, but a family of raccoons has dibs on it.”
She playfully drove an elbow into his ribs. “Don’t make fun. It’s a good book, and I’m serious. I’d love to get away from Dorothy and start life somewhere new and exciting.”
“I’d settle for new,” he said.
“Take me with you.”
“Where?”
“When you leave, take me with you.”
“I wish I could.” He brought his legs to the top of the log, forming a cocoon of warmth around her with his body. “You don’t know how
“Birch came off the worst for it.” Alex stared beyond the trees and onto the quiet town far below them. “Dorothy looks so much better from up here. I can see your pool.”
“It looks like an ice mint Jelly Belly.”
“Can I have that back?” he asked, indicating his hand with a tip of his chin.
“No.” Faith held his hand tighter, and he made no move to take it from her. “Why did you let Leland get under your skin? He’s a total ass.”
“He thinks he’s so much better than me,” Alex said.
“Do you think he is?”
“Hell, no.”
“Then if it isn’t true, who cares what he thinks?”
Alex chuckled. “I wish it was that easy to let go of stuff like that.”
“It is,” Faith assured him. “You think I don’t get crapped on? Every time Leland Birch calls me Brillo Head, or Bethany Brewer tells me that there are no black prima ballerinas, I just think about where I’ll be in ten years and where they’ll be. Leland will be running his dad’s used car lot, and he’ll probably have the same terrible comb over. Bethany will find a way to trap Travis Gates into marriage, and she’ll be living the soccer mom life with a frooty bigger than the mayor’s wife’s.”
“Where will you be, Faith?” Alex asked.
“Anywhere but here,” she answered wistfully. “I hate it here sometimes.”
“You’ve got it made, princess. You don’t have any problems you won’t outgrow.”
“I won’t ‘outgrow’ being black in an all-white town,” she said. “I can’t ‘outgrow’ being thought of as the spoiled rich girl.”
“Those aren’t real problems,” he said.
“They’re as real as yours.”
“You’ve got the whole world out there for you, Faith,” he said passionately. “I was born in this town, and I’m gonna die in this town. There are only two Brannon family traditions—alcoholism and dying in the mines. My dad’s got the alcoholism sewed up, so I guess I’ll end up dead in a mine like my granddaddy.”
“Then I guess you have to get outta Booger Hollow,” Faith said dryly.
Alex laughed, and the sound echoed off the trees. “You always know the right thing to say.”
“You have a nice laugh,” she told him. “It’s a shame you don’t do it more often.”
Rubbing his hands together to warm them, he shrugged. “Yeah, well, I don’t have much to laugh about most days.”
Faith unzipped his jacket and slipped out of it. “Put this back on,” she directed, handing it to him.
“I’m good,” he said, refusing it. “You’re only half dressed.”
“Just put it on,” she said.
He did so, and she switched position on the log, sitting with her back to him and scooting back until she was nestled between his legs and cradled against his chest. “We can both keep warm this way,” she said, pulling his arms around her.
“I’ll say,” he sighed, nuzzling her soft curls with his nose and chin.
“Let’s not go back,” Faith suggested. “We could just stay up here forever.”
“It might be a little noisy with your dad blasting the mountain away to get to the coal.”
“Don’t mention him,” she said. “You’ll ruin the fantasy. Did you ever read a book called My Side of the Mountain ?”
“Didn’t catch that one.”
“It’s about a boy who spends a year living in a hollow hemlock tree in the Catskills,” Faith said. “Any hollow trees around here?”
“I think there’s an old pine stump somewhere nearby, but a family of raccoons has dibs on it.”
She playfully drove an elbow into his ribs. “Don’t make fun. It’s a good book, and I’m serious. I’d love to get away from Dorothy and start life somewhere new and exciting.”
“I’d settle for new,” he said.
“Take me with you.”
“Where?”
“When you leave, take me with you.”
“I wish I could.” He brought his legs to the top of the log, forming a cocoon of warmth around her with his body. “You don’t know how
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