page56 (1/2)

The old woman patted Zane’s shoulder “Seeht more often than not”

With that she rose and dusted off her fringed leather chaps “It’s late Sleep well, Zane”

When Gladys was gone, Zane stretched out his legs and stared up at the sky There were more stars up there than any hts when he’d been a kid and couldn’t sleep, he would go outside and study the constellations Soo live up there Things would be different then Better

He hadn’t thought of his father in years, yet suddenly the old man seemed to be back in his life He’d never softened, not even at the end when he lay dying

“I want to go,” he’d whispered with his last breath “I want to be with her”

Not “I’ll one

Zane told hirown, and the past couldn’t touch him For the most part he believed that, but what he didn’t know for sure was how the past influenced the present He was so concerned about keeping Chase froht about the fact that hehis brother the same way his father treated him?

PHOEBE WATCHED AS the sun slowly rose over the trees in the distance It was cool, clear and intensely quiet Maybe it was like that in LA before dawn, but as she’d always done her best to never be awake that early, she couldn’t be sure Still there was so the sun

“You probably do this all the time,” she said aloud “Wake up before the sun I’ll bet you’ve seen a bunch of beautiful sunrises”

Manny, intent on his breakfast, didn’t give her much more than an ear flicker in response

Undeterred, Phoebe leaned forward to scratch behind one of those ears “I didn’t think I would like the outdoors at all,” she told hi on me I don’t think I’ll ever prefer a tent and an air mattress to a real house and bed, but I understand the appeal of a couple of nights in the wilderness”

She refused to admit how much of that appeal related to her encounters with Zane Last night she’d alht potty run She supposed she could have faked it, in the hopes of seeing him, but somehow that had seemed tacky Instead she’d lain awake in her tent and listened to the sounds of night, all the while wondering if Zane was thinking about her asabout him

“It’s not just that he’s good-looking,” she said “Okay, some of it is that I mean, have you seen his body?”