“Thomas shouldn’t have made fun of my daddy.”
“No, that wasn’t nice of him. But you’re going to have to deal with not-nice people your whole life.”
“I just wish-” Zara stopped herself and crammed an apple slice into her mouth. Her eyes were shiny with tears.
“What do you wish, sweet angel?”
“I wish everybody didn’t know that my daddy died in prison. I wish I had a normal family.”
“I wish you did, too.”
“How come you don’t get married again?”
“Because there’s no one around here I want to marry.”
“Then why don’t we move?”
“Oh, sweetheart, you’d be so sad if we moved away. Your grandparents are here, and who would teach you fiddle if we moved away from Mr. Boudreaux? And even if I ever did marry again, that wouldn’t erase history.”
Zara sighed. “I’m sorry, Mama. I didn’t mean to be bad. I’ll count to ten next time, I promise.”
“And you must not take advantage of little boys who aren’t as smart as you. If I hear any more stories about that, I’m taking all your Harry Potter cards away.”
“Mrs. Brainard already did that. She said she’d give ’em back next week.”
The front door opened, and Loretta gave Zara a quick hug and a kiss before turning to greet her customer.
It was Luc, in faded jeans and a T-shirt advertising the music festival. He’d been one of the first in line to buy one, she recalled, and was selling them at the B and B. He was still tanned from putting on a new roof this past summer, his shaggy blond hair streaked with pale gold from the sun.
“Luc!” Zara jumped out of her chair, almost upsetting her milk, then halted as if she weren’t quite sure what she wanted to do. Zara’s reaction to Luc had been strange almost from the moment she’d laid eyes on him. At first, Loretta figured it was the fact he was blond. There weren’t many fair-haired men in these parts. Zara had stared endlessly at him, despite Loretta’s asking her not to because it was rude. But then she’d started talking like a magpie to him every chance she got. The only other adults Zara was that open with were her grandparents, and even they lavished so much loving attention on her that they embarrassed her into silence sometimes.