Page 14 of The Space Between

“Sure,” Jeanie says now, putting both her own bag and Vicki’s purse onto her chair and pushing it in so that she can leave them behind while they dance. “I can do that.”

With surprising fluidity, Patrick sweeps her into his arms and they start to sway together like Fred and Ginger--or maybe more like a very smooth grandfather and his lovely granddaughter at a family function. But either way, all Jeanie remembers at the end of the night when the cab drops her off in front of The Sunny Tides Condominium Resort is that she laughed a lot and had a very nice time.

Vicki, on the other hand, stays true to form by being out with John all night.

She stumbles in sometime just after sunrise, and Jeanie hears her whistling “Moonlight Serenade” softly as she washes off her makeup.

CHAPTER 5

Jo

"Mom?"Nancy comes into the kitchen wearing a pair of lemon yellow shorts and a matching shirt that Jo whipped up for her on her Singer sewing machine. "I need to go to the library.”

Jo, who has already put the chicken cutlets in the refrigerator to marinate for dinner that night, looks up from the spiral notebook she's been writing in.

"Oh? What's up, nanny-goat?"

Nancy, ignoring the nickname she sometimes refuses to answer to, holds up a book for her mother to see. "Finished this one. And also all the others I checked out last time. So can we go?"

Jo sets her pen on the notepad and unfolds the leg that she's had tucked beneath her. "What are your brother and sister up to?"

Nancy rolls her eyes. "Kate is making her dolls talk to each other, and Jimmy...who knows." Nancy has not mentioned the incident that occurred the day Frankie had stayed with the kids, and Jo sure as heck isn't going to bring it up. But there is a slight edge to Nancy's tone when she says her brother's name that Jo picks up on.

"I see. Well, let's get them rounded up and we'll all go, okay?"

"Can we walk?" Nancy asks hopefully. She's Jo's little sun goddess, always ready to be outdoors swimming, playing, or just wandering aimlessly regardless of the heat and humidity.

"Oh, no, baby--too hot, too hot!" Jo says, making a pained face. "It's July 1st and you could fry an egg on the sidewalk in this heat."

"Can we try it?" Nancy asks, glancing at the refrigerator.

"Hmm." Jo considers it. She's not opposed to doing something interesting to entertain or teach her kids, but she isn't sure that it's actually much more than a saying or an urban myth. "Actually, you'd need something metal to work as a heat conductor. Like, you'd need to crack it into a pan and set it on the ground in direct sunlight, I think.”

"Well, can we do that?"

Jo stands up and opens the cupboard where all the frying pans are stacked neatly. "You could give it a shot. It's a science experiment that's worth one lost egg." She hands the pan to Nancy and then opens the refrigerator, taking out an egg that she hands to her older daughter.

"I'm going to put it out back," Nancy says. "And then can we go to the library while it cooks?”

Jo laughs. "Sure. I don't see why not."

Once the egg is cracked and cooking on high heat thanks to nature's broiler in the sky, Jo loads all three kids into the station wagon and backs down the driveway.

"I don't want any new books right now," Jimmy says, staring out the window. "I just wanted to stay home."

"It won't hurt you," Jo promises, glancing at her son in the rearview mirror. His profile is turned to her, and he's resting an elbow on the window ledge as he looks out. "You should be doing a bit more summer reading, anyway. Going into the seventh grade is a big deal, Jimmy."

"No it's not," he says glumly. "It's going to be just as dumb as sixth grade was."

"Jimmy." Nancy turns her head around from her spot in the front seat, as she'd claimed it before her brother and sister could. She lowers her chin slightly as she glares at him."You got to go and see thepresident when you were in the sixth grade. Last year the best thing that happened to me was I got an award for reading the most books."

"I want an award!" Kate says. Her feet don't quite reach the floor of the car, and she's currently missing a front tooth.

"It was stupid," Nancy assures her. "They let me choose between a piece of candy and a pencil as a prize." She sniffs at the offense now, pursing her lips. "I read one hundred and forty-seven books last school year, and they wanted me to be excited about a piece of paper and apencil."

Nancy turns back to look out the front windshield, folding her arms across her chest as if she's made her point.

At the library, the kids scatter to their respective sections: Nancy to the young adult books; Kate to the children's area; Jimmy to sports. Jo finds a librarian and sets her purse on the counter as she waits for the woman to finish a phone call.

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