Juno's Daughters Read Online Free PDF Page A

tonight’s, where there would be outsiders and children, he would likely bring something tasty but harmless, like wild mushroom risotto or poached halibut salad on bruschetta.
    The party lasted until the smaller children fell fast asleep under layers of coats on Dale and Peg’s bed and at least a few lifelong friendships, surreptitious love affairs, and seething enmities had either been rekindled or begun. Frankie occasionally joined in the singing, but mostly she lurked around the edges of the party with a mysterious, pleased smile on her face, taking everything in.
    Jenny slowed the car and turned off Beaverton Valley onto her own dirt road. The mailbox door was open and she could see from the truck that Frankie must have carried whatever bills or school correspondence there had been to the house. There was a breeze picking up, enough to cause the line of firs to sway on the top of the ridge. Pulling up to the bleached driftwood log that marked her “parking space” in the front of the house, she made a mental note to bring a couple of blankets to Dale and Peg’s, along with the lasagna.
    She saw something glitter in the grass. Frankie’s silver dolphin pendant. She turned it in her hand and then tucked it into the pocket of her jeans and went into the house. Frankie’s backpack was splayed open near the door and her sketches were all over the table. The kitchen counter was littered with tiny pieces of egg white, and the bowl with the yolks, mayonnaise, and paprika was teetering on the edge of the sink. There was a thin film of steam in the air. Jenny heard splashing from the bathroom.
    She scooped the last of the egg filling into her mouth with the fork and placed the bowl in the sink. She called out, “Honey?”
    â€œI’m taking a bath.”
    â€œOf course you are.”
    Frankie could lounge for hours in the claw-footed tub that David had given them the previous Christmas. Jenny dropped into a chair and listened to the splashing. David. There really was nothing wrong with him, she had been quite honest with her friend, at least about that. She thought about what Mary Ann had said about Jenny not feeling like she deserved a nice guy. The real problem was that she longed for something a little more exciting than nice . Jenny could barely admit it to herself, much less to Mary Ann, who had been there to pick up the pieces after Monroe.
    The water started to drain from the tub, and before long Frankie appeared, steaming from her pores like a just-cooked dumpling. Jenny gave an exaggerated look at the skinny legs emerging from the bottom of her terry-cloth robe.
    â€œFrom all that noise I expected to see flippers. Or a mermaid’s tail.”
    â€œI wish.” Frankie’s eyes widened at the picture.
    â€œYou’re perfect.”
    Frankie flopped onto her mother’s lap. The damp ends of her hair flicked water onto Jenny’s face.
    â€œAck. But you’re too big for this.”
    â€œPhoenix hates going to Anacortes.” Frankie laid her head against Jenny’s shoulder. “And it’s not even a real doctor her mother goes to see. He’s some kind of healer .”
    Jenny tightened the knot on Frankie’s bathrobe. “What does she need to be healed of?”
    Frankie sighed. “Boredom.”
    Jenny couldn’t help but smile. If you could divide children into observers and doers, Frankie would definitely be the first kind and Lilly the second. It seemed Jenny had once been like Lilly, at least that’s what her mother and Sue reported. She could barely remember it. In any case, she had learned to be more like Frankie over time, but her watchfulness had been acquired the hard way, through experience. Frankie was observant out of sheer curiosity and often had the insights to match. Oddly, she had never asked much about her father. And Jenny, leaving well enough alone, had never volunteered. There would be a time for that, she had