The Barefoot Believers Read Online Free PDF

Kate.”
    Kate took a deep breath.
    Her silence fueled Jo’s suspicions.
    â€œWe don’t have many traditions in our family, Kate. For that matter we don’t even have much of a family. But when it mattered, you and I have always spoken the truth to each other. It’s all we have.”
    Kate nodded then exhaled in a long, low breath. “The truth is that my doctor thinks I’ve gone to the beach house.”
    â€œThe beach…? You mean that ratty old cottage in Florida?”
    â€œHey, that ratty old cottage in Florida provided us with some of the wonderful experiences of our lives.”
    â€œYou mean those vacations when we were kids?”
    â€œNo, I mean the rental money that paid for Mom to take a real vacation—away from us—once a year after we grew up.”
    â€œBe sweet,” Jo warned with a laugh. They loved their mom with all their hearts, neither of them doubted that. She had done all she could to protect and nurture them—whether they needed it or not. She mothered them well with the underlying understanding—not unlike an electrical current that if exposed could wreak havoc—that Jo and Kate never needed to be mothered. They called this good daughtering.
    Dodie needed them to need her. What an awesome responsibility to place on already emotionally shaky children. So Jo could forgive Kate for joking about the blessed break Dodie’s vacation gave them. Because she understood it and because joking was the only way they dared broach the subject.
    The thought of precarious subjects brought Jo instantly back to the real topic at hand. “Why would your doctor think you’d gone to the cottage in Florida?”
    â€œOh, the usual reasons.”
    â€œTo moon over Vince Merchant?” If Kate insisted on giving nonanswers, Jo felt it completely within her rights as a little sister to respond with something Kate would have to react to.
    â€œVince Mer—Whatever made you think of him?” Kate, still leaning against the wall, twisted her upper body and gazed into the gold reflective elevator doors. “Of all the memories of that place, the cottage, the vacations, the sand in our shoes…our shorts…our hair…our ears—”
    â€œI get it, sand.”
    â€œAnd, um, surf. And so many things connected to that place. Why, at the mention of Florida, would you go straight to Vince Merchant?”
    â€œI’ll answer that if you will.” Jo smirked just a little. “But then, I guess, if you could answer it, then I wouldn’t have to.”
    â€œDo not start, Jo. I have let go of that man. Of that time. It was a lifetime ago. It doesn’t mean anything anymore.”
    â€œUh-huh,” Jo murmured at yet another evasive reply, the keys in her hand jangling as they went sliding along in her search for the right one.
    â€œBesides, there is no way Vince Merchant ended up in Santa Sofia,” Kate said so softly as she stared at the unblinking image of herself.
    What was up with Kate? Jo paused to marvel. Refusing surgery. Misleading her doctor. After all these years to have that response to the mention of Vince. Was she about to run again? Why? And where could she go to escape the hurt she carried always in her heart?
    â€œSo tell me…” Jo drew a deep breath, considered the odds of getting a straight answer from her sister and asked instead, “Just why would your doctor think you would go to Florida?”
    â€œOh, you know.” Kate looked down. Her shoulders rose and fell. “To rest. To relax. To rejuvenate.”
    â€œThis doctor you’re talking about?” She churned the key in the lock and pushed the door open with one shoulder before turning to face her sister and ask, “Has he ever actually met you?”
    â€œFunny,” Kate droned, limping past and into the nearly empty front room. “And yes, he did meet me. Even made rounds while I was in the hospital and