The Gingerbread Boy Read Online Free PDF Page B

the thought of it makes me nauseous.
    I wasn’t sure I wanted to mention this, but, well, here goes… I met this guy last night, Hazel. Yes, he’s one of those “filthy abominations” as you say. But he’s like no one I’ve met before. He’s kind, he’s smart, and he makes me laugh. His hair is longer than I usually like, but it looks good. We’re just friends of course, you don’t need to worry. At this point in my life that’s how it must be. Still, it was great to run into a man I can connect with.
    You won’t believe how we met! It all started out when I was in a lousy mood and took a long walk and thought Calvin was stalking me. Was I ever wrong.

 
    Chapter Two
     
    Julia’s eyes widened as she pulled her sandwich out of the paper sack. Daniel didn’t think he’d ever seen his little sister look as pleased. “You didn’t smoosh my peanut butter and jelly sandwich with my apple!” she said, digging in the bag to retrieve the fruit and a small box of raisins.
    “I made a point to put the apple on the bottom of the bag ever since you told me Amy’s mother puts it in last, and lets it mush everything,” said Daniel, settling back on his elbows and stretching his long legs out on the blanket.
    Julia seemed genuinely astonished he’d remember such a thing, and sprang to her feet to hug him. Daniel glowed inside. His eight-year-old sister adored him. He may as well have been Superman, or The Incredible Hulk, not a gangly teenage musician with an old Gibson guitar usually strapped on his back. He glanced over at a craggy tree where his guitar case leaned against the trunk. Maybe he’d entertain Jules with a few old tunes after the picnic. She loved it when he sang to her.
    Julia was his biggest fan. She was certain he’d be famous one day.
    She dropped down on the blanket again, giggling when her knees cracked beneath her. She took a big bite of her sandwich and stared up at the sky.
    “I’m glad it’s finally sunny out,” she said. “It feels good on my face.”
    “Mine, too,” Daniel agreed. “It’s still pretty cold out, though. We’re lucky it warmed up enough for this picnic. It could snow any time up here in early November.”
    “I know,” said Julia, fiddling with the scarf Daniel had asked her to wear in case the wind came up. “I still don’t like snow much. Not yet, anyway.”
    Daniel stared at her. Julia was such a sweet child, a blessing to their family. But she’d always been fragile. It worried him and their mother endlessly.
    Julia took another bite of her sandwich. A large crumb fell from her mouth and landed in her lap. Picking it up, she tossed it into the woods. “For the birds,” she said. “Whatever kind of birds they have here. I don’t think they have any that look like Yoo-Hoo, though, do they?”
    Daniel laughed. “No Jules, I’m pretty sure parrots only live in the jungle.”
    “I miss the jungle.”
    “Yeah,” Daniel said quietly, “Me, too,”
    “I miss dad.”
    Daniel lowered his eyes and picked absently at a blade of grass.
    “Me too.”
    There was a thoughtful silence. At last Julia’s eyes flicked toward her brother. “Do you think we’ll ever go back to South America?”
    He bit his lip. He, Julia and their mother had only relocated to the States in the last year. Their father had passed away from heart problems in a remote area near Pacupall, Peru, where they’d been living as missionaries. Rampant disease, mostly cholera, had sickened many of the villagers, including Julia. Despite treatment, the illness had nearly taken Julia from them. Daniel secretly doubted their mother had the strength to ever return. She’d brought her remaining family back to America to be near relatives in Michigan, as if hoping to erase the painful memories from her mind and re-adjust to the alien culture she’d once known as a young girl.
    Julia finished her sandwich and grinned, as if forgetting about going back. “I do like the food here better though,”