1 Knock-knock Knock-knock-knock Quinnie Knock-knock Bang bang bang Quinnette Elizabeth Boyd I’m wide awake but I don’t move Get up It’s time to face the day I don’t wanna I slide deeper under my covers I refuse to acknowledge morning Come on Let’s go school shopping I’ll take you to Rook River for new jeans and a new fleece How about that Mom keeps talking but she doesn’t open the door No thanks I say with the comforter over my mouth You don’t need new school clothes if you’re homeschooled Actually I could use some new jeans but I’d rather stay home and be miserable You’re not homeschooled Mom says You’re tutored Now come on 1
Who cares what you call it Ms Stillford doesn’t mind what I wear I mumble Well Blythe Stillford is your teacher and I am your mother and I say you need some new things to perk you up And you need notebooks and gel pens You love that stuff And a new cell phone case Something nice and bright so you won’t lose it Let’s go I’ve got a full schedule today so I need to be back by noon My heart aches I hadn’t planned to say this out loud but I guess I did She sighs and I hear her footsteps on the stairs I know I have about ten minutes to get in the car or she’ll be back up here saying how I’m making this more dramatic than it needs to be Why didn’t we take your police cruiser I ask from the passenger seat of Mom’s Real Estate SUV Because this isn’t official Maiden Rock sheriff business and if we did you’d have to ride in the back like a perp I don’t think you’d like that very much Sheriff and real estate lady are just two of her jobs She’s also mayor and postmaster My mom Margaret Boyd is committed to making Maiden 2
Rock Maine the jewel of the North Atlantic Coast according to her campaign signs The truth is no one else would take all those jobs and like she says Somebody’s got to do it At least we’d get good parking I say I’m feel ing a little better being up and out of the house I start imagining cool new jeans with a thready tear just above my knee I know you miss Zoe she says Nice Mom And just like that I’m back in the dumps Yeah well she doesn’t miss me Of course she does Quinnie I don’t think so Mom She was smiling so big when they drove off I thought her face would get stuck that way Moving to Scotland is an adventure Quinnie you’ve got to admit that And just think for nine months we’ll have a famous crime novelist living next door to us in Zoe’s house She gives me a big smile And his daughter I shift to stare out the window at the endless blur of spruce and pine trees along the highway It’s a backdrop for a break-your-heart summer love story I bury my attention in my phone I’m halfway through my favorite episode of Sherlock when we take the exit to Rook River As we drive down into town I can 3
