Warm Nights in Magnolia Bay by Babette Jongh (best summer books .TXT) 📗

He remembered hearing about this place when Sean’s class went here on a field trip in the third grade. Sean had come home sunburned, exhausted, and overexcited from a day at the barn and the hour-long bus ride to and from his elementary school in New Orleans. Sean had talked nonstop about the experience for the rest of the evening, then fallen asleep at the dinner table. For the rest of the month, he had galloped around the house every afternoon after school, waving a souvenir cowboy hat and yelling, “Go, Bayside Buddies, go!”

The place next door was a damn zoo.

* * *

Reva stepped onto the horrifyingly long escalator to the ground transportation level, steadied herself as the step unfolded beneath her, then wrestled her too-big suitcase onto the step behind her as it, too, unfolded. She gripped the shuddering plastic handrail and held on, closing her eyes for a blessed moment.

God, she missed her husband.

Grayson had always taken charge of, well, everything. When they traveled, he was the one who made the arrangements, knew where to go and when to be there, and wrangled their luggage along the way.

What the hell was she doing here, so far out of her comfort zone that her heart hadn’t stopped pounding since she left the house this morning? Did she even want to do this anymore? Without Grayson by her side, she felt untethered. Her parents were gone. Grayson’s brother, Winston, and his wife—Abby’s parents—had never warmed up to her. She and Grayson had made the decision not to have children, but to devote their lives to something larger, a mission to help animals. They’d built Bayside Barn together on the homestead he’d inherited from his grandparents.

This had been their dream. But was it still hers, if it meant doing it all without him? Grayson had been a force of nature, something between an exhilarating whirlwind and an unavoidable undertow. When the neighbors next door had moved into an assisted-living facility, Grayson convinced the city council to buy the land for an animal shelter, which she and Grayson would run. But then Grayson died, and the penny-pinching mayor vetoed the plan. He didn’t see the upside of building an official animal shelter when the unofficial one at Bayside Barn worked well enough.

Without a doubt, Grayson’s passion and vision would’ve convinced the mayor to go along. With his whiskey-colored eyes and lopsided grin, he could melt the hardest heart. God, she had loved that man. Still did, always would. He’d been gone almost two years, and Reva was still a little bit pissed off at the universe for letting Grayson’s unwavering commitment to physical fitness lead to his own untimely death.

He had always teased her about her lack of interest in physical exercise and healthy eating. He’d poke her soft belly and claim that he would still love her when she got fat from lounging in the pool with a glass of wine while he swam laps. She slept in and rested her other side while he put on his running shoes and logged his five miles each day.

And then came the knock on the door that woke her from a sound sleep the morning that an inattentive driver—

“Hey!” A big hand gripped her arm and steadied her when the escalator steps leveled out and she stumbled over the ledge that devoured each step. Her eyes flew open and she grabbed onto a man’s hard shoulder as he dragged her and her suitcase away from the steps that were being swallowed by the floor. “Lady, are you okay?”

She looked into the concerned green eyes of a very tall, very young black man. He still held onto her, and she still held onto him. In fact, she was afraid that if she let go, she might crumple down to the floor. Her ankles felt boneless; her knees felt like Jell-O. “I’m so sorry. I swear I only closed my eyes for a second. I didn’t know it would move so fast.”

“No worries, lady.” His strong, reassuring grip didn’t lessen. “You look a little shaky. You okay?”

She held onto his arm and took stock of herself. Steadier, she let go and stepped back. “I’m okay. Thanks for keeping me from falling on my face—or my backside.”

“Lucky thing I was standing down here watching you.” He smiled. “Not being a creep or anything; I’m waiting for my girlfriend to come down on her way to baggage claim. I noticed you because your face looked so…peaceful, I guess…like you were thinking of something beautiful.”

She felt an answering smile bloom, first in her heart, and then on her lips. “You’re right. I was.”

The young man moved off to embrace his girlfriend, and Reva headed for the ground transportation exit. For the first time since she’d left the house this morning, she felt like she was doing the right thing, and that Grayson’s spirit would support her in fulfilling the dream they had shared. It was only right that Abby should come to Bayside Barn for healing and, in turn, give Reva the space she needed to find a way to move forward in her own life.

In a way, Abby was the child Grayson and Reva never had. Ever since Abby had been old enough to spend the night away from home, she had spent her summers at Bayside Barn. That old homestead was in her bones, and the animals that lived there were her childhood friends. Reva knew that Abby would take care of the farm and the animals as well as Reva could. And maybe the experience would deepen Abby’s connection to the animals and allow her to practice her ability to communicate with them telepathically. Reva had shown her how, and though Abby’s parents did their best to undo that teaching, Reva knew that Abby possessed the ability.

Abby hadn’t embraced her gifts yet, but one day, she would. One day, Abby would receive a communication that couldn’t be denied or