The Things You Kiss Goodbye (30 page)

Authors: Leslie Connor

Tags: #Juvenile Fiction, #Social Issues, #Physical & Emotional Abuse, #Dating & Sex, #Death & Dying

BOOK: The Things You Kiss Goodbye

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This key in my pocket is not for a car. It is for the door to a potbelly building at 66 Green Street. Anastasia, an excellent employee at Lorreena’s Downtown, well, she needed a new position where she could be closer to her children’s school in the afternoons. Bampas paid me for the design work. Bonnie and I painted a kick-ass mural of a Steampunk world on the inside wall this summer. I’ll take over for Anastasia behind the counter this afternoon in time for her to meet the school bus. Tony will be my Italian ice man—or as he says, the
Italian
, Italian ice man—and help me pull the boxes off the
truck and shoulder them to the freezer. Bampas was right. We cannot sell fine Greek pastries to high school students, but gelatos, soy lattes, and bagels, yes. Can’t lose this key; I’m responsible for locking up the busy Steam & Bean at 66 Green.

It is September and I’m sighing back at the breeze. Not a day has gone by that I have not ached for my Cowboy.

He finally showed up. Last night. Beside my bed. It slowly dawned on me that he was there. I heard his voice—either spoken or otherwise conveyed—“Beta . . . I love your curls.” He was a warm outline of light that disintegrated ever so slowly—like tiny stars blinking away. I lay in my bed, eyes open. A sense of calm settled over me. In the dark I smiled and whispered, “Did you have to wait so long?”

Before the sun rose, I went and whispered Momma awake. I asked for the keys to her car and promised I’d be back before breakfast. I drove myself and my old, lopped-off braid up to the overlook at the water property. I flung that thing off into the treetops below. I watched it go, chasing end after end until I couldn’t see it anymore. I found sweet, soft morning music on the car radio and I slow danced myself around in the gravel until the sun rested on the earth.

It is September and the season is returning—the time of year that I loved Cowboy. There will come another October sky all washed in yellow light, a snowy day with cardinals
in the treetops. When my heart cracks—and I know that it will—I’m going to try to think of it as
open
. Open to the spaces and places that are keeping Cowboy for me. Open to the good that has come from loving him. Open.

UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE

HarperCollins Publishers

..................................................................

Acknowledgments

W
ITH MY HEART BRIMMING
, I
OFFER MY THANKS:

To my writing friends who listened endlessly and responded with their helpful hearts: Sandi Shelton, Nancy Hall, Doe Boyle, Leslie Bulion, Mary-Kelly Busch, Lorraine Jay, Kay Kudlinski, Judy Theise, and Nancy Elizabeth Wallace.

To Katherine Tegen (who is
unsinkable
, just by the way) for her steadfast trust in me.

To everyone at HarperCollins for the good care all my work receives at every stage. Special nods to Katie Bignell for escorting me to the finish; the art department for being so receptive; Brenna Franzitta and the copy editors for putting
on the polish; and especially to Susan Jeffers Casel for leaving that uplifting note for me at the very end. (I never really know what the copy editor is thinking!)

To Jennie Dunham for good navigation.

To my Jonathan for all that you do for all of us.

To Sam, Marley, and Ian for the many text messages regarding the modern lexicon.

To my parents, my siblings, and the many branches of my family tree for always asking, “Hey, what’s next?”

Finally, to my own high school art teacher Phil Spaziani, who became my dear friend, and who blew on the spark for so many of us . . . I wonder if anyone has ever tried to count us all.

UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE

HarperCollins Publishers

..................................................................

About the Author

Photo by J.F. Connor

LESLIE CONNOR
is the author of several award-winning books for children, including
Waiting for Normal
, winner of the ALA Schneider Family Book Award;
Crunch; Miss Bridie Chose a Shovel
; and
Dead on Town Line
, a young adult novel in verse. She lives with her family in Connecticut. You can visit her online at www.leslieconnor.com or on Facebook.

Visit
www.AuthorTracker.com
for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors and artists.

UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE

HarperCollins Publishers

..................................................................

Copyright

Katherine Tegen Books is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

T
HE THINGS YOU KISS GOODBYE
. Copyright © 2014 by Leslie Connor. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

[tk]

ISBN 978-0-06-089091-9

EPub Edition October 2013 ISBN 9780060890919

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