Should he tell her about Matthew?
As quickly as heâd thought of it, Zeke discarded the ideaâeven though he knew she taught little kids. Why would he bare his soul to a virtual stranger when heâd said almost nothing about his sonâs condition to his coworkers, men who knew him a lot better than Grace Stafford ever would? Sheâd either find her grandfatherâs plane and leave, or not find what sheâd come for and go home to her life in San Antonio. He and Matt would remain in Galveston, battling the social worker who believed he should put Matt in a school miles from home.
When theyâd walked a full block in silence, Grace assumed sheâd been correct, that Zekeâs earlier question about her teaching had just been a way to pass the time.
He floored her again when he buried his hands in his pockets and said, âIâm not too interested in small talk. Tell meâdo todayâs first-graders learn to read, write and do math? Do all your students attend kindergarten first? Iâm curious, Grace. I honestly canât remember back to first grade. But then, I never had a teacher as pretty as you.â He gave her a mischievous grin.
That smile went to Graceâs head.
Dear Reader,
The idea for this story landed in my lap the day I sold my first book. I was working at a community college in Washington State, and Jean Floten, our college president, had just returned from an exciting vacation adventure off the coast of Florida. While her staff was celebrating my first book sale, President Flotenâs secretary coaxed her to share a funny, interesting and touching tale about how she, her husband, Bill, and a friend had brought up an historic plane from the bottom of a lake. After listening raptly like everyone else at the table, I casually warned her that one day sheâd see parts of this story in one of my booksâto which she replied, âThat would be great.â
Itâs taken a long time to get this particular book off the ground. In my mind I moved the Grumman Duck many times before a cohesive story took shape. My apologies to Bill Floten for giving the role of finding and bringing up the plane to the heroine. I realize Bill has spent years lovingly restoring a plane I blithely gave away in my book. However, for the sake of this particular love story, my fictional hero and his son offer Grace Stafford far more than a barnacle-covered pontoon aircraft. They give her their hearts, their love and a chance to have the home and family Grace has long desired. Little Matthew Rossetti sure needs a mom like Grace, too.
I hope you and the other readers of this story take Zeke and Matthew Rossetti, and Grace Stafford, into your own hearts. And if you happen to pass through Bellevue, Washington, there are probably still staff at the college who can tell you about the Flotensâ real-life adventure.
Roz Denny Fox
I love to hear from readers. You can reach me at P.O. Box 17480-101, Tucson, Arizona 85731. Or e-mail me at [email protected].
My thanks go to Jean and Bill Floten for raising the real
Grumman Duck from the bottom of a freshwater lake in Nassau, where it crashed more than forty years prior to their adventure. I borrowed the concept from their experience, but in all other ways my story is strictly fiction.
Cathie Morton also receives my gratitude for once telling me
that if I ever decided to write about a child with profound hearing loss, I should contact herâwhich I did. She kindly directed me to more information than I ever dreamed existed. So to Cathie, my deepest thanks. Any errors in this book are mine alone.
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
ON THE DOT OF NINE, Zeke Rossetti exited Harborside Drive and screeched to a stop in his assigned parking space at the Kemper Offshore Oil Research and Development Center. His dust trail continued to settle even after he bailed out of his Chevy pickup, which looked the way Zeke felt after three days of doing battle with the child welfare service. Horse-faced Bonnie Burnham had made it her lifeâs mission to remove Matthew from Zekeâs care, starting the day his ex-wife had made noises about suing for full custody. Ms. Burnham was supposed to be Mattâs caseworker, but sheâd disliked Zeke from the get-go, so she schemed to take Matt away. Or at least that was how Zeke saw it. But once again, a family court judge upheld his petition. However, each encounter shook his confidence a little moreâwere he and his mom doing right by not boarding Matt at a special school?
Leaving his son to return to work this morning had been pure hell. Matt had awakened during the night screaming because of the pain in his ears. Zeke could never tell the true extent of the agony that caused his son to waken so frequently.
Last night, a new emergency-room doctor had ordered the usual medications. Zeke worried about the long-term effect of so many antibiotics repeatedly thrown into his sonâs system. And yet, when the almost-four-year-old buried his head in Zekeâs chest and sobbed because he hurt somewhere he couldnât even name, Zeke hurt, too. Heâd become adept at hiding his own tears.