Page 10 of The Light Year (Stardust Beach #6)

barbie

. . .

Todd ended up staying home for a week before declaring himself well enough to get through a workday, and while Barbie isn’t entirely certain that he’s being honest (she’s seen him reach out for things to steady himself on numerous occasions when he thinks no one is watching), she’s willing to let him get back to it simply because having him at home has added an extra layer of work to her days that is, quite frankly, exhausting.

“Welcome back,” Jo says, patting Barbie on the knee as they sit next to each other on a beach blanket, facing the ocean.

It’s Thursday midday, and they’ve been at the beach since ten o’clock with Huck and Carrie and Jude.

Frankie would have joined them, but she teaches a Thursday morning ballet class, and she had a doctor’s appointment scheduled right after to make sure that everything is progressing on target with her pregnancy.

“Oh, I’m so glad to be back,” Barbie says.

It’s only been a week since she’s hung out with the girls, but that was enough of being everyone’s housemaid.

“Todd is feeling better, and now I have my mornings and afternoons free until the boys step off the school bus.” Just then, Huck walks over with a bucket full of sand and pours it over his mother’s bare feet.

“Okay, I’m free except for Huck, but he’s an easy guy, aren’t you, buddy? ”

In response, Huck pats the sand like he’s trying to turn his mom into a human sandcastle, then runs off to refill his bucket.

“Just think—soon Frankie will have a little one to tote around with us,” Jo says, looking out at the water. “That will be so much fun, won’t it?”

Carrie nods and looks wistful. “I always thought I’d have four kids,” she admits. “Maybe five. But then I had two, and I realized I was happy there. I think you know when your family is complete, even if it ends up looking different than you always thought it would.”

“I think so, too,” Jude agrees. “I had the twins and immediately knew that was enough for me.” She waves a hand around in a cutting motion. “No more!”

“How about you, Jo?” Barbie turns to her friend to see that she’s still looking out at the water.

“I’m happy with my three,” she says, though there’s a hint of longing in her voice.

“I think I always would have been happy if another had come along, but that window sort of closes, doesn’t it?

” She turns to the other women with a tight smile.

“And so you realize how blessed you are, and you get on with it.”

Barbie had never imagined that Jo might have wanted anything other than what she has. To her, Josephine Booker is the kind of woman who gets exactly what she needs, and if she doesn’t get it, she goes out and hunts it down. To Barbie, Jo is a woman who can make things happen.

“How’s your book coming?” Jude asks Jo. She readjusts the wide-brimmed hat that shields her face from the sun and stretches out on the blanket so that her long legs are basking in the warmth of the September sun.

“Oh, the book is good.” Jo slides on a pair of sunglasses and smooths the blanket around her.

“I’ve really gotten into my groove with it, and I’m beyond excited to think about it showing up in bookstores.

Can you even imagine walking through a shop and seeing it there for sale?

” She shakes her head. “It’s so bizarre to contemplate. ”

“Not to us,” Barbie says. “We all think you can do anything, Jo.”

It looks like Jo is about to laugh at this, but she glances at the earnest faces of her friends and the laugh fades away. “Well, thank you, ladies. I appreciate the vote of confidence. I’m not sure I always think I can do anything, but it’s nice to have other people think so.”

“Can we get a sneak preview of the book?” Jude asks, rolling onto her side and propping her head up on one fist. “Can you tell us the plot? We’re sworn to secrecy—I promise.”

Jo giggles. “You want to hear about it?” The other women nod eagerly.

“Okay, well, it’s about a woman who wakes up in a pile of hay in a barn, and she has no idea where she is.

A handsome man comes into view, and they’re both confused: he has no idea who she is, she can’t see anything and she doesn’t understand how she fell asleep in her bed and woke up in a barn. ”

“Oooh,” Carrie says. “Intriguing.”

“Anyhow, he hands her a pair of glasses, which she normally doesn’t wear, and they realize that they don’t know each other at all, but the man, Henry, lives in 1894, and the woman, Adeline, is from 1965.”

Jude sits up like a shot. “Time travel? Is it time travel? I love that!”

Jo nods, warming up to their excitement.

“Yes, it is. And Henry is a farmer with no wife and children, while Adeline is an independent married woman from the 60s who isn’t sure how she ended up in the past. Of course there’s an attraction, but there’s also confusion, and there are misunderstandings.

It’s been a huge adventure to write it, and I feel really good about this book. Really strong.”

“Has Bill read this one?” Barbie asks, leaning back so that Huck can dump his new bucket of sand on her shins and knees.

He’s the only little one still not in school, and the rest of the women appear to be enjoying their childfree moments in a way that makes Barbie yearn for the moment, two years in the future, when Huck will be in school and she, too, will have her hands free all day.

But she doesn’t want to wish it away, as Huck is definitely her final baby, and she knows how quickly it all goes anyway.

“No,” Jo is shaking her head and making a strange face. “He hasn’t. He’s been so busy this year with Gemini and just work in general, that I haven’t bothered him with it.”

Barbie glances at Carrie, who glances at Jude, and then all the women look away at the same moment, no one meeting Jo’s eye.

Barbie looks back at Jo and sees that she’s completely oblivious to the little flicker of recognition that’s passed between the other women.

She hates that they all know something about Jo’s life that she doesn’t know, but there is absolutely no way that she’s putting herself into the center of that mess by saying anything.

She does, however, wonder if Frankie knows, and—as Jo’s best friend—whether that makes Frankie in some way obligated to clue Jo in to the gossip that’s going around about Bill and Jeanie Florence.

“But,” Jo is saying as she sighs, “the book is still a long way from done, and if I were being smart, I’d skip the beach altogether until I get the first draft done.

I just love hanging out with all of you so much!

” She reaches over to touch Barbie and Jude on their respective arms, and then finally Carrie, who she pats on the knee.

“Being with you ladies has really been the best part of Stardust Beach to me, and I get a lot of inspiration from all of you.”

“And Frankie,” Jude adds. “Can’t forget her.”

“Oh, god, no—I would never forget her. Your friendship—all of you—has been my lifeline here.”

Jude rolls on to her back and tilts her chin to the sky, eyes closed, hat pushed back so that the sun is grazing her fine features. “So, do we all get a cameo in your stories?”

Barbie slaps Jude on the thigh. “Jude! That’s not how it works. Authors don’t just insert people from their regular lives like that.” She pauses and turns to Jo. “Wait, do they?”

This makes Jo laugh out loud. “Sure. They can. But you have to be careful not to make it obvious if you’re putting a real person into your story. At least until you get their permission. But if it’s something unflattering, then you should probably disguise them as much as possible.”

“Have you ever put someone you hate into your stories?” Jude asks. Barbie tries to shoot her a look, but Jude still has her eyes closed and her face turned to the bright sun. “Like a woman you don’t like or someone who wronged you?”

Barbie glances at Carrie and Carrie pulls a face. They have clearly both read Jo’s stories and extrapolated the fact that the woman in the parking lot with Winston, the male lead, was based on someone real… someone they all know… someone like Jeanie Florence.

But during that time, Jude had been going through her own struggles, battling an alcohol addiction and tracking down an old friend and, inadvertently, her own mother. So it makes sense that she’s a little tuned out on the lore behind Jo’s stories.

Barbie claps her hands together loudly. “Oh!” she says, accidentally startling Huck as he dumps a bucket of warm sand on her thighs. He jolts and then laughs when he realizes that his mother isn’t upset. He runs off for more sand. “Jude,” Barbie says. “Tell us where things stand with your mom.”

Jude sits back up and pulls her hat low again. “Well, as you know, she was here in May and we got completely reacquainted, and she and the girls fell in love with each other. It was truly what my heart needed.”

“Amazing,” Carrie says, looking relieved at the change of topic. “Have you spoken to her lately?”

“We talk on the phone once a week, but she writes me a letter every single day.”

“What?” Jo looks surprised. “Every day?”

Jude nods. “Yep. She chooses a different topic every day and she writes about it. I usually get one letter a day in the mail, and sometimes they’re about flowers, or why she loves Hawaii, but other times she’ll write about me as a little girl, or about my brother, who she wants me to meet. It’s been special.”

Jo shakes her head, awed. “I think this is such a beautiful story. Better than anything I could dream up or write.”

Jude looks impressed by her own scenario. “It is pretty incredible. I hadn’t seen her for almost twenty-five years—can you imagine?”

Barbie shakes her head; she can’t imagine, although it’s already been nearly eight years since she’s seen her own mother.