A Sudden Light: A Novel Read Free Page B

to wait for the ref to signal fight-on.
    “You must be Trevor,” she said, whirling toward me and swallowing me entirely. There was no other way to describe it. I was paralyzed.
    “Give Aunt Serena a kiss,” my father said.
    Serena smiled at my awkwardness. I couldn’t stop staring at the hollow where her throat met her collarbone.
    “A handshake will suffice for now,” Serena said, holding out her hand. “We’ll save our kisses for later, okay?”
    “I’ll take a kiss,” I managed to squeak, and she laughed. She leaned in and gave me a peck on the cheek, and I could smell something good, a whiff of something citrusy and fresh.
    “Aren’t you sweet?” she said.
    “Yes, ma’am,” I said.
    “I am not a ma’am, and I hope to never be one. I’m Aunt Serena, if you insist on formality, though I wish you wouldn’t. Simply Serena will do.”
    “Yes, Simply Serena,” I said, eliciting a grin from her.
    “Cheeky monkey,” she said, and she looked me over carefully like I was on the sale rack at Macy’s. “He has your eyes, Jones. Not in color: the coloring must be from Rachel. But in shape. He’s definitely a Riddell.”
    “He’s definitely a Riddell,” my father agreed.
    “But I’m being selfish! You must be starving. I’ve never been on an airplane myself, but the movies say how awful the food is. You must let me make you something to eat. Have you had lunch? Even a snack to hold you over until dinner.”
    Without waiting for an answer, she rushed outside.
    “Help her,” my father prompted, so I followed her and helped with her shopping bags.
    Serena made sandwiches because we hadn’t had any lunch: a freshly roasted turkey waited for us in the refrigerator. When we had finished, Serena took us upstairs and showed us our rooms, which were at opposite ends of a long hallway.
    “I thought you’d like some privacy,” she said to me as she led me down the hallway after we’d left my father in his room at the front of the house. “Plus, it’s cooler near the back of the house. I put your father in his old bedroom so it would feel familiar. But it’s very hot in the afternoon sun and we don’t have air-conditioning. I think you’ll be happier here.”
    She showed me to a room that was empty except for a bed, a dresser, an oscillating fan, a small desk, and a rocking chair; the walls and the floor were bare.
    “Your father told me you want to be a writer when you grow up,” she said. “That’s an admirable profession. I’ve always admired writers. I moved this desk in for you. Do you need pens or paper?”
    “I have my notebooks,” I said.
    “Oh, nice,” she said with a satisfied smile. “It’s a little rustic here, but it’s very peaceful. Please make yourself at home. I know you’re tired after your trip, so I’ll leave you alone to take a nap. Dinner will be at seven downstairs. You’ll get to meet Grandpa Samuel. Won’t that be a treat?”
    “Do you have a job?” I asked her.
    She seemed startled by the question, and I felt embarrassed for wanting to know more about her.
    “Of course I have a job. Someone’s got to put food on the table, and Daddy certainly isn’t going to do it.”
    “What do you do?”
    “I work for a real estate developer. I’m sure it would seem quite boring to a young man like you: a writer! Steeped in the world of letters! Well, it’s important that we all have our goals, though some may be more modest than others.”
    She left me alone, then, as promised. But I didn’t take a nap; naps made me nauseous. And, besides, I wanted to figure out Serena. What adult has never been on an airplane? My family was practically poor—well, we were actually poor at the time, but before that we were only practically poor—and I had been on an airplane a bunch of times.
    I unpacked my bag into the dresser. I paced around in circles for a while because it was hot and I was tired. Finally, I lay back on the bed, laced my fingers behind my head, stared at the