by Sara Beitia
Then a movement.
Has he seen movement in the falling-down shack? It’s too far away and the evergreens and the trunks of the aspens make it hard to tell if he’s seen real movement or just been fooled by the bouncing shadows of the branches in the wind.
“Lily?” he calls, the name falling out of his mouth before he knows it. His voice sounds thin in the gray morning’s cold. He steps forward as far as he can, his toes sinking into the soft bank and the frigid water.
This time there is definitely movement. He’s almost certain. Albert stretches forward as far as he can, looking hard.
Then he sees a slip of a figure come out of the shack and look back at him through the trees—a lean figure, moving with a familiar taut, darting energy. Finally she emerges from the trees and glides to the edge of the opposite shore.
Their eyes lock across the water.
Albert raises his hand and gives an abrupt, joyful shout. In his peripheral vision, he’s aware of Olivia looking at him, but then he completely forgets her.
“What are you—” she begins.
But Albert isn’t listening.
Pulling off his shoes and throwing down his coat, he half runs, half stumbles from the shore, plunging into the icy water and the shortest distance between two points.
Acknowledgments
Bringing The Last Good Place of Lily Odilon from its first handwritten jots to publication would not have happened without the following people: My better half, Paul, a keen-eyed first reader, my best sounding board, and a tireless champion; my extraordinary agent, Kate Schafer Testerman of kt literary; my fabulous editor, Brian Farrey; as well as production editor Sandy Sullivan, cover designer Ellen Dahl, publicist Marissa Pederson, and the rest of the inimitable Flux corps. Then there are the friends and family who are bound and determined to make sure everyone in the galaxy picks up a copy of this book whether they want to or not. My grateful and superlative-laced thanks to you all.
About the Author
Sara Beitia is the product of a small Western town and is married to artist Paul Marshall. She has worked as, among other things, a staff writer and arts editor for an independent alt-weekly. The Last Good Place of Lily Odilon is her debut YA novel. Visit Sara online at www.sarabeitia.com.
Table of Contents
Cover
Title_Page
Copyright
Dedication
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Nine
Thirty
Thirty-One
Thirty-Two
Thirty-Three
Acknowledgments
About_the_Author
