Then I turned to look out at the ocean as we came down the driveway. The sun had turned the water into a bright aqua. The little sailboats looked painted against the blue horizon. It was beautiful here, picture perfect, I thought. My heart was full. I was off to do something I had always dreamt of doing, Jimmy sounded happier, and Daddy would soon be freed from prison.
The hotel limousine turned, and we were off toward the airport.
I couldn't help but remember the games Daddy and I used to play when I was very little and we were in the car and off to a new home.
"Come on, Dawn," he would say. "Let's pretend. Where do you want to be this time? Alaska? The desert? On a ship? In an airplane?"
"Oh, let her sleep, Ormand. It's late," Momma would say.
"You tired, Dawn?"
"No, Daddy," I would say, even though I could barely keep my eyes open.
Jimmy was asleep on his side of the car.
"So? Where shall it be this time?" Daddy asked again.
"I think . . . an airplane," I said. "Soaring above the clouds."
"And so it will be. Feel the lift-off," he said and laughed.
A short while later I really was soaring above the clouds.
Sometimes, when we dream hard enough, those dreams come true, I thought.
And I looked ahead toward the long stretch of blue sky and dreamt of thousands of people in an audience listening to me sing.
Table of Contents
ANOTHER NEW PLACE
FERN
ALWAYS A STRANGER
A KISS
MY BROTHER'S KEEPER
OPENING NIGHT
TWINKLE, TWINKLE LITTLE STAR
DADDY . . . A KIDNAPPER?
MY NEW LIFE
A NEW BROTHER, A LOST LOVE
BETRAYED
ANSWERED PRAYERS
A PIECE OF THE PAST
VIOLATIONS
SECRETS REVEALED
PRIVATE COVERSATIONS
EPILOGUE
Cutler 1 - Dawn Page 34
