“Please stay with me awhile,” I said. “I have to wait for the rain. The fire man only worked in the rain.”

Wynn smiled. “Just for a while,” she said.

“Sit beside me, then. Let me see you. The sun is too bright to see all your features.”

She shook her head solemnly, like a little girl. “I can’t. You know that.”

I sighed. “I know that. Then just stand there and talk with me. It’s been a terrible summer and I need some light.”

The same wistful smile stayed on her face, and she said nothing.

I nodded. This was how it would be.

Excerpt from the forthcoming novel  A Very Tall Summer