Read Online Greetings from Nowhere by Barbara O'Connor - Free Book Online

who died?
    And then Loretta went skipping off across the parking lot, calling over her shoulder, “Come on, I’ll show you.”

Loretta

    â€œAnd look at these.” Loretta held out the silver scissors shaped like a bird so Kirby could see.
    â€œAnd that.” Loretta pointed to the Japanese fan.
    Kirby picked the fan up and opened and closed it until Loretta took it away from him.
    He examined the pocket watch. He thumbed through the white leather Bible. He picked up the sparkly poodle dog pin. He turned it over and studied the back. He ran his finger over the shiny green stones that were the poodle eyes.
    â€œEmeralds,” Loretta said, pointing at the shiny little eyes.
    â€œThese ain’t real emeralds,” he said.
    Loretta snatched the pin from him.

    â€œHow come you have two mothers?” Kirby said. “And what happened to the other one?”
    So Loretta told him how she had been adopted by Irene and Marvin Murphy when she was a tiny baby. Then she told him about the box of earthly possessions that came in the mail and the note about her other mother passing on to the other side.
    She jingled the charm bracelet in his face and pointed out each of the charms.
    â€œWe’re going to visit all the places my other mother visited,” she said. “And look at this.” She smoothed the blue handkerchief out on the bed and pointed to the letter P embroidered in the corner with shiny pink thread. “I was thinking the P probably stands for Pamela. Or maybe just Pam.”
    â€œYou don’t even know her name?” Kirby said.
    â€œNo, but I bet it was Pam.”
    Loretta jammed everything back in the box, clamped the lid on, and said, “Let’s go find Willow.”
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    â€œBut why would she sell the motel if she doesn’t want to?” Loretta asked Willow.
    â€œBecause she can’t take care of it by herself,” Willow said. “Without Harold,” she added.

    Loretta sat next to Willow in the damp grass surrounding the flagpole. Kirby hopped around them, counting.
    Twenty hops on the right foot.
    Twenty hops on the left foot.
    The sun had begun to sink below the mountains and stars twinkled dimly in the clear sky.
    â€œSo why doesn’t she hire somebody to help?” Loretta said. “Like a handyman or something.”
    â€œBecause she doesn’t have any money.” Willow picked at blades of grass. “Because nobody comes here anymore. Everybody wants to stay at those fancy places down on the interstate.”
    Loretta tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Then why does your dad want to buy this motel anyways?”
    Willow’s face crumpled up in a heap of wailing tears and she ran off to her room in her tippy-toe way, her plastic sandals making squeaky noises on the sidewalk.
    Loretta looked at Kirby.
    Kirby shrugged.
    Loretta glanced over at the swimming pool. Her mother was sitting in a lounge chair talking to Mr. Dover. Her father was fiddling with wires hanging out of the floodlight beside the Sleepy Time Motel sign, his tools spread out in the weeds beside his toolbox.
    There was a buzzing sound and then a popping sound and then another buzzing sound and suddenly the Sleepy
Time Motel sign was shining bright as anything in the glow of the floodlight.
    Loretta’s mother clapped and Mr. Dover whooped.
    Loretta looked over at the office. Aggie was peering out from behind the curtain.
    â€œLet’s go talk to Aggie,” Loretta said to Kirby.
    But before they got to the office door, Kirby’s mother came storming across the parking lot from the road.
    â€œGet on inside,” she hollered at Kirby.
    Kirby’s shoulders slumped and he mumbled, “Bye.”
    Loretta watched him follow his mother up the sidewalk to their room and disappear inside.
    Then she ran on over to the office to talk to Aggie.

Aggie

    Aggie put a red X through the day on the calendar. A bad day, she