Page 30 (1/2)

Liz felt the heat on her cheeks and did her best not to give in to the need to bolt for the closest door They were talking about her life as if everyone knew She’d becoend

"While the outconored child is so successful," Dana continued "Not every child has the skills and determination and character to survive While we are proud of Liz and her life, we ht of this opportunity to learn from our h the cracks again"

There was a round of applause Liz felt everyone glancing in her direction and did her best to appear caled Because panic was just so unattractive

"When Liz disappeared, ere left with a small scholarship," Dana went on "It should have been hers The first suggestion was to simply fold the money back into the scholarship fund But before we could do that, someone sent in a few dollars in Liz’s name More checks arrived As soe a life, but when everyone gives a little, we can change the world"

Dana smiled at Liz "That is how the Elizabeth Marie Sutton Scholarship was born To date there have been nearly thirty recipients and most of them are here today"

To Liz’s astonishment, several people stood Then ht wo as if she’d actually done so for them

When the women were seated, Dana invited the four wo the money this year to speak Each of thee and how this money made it possible They thanked Liz, whichact had been to run away But maybe this wasn’t the time

There were a few more speeches, then the luncheon ended Liz found herself shaking hands with people and accepting their thanks As much as she wanted to say she didn’t deserve their praise, she was glad that her story had becoer

Only in Fool’s Gold, she thought as a teenager was explaining how her er three brothers That e wasn’t possible But at Fool’s Gold Coet a start on her education All thanks to Liz

It took a while to work through the crowd Liz finally e president

"It’s so nice to o, so I missed the formative years of the scholarship However, I’m happy to tell you more women apply for this money than any other scholarship we have"

"I’ a business size envelope out of her purse and handing it over "I want to "

"I won’t," Dana prolanced at the ten thousand dollar check "Oh, lanced around warily "Not a word"

"But you’re being so generous"

"I want to give back"

A feeeks ago, Liz would have laughed at the idea of giving back To a town that had ignored her? But things had changed Sure, Fool’s Gold wasn’t perfect No place was There were good things and bad things, the sah the cracks, as Dana had described it, but that was as much a symptom of the time Back then, how you raised your children was a et involved She realized it was more ie And in doing so, they’d helped others

"Maybe you’d like to coested "We have a lecture series that’s very popular I know you’d draw a crowd"

Liz hesitated "I’m not sure of my travel plans this fall," she explained, which was o on a book tour"

"We could work around that"

"Maybe," Liz said, doing her best to sound doubtful "I’ll think about it"

Come back here and lecture? She didn’t want to have tohere…

No, she told herself Not here She couldn’t let herself be lulled by a few good days Did she really want to spend the rest of her life in a place where people felt free to judge her when they didn’t knohat they were talking about?

Never, she thought with a firm nod

"I CAN GET YOU A DISCOUNT," Ethan s Not logs, not sticks, but twigs Lots of twigs

"How does he do that?" she reflected in a low voice "How is it staying together?"

"You don’t want to know"

The book festival took place in the main park in town, but as Liz and Ethan walked with Abby and Tyler, she saw there was a lot more than books for sale

The booths were clustered by subject All the crafts together, the cooking across from the travel section Novels were at the far end, but Liz wasn’t due there for half an hour

"She has a great crowd," Liz noted, pointing to a large group of people surging toward a booth

"Cookies," he told her, grabbing her hand and keeping her close "She writes a cookbook and offers samples"

"Great idea I should do that" She frowned "Although I’m not sure what sample I would offer"

"Blood," Tyler teased cheerfully frogle The preteen walked next to her Melissa had gone off with a couple of girlfriends

"Very nice," Liz said "Where do you two get your ideas?"

They both laughed

This was fun, she thought as they stopped for le demonstration Part party, part county fair So far everyone had been friendly enough, calling out to her No one had said anything bad about her or Tyler

"Is that a lla

Liz squinted, then stopped when she saw a small llama in the shade "Don’t they spit?"

"That’s what I heard"

"It’s not a llama," Tyler stated importantly "It’s an alpaca"

"They’re like sheep," Abby added "Their fibers are like wool and can be s Some of the fibers are really soft"

"Llamas have ears shaped like bananas," Tyler inforlanced at both of theht alpacas to ca about them"

"Impressive," Liz said

Ethan ruffled Tyler’s hair "Nicely done"

The boy shrugged, but looked proud

They continued toward the far end of the park The crowd got thicker and Liz noticed big posters featuring her books It was strange to see huge publicity photos hanging fro her "You’re Liz Sutton?"

Liz smiled "Yes"

"Oh, I’n ar that ere spending the day in Fool’s Gold and that I was going to meet you"