Home Song
LaVyrle Spencer
“LaVyrle Spencer’s legions of fans are drawn to her fiction because of its uncalculated emotion and the author’s almost old-fashioned sense of integrity.”
—Chicago Tribune
Bestselling author LaVyrle Spencer explores the fragile bonds that exist between family members, the strength it takes to hold them together, and the true meaning of unconditional love in the powerful New York Times bestseller,
HOME SONG
Principal Tom Gardner comes face-to-face with a past indiscretion when a new student transfers to his school: Kent Arens. Tom only has to look at him to see that this teenager is the son he never knew he had, the result of a one-night stand on the eve of Tom’s wedding years before. Though impressed with the intelligent, athletic, and polite young man, Tom is devastated by the effect of Kent’s presence on his family. To Tom’s wife, Claire, Kent is the symbol of an act of betrayal so wrenching she cannot forgive her husband. To their daughter, Chelsea, he is the boy she begins to fall for—until she learns the truth. And to their son, Robby, he is a rival in the classroom and on the football field—and the force driving his parents apart. As the Gardners careen toward disaster, they test the foundation of trust and respect that their family was built on .. . and learn that love leaves no choice but forgiveness.
“Ms. Spencer handles the issues and problems in a sensitive manner, creates characters who emerge as real people faced by real dilemmas, and crafts a truly believable ending.” —The Chattanooga Times
“Engrossing.” —San Antonio Express-News
A Main Selection of the Literary Guild® and the Doubleday Book Club
FAMILY BLESSINGS
After the death of her son, Lee Reston turns to his best friend, police officer Christopher Lallek. As their pain heals, their friendship blossoms—into an unexpected love affair...
“Ordinary people coming to grips with real problems ... A moving tale.”—Publishers Weekly
NOVEMBER OF THE HEART
The bestselling novel of love in an age gone by ... A pretty girl from a wealthy St. Paul family. A common hired man. Would their love survive in a world of rigid expectations and shocking scandal?
“One of Spencer’s best.”—Kirkus Reviews
BYGONES
After a bitter divorce, Bess and Michael Curran discover everything they ever wanted was there all along. The dramatic story of a family at the crossroads ... where hope and heartache meet.
“Spencer literally walks us down the aisle from pain to passion. This is a family story that will hit home—in more ways than one.”—Tulsa World
FORGIVING
The heartwarming New York Times bestseller that captures the spirit of the West in a turbulent love affair ...
“Highly recommended ... Spencer brings an added dimension to her stories. Call it grit, call it warmth, call it whatever you like—it works.”—Atlanta Journal & Constitution
BITTER SWEET
The poignant bestseller... Maggie thought she would never love again—until an old high school sweetheart turned her world upside down ...
“[A] journey of self-discovery and reawakening.”
—Booklist
SPRING FANCY
Winn had made her wedding plans and romance was in the air. Only now she was falling in love—with another man...
“You will never forget the beauty and sensitivity of LaVyrle Spencer’s gifted pen!”—Affaire de Coeur
MORNING GLORY
Two misfit hearts find a perfect match in a Southern town
in this glorious bestseller.
“Simply a superb book ... it leaves the reader breathless. You’ll want to read this one more than once.”
—New York Daily News
THE HELLION
A sophisticated lady. A notorious hell-raiser. When their worlds meet, the sparks fly ...
“A truly special story ... superb!”—Chicago Sun-Times
VOWS
The unforgettable meeting of two willful hearts—and one everlasting bond.
“LaVyrle Spencer is magic!”—Affaire de Coeur
THE GAMBLE
Sometimes taking a chance on love is the only way to win it...
“Novel of the Month ... a grand new bestseller!”
—Good Housekeeping
A HEART SPEAKS
Two of LaVyrle Spencer’s favorite novels—A Promise to Cherish and Forsaking All Others—together in one volume.
“Where there’s love, there’s LaVyrle.”—Bookpage
YEARS
Across the western plains, their love held the promise of a lifetime .. .
“Splendid!”—Publishers Weekly
SEPARATE BEDS
First came the baby, then came marriage. And then came love ...
“A superb story!”—Los Angeles Times
TWICE LOVED
Years after her husband was lost at sea, Laura Dalton found love again. But now Rye Dalton was coming home . . .
“A beautiful story ... emotional... refreshing.”
—Rocky Mountain News
HUMMINGBIRD
The novel that launched LaVyrle Spencer’s stunning career...
“Will leave you breathless.”—Affaire de Coeur
THE ENDEARMENT
Would the secrets of the past destroy the love that Anna Reardon had come to cherish?
“A tender, sensual love story, one of those rare books that was so enjoyable I hated for it to end.”—LISA GREGORY, author of Before the Dawn
Turn to the back of this book for an exciting preview of
THAT CAMDEN SUMMER
Available in hardcover from G. P. Putnam’s Sons.
Titles by Lavyrle Spencer
HOME SONG
FAMILY BLESSINGS
NOVEMBER OF THE HEART
BYGONES
FORGIVING
BITTER SWEET
SPRING FANCY
MORNING GLORY
THE HELLION
VOWS
THE GAMBLE
A HEART SPEAKS
YEARS
SEPARATE BEDS
TWICE LOVED
SWEET MEMORIES
HUMMINGBIRD
THE ENDEARMENT
THE FULFILLMENT
THAT CAMDEN SUMMER
in hardcover from G. P. Putnam's Sons
Contents
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as "unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
This is a work of fiction. The events described are imaginary, and the characters are fictitious and not intended to represent specific living persons. Even when settings are referred to by their true names, the incidents portrayed there are entirely fictitious; the reader should not infer that the events set there ever actually happened.
This Jove Book contains the complete text of the hardcover edition. It has been completely reset in a typeface designed for easy reading and was printed from new film.
HOME SONG
A Jove Book / published by arrangement with the author
PRINTING HISTORY G. P. Putnam’s Sons edition published January 1995 Jove edition / March 1996
All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1994 by LaVyrle Spencer.
Excerpt from That
Camden Summer copyright © 1996 by LaVyrle Spencer. Cover illustration copyright © 1995 by Steven Assel.
Back cover photo copyright © 1995 by John Earle.
Cover design copyright © 1995 by Andrew M. Newman.
Cover type design by Tony Greco & Associates.
This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by mimeograph or any other means, without permission. For information address:
The Berkley Publishing Group, 200 Madison Avenue,
New York, New York 10016.
The Putnam Berkley World Wide Web site address is http://www.berkley.com
ISBN: 0-515-11823-0
A JOVE BOOK®
Jove Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,
200 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016.
JOVE and the “J” design are trademarks belonging to Jove Publications, Inc.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
10 987654321
To
Deborah Raffin Viner
and
Michael Viner
I love you both
for bringing so much into my life,
not the least of which
is a friendship I treasure
I wish to thank Tom Cole, his wife, Joanne, and daughter, Jennifer, for their help with this book. Also, thanks to Marcia Aubineau, and Jon and Julene Swenson. Tom’s help was especially valuable, and his willingness to read partial drafts of the manuscript and to offer suggestions was truly appreciated. It’s absolutely an accident that I’d chosen the name Tom for my protagonist long before I’d met Tom Cole. My hero, along with his family, his school, and his past, are strictly fictitious.
Home Song
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Stay, stay at home, my heart, and rest;
Home-keeping hearts are happiest,
For those that wander they know not where
Are full of trouble and full of care;
To stay at home is best.
Weary and homesick and distressed,
They wander east, they wander west.
And are baffled and beaten and blown about
By the winds of the wilderness of doubt;
To stay at home is best.
Then stay at home, my heart, and rest;
The bird is safest in its nest;
O’er all that flutter their wings and fly
A hawk is hovering in the sky;
To stay at home is best.
One
Minnesota lay green and vibrant, freshened by a night’s rain that rinsed the late August sky to a watercolor blue. East of St. Paul, where the suburbs nudged the Washington County line, fingers of new streets flexed into the expanses of ripe grain, new houses sprouting where only fields and forests had lain before.
There, where the city met the farmland, a modem brick school building spread its U-shaped wings, bordered by blacktop parking lots on the north and east, and an athletic field on the south. Beyond the spectator stands, a stretch of whispering cornfield still held its own against the urban sprawl that threatened it, but its plight was clear: more development could be seen on the distant hills.
Across the highway, a small section of older homes, built in the fifties and sixties, straggled within shouting distance of the county road, where the speed limit had been lowered when the school went up five years earlier. Sidewalks had been installed then, too, though some taxpayers said they led to nowhere, petering out into sectors where tractors still worked the land. The school district was growing at an alarming rate, however, and had been for years.
That Wednesday morning, six days before the start of school, a vibrant aquamarine Lexus pulled into the visitors’ parking lot on the north side of Hubert H. Humphrey High. A woman and a boy emerged and approached the building along a lengthy stretch of sidewalk. Already the eleven A.M. sun had heated the concrete, but the janitors had propped open the double front doors to let the breeze blow through.
The woman was dressed in a gray no-nonsense suit, paler gray silk blouse, matching pumps—simple, but expensive—and a subdued scarf in shades of burgundy. Her streaked blond hair was cut in a conservative ear-length bob, blown back from a side part. Her only jewelry, a pair of tiny gold stud earrings, seemed a mere concession to femininity, which her style downplayed in every other way.
The boy was taller than she by a head and a half, wide-topped, skinny-hipped, athletic, erect in stature, dressed in blue jeans and a T-shirt lauding the Texas Aggies. He had dark hair and stunning brown eyes in a face that would—his entire life long—make females turn for a second look. Two generations earlier teenage girls would have called him a heartthrob; his mother’s generation would have said he was a fox. Today, a pair of sixteen-year-old girls came out of the school building just as he entered; one gazed back over her shoulder and exclaimed to her friend, “Wow, he’s hot!”
The office of Humphrey High sat in the dead center of the building, sandwiched between walls of glass. The front looked out across the main hall at the visitors’ parking lot and the huge brick planter showcasing the school colors—red and white—in a bed of petunias. The rear of the office overlooked a lovely arboretum cared for by Mr. Dorffmeier’s horticulture students.
Kent Arens held open the office door.
“Smile,” Monica Arens said pleasantly as she swung past him into the cool billow of air-conditioning.
“At what?” the boy replied, following her.
“You know how important first impressions are.”
“Yes, Mother,” he replied dryly as the door closed behind them.
Unlike the grounds, the office was in chaos: people were moving everywhere, dressed in blue jeans and T-shirts, collating papers, answering phones, using computers, clattering typewriters. Two janitors were painting the walls, while another wheeled in a dolly stacked with cardboard cartons. The blue carpet scarcely showed beneath the stacks of books, piles of stapled materials, and the general flotsam of maintenance work.
Monica and Kent picked their way through the commotion to a twelve-foot crescent-shaped counter that prevented all visitors from advancing further. From one of the numerous desks behind it, a secretary rose and came forward. She had a pudgy face, plump breasts, and short brown hair just beginning to gray.
“Hello. May I help you?”
“I’m Monica Arens, and this is my son, Kent. We’ve come to register him for school.”
“Sorry about the mess in here, but it’s always like this the last week before school. I’m Dora Mae Hudak. I answer to ‘Dora Mae,’ and I’m just the one to see.” She smiled at the boy. “You’re new here this year.”
“Yes, ma’am. We just moved from Austin, Texas.”
She assessed his height. “A senior, I’d guess.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Dora Mae Hudak momentarily stalled in her tracks: she was unaccustomed to being called “ma’am” by high school seniors. Most called her Dora Mae. Some addressed her “Hey, lady,” and occasionally one would break forth with “Yo! You ... secretary!”
“Love those Southern manners,” she remarked as she reached for an admissions form and a student introductory booklet. “Do you know what classes you want to take?”
“Pretty much. If you have them all.”
“So you haven’t seen our list of electives yet?”
“No, ma’am.”
She placed a pamphlet and a sheet of blue paper on the counter. “Classes are listed in here, and this is the admissions form, but we like all new students to talk to a counselor before registering. Our seniors are counseled by Mrs. Berlatsky. Hang on a second while I see if she’s in.”
Dora Mae poked her head into one of the side offices and returned with a fortyish woman dressed in a thigh-length blue knit pullover and stirrup pants.
“Hi. I’m Joan Berlatsky.” She extended her hand. “Kent, welcome to Minnesota. Ms. Arens, hello. Want to come into my office where we can talk?”
They followed Joan
Berlatsky into her office while she apologized for the mess. “It’s like this every year, the custodians trying to finish up everything after the summer-school people finally clear out. It never seems like the building will be ready in time, but somehow, as if by magic, it always is. Please ... sit down.”
They had a friendly talk, during which the counselor learned that Kent had a 3.8 grade-point average and was college-bound, and that he was concentrating on science and math and wanted to take as many honors classes as possible. His mother had already made arrangements for his records to be forwarded from his former high school, but they hadn’t arrived yet. Joan pulled up class lists on a green computer screen, and within thirty minutes they had settled on Kent’s senior class schedule.
Everything went smoothly until Monica Arens said, “Oh, and who should we see about signing Kent up for football?”
Joan turned from her computer screen and said, “There might be a problem with that. The team has already been working out for two weeks, and it’s possible Coach Gorman has the team roster all set.”
Kent’s eyebrows beetled. He leaned forward anxiously. “But I’ve already lettered in both my sophomore and junior years. I was counting on playing my senior year, too.”
“As I said, the team has been working out since mid-August, but ...” Joan frowned thoughtfully before reaching for her phone. “Just a minute. Let me call down there and see if Coach Gorman is in.” While the phone rang in the locker room, she said, “You probably already know that sports are really big here. Our football team took second at state last year, and our basketball team was the double-A state champion. Shoot, it doesn’t sound like he’s going to answer.” She hung up. “Just a minute. Let me go ask Mr. Gardner, our principal. He likes to meet all the new kids personally anyway. Be right back.” She had barely whisked around the corner before her head reappeared. “Want to ask Dora Mae for the computer printout of your schedule while I’m gone? It’ll come up on the printer out here.”
The pair followed her to the outer office, where they stood before the crescent-shaped counter while a printer clacked and spewed forth Kent’s class schedule.
*****
Tom Gardner sat at his desk, facing his open office doorway with a phone at his ear, trying to reason with a textbook sales rep: only three business days to go before school started, and his new tenth-grade English textbooks were nowhere to be found.
