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“You mean the gravel road by the plantation?”
Katie nodded. “That’s the one.”
“I didn’t even know that road went anywhere.” He wrinkled his
forehead. “That’s quite a walk,” he said. “What is it? A couple of
miles?”
“It’s not too bad,” she demurred.
“Maybe in nice weather. But today, you’d have to swim home.
There’s no way you could have walked this far. And Kristen’s
picture would have been ruined.”
He noted the flicker of a smile at Kristen’s name but she said
nothing.
“Someone said you work at Ivan’s?” he prompted.
She nodded. “I started in March.”
“How do you like it?”
“It’s okay. It’s just a job, but the owner has been good to me.”
“Ivan?”
“You know him?”
“Everyone knows Ivan. Did you know he dresses up like a
Confederate general every fall to reenact the famed Battle of
Southport? When Sherman burned the town? Which is fine, of
course… except that there was never a Battle of Southport in the
Civil War. Southport wasn’t even called Southport back then, it
was called Smithville. And Sherman was never within a hundred
miles of here.”
“Seriously?” Katie asked.