The Beautiful Lost - Softcover

Luanne Rice is the New York Times bestselling author of 35 novels, which have been translated into 25 languages. The author of Dream Country, Beach Girls, The Secret Language of Sisters, and others, Rice often writes about love, family, nature, and the sea. She received the 2014 Connecticut Governor's Arts Award for excellence and lifetime achievement in the Literary Arts category. Several of Rice's novels have been adapted for television, including Crazy in Love for TNT, Blue Moon for CBS, Follow the Stars Home and Silver Bells for the Hallmark Hall of Fame, and Beach Girls for Lifetime. Rice is an avid environmentalist and advocate for families affected by domestic violence. She divides her time between New York City and Old Lyme, Connecticut. Visit her online at luannerice.net.

From NY Times bestselling author Luanne Rice, a sweeping story of a girl and boy, both troubled in different ways, who take off on a whirlwind road trip. Part of the Point Paperbacks line.

The car running, I gripped the steering wheel hard with my elbows locked, just begging the stars to let him walk by. That's when I spotted him sitting alone under a maple tree, leaning against the wide trunk. And, as if the stars had decided to answer, he leapt up and came toward me. I got out of the car."What are you doing here?" he asked."I came to say..." I said, but I couldn't get the words out.He looked in the back seat and saw my duffle."Where are you going?" he asked."Away," I said.Our eyes burned into each other. I felt heat in my chest, knowing that this really was the last time. I wanted to reach over, touch his hand. I hoped he could read my mind and somehow know he was the only person I'd miss, that I'd come here today because he was, ineffably, mine."Away where?" he asked."To see my mother," I said."Can I go with you?" he asked.I stared at him. Had I heard right? No, I had to be dreaming. "Will you take me?" he asked. It was real. This was happening. His eyes were begging me. "But people will miss you. They'll wonder where you are," I said."I live in a group home," he said, gesturing at the building. "They won't wonder for long."And then he touched me -- just one finger on my wrist bone -- so quickly I would have thought I'd imagined it if it didn't tingle all through my body. "I can help you," he said."Help me?""Yeah, you're running away, right? I know how to do that. No one will catch us," he said. He was already hurrying around the car.I didn't think after that. I climbed into the driver's seat, he got in beside me, and we sped off.