The Last Exchange, page 30
When they called her name, Joe walked up onstage and waited beneath the ovation. The raucous, standing, never-ending applause for her life and which, to her, never made sense. She was just a girl. Passed over at birth and for eighteen years thereafter. Then, in the only job she could get, behind on rent and low on food, she had flipped burgers until someone discovered she was good at pretending to be others. A talent forged in the homes of people who didn’t want her. Where she tried, twenty-seven times, to transform herself and become someone anyone would love. But each time they passed her on to another. Girl rejected. Love denied. Staring at the crowd, she knew what they did not. She was just a girl. A mess of a girl.
Maybe it was the moment. Maybe it was freedom. Maybe it was the hope that had reemerged. Maybe it was a soul satisfied. Whatever it was, Joe smiled and then knelt and picked up Thomas, who had crawl-climbed up the steps. All by himself. Dragging his dump truck and tartan baby blanket, his wet diaper having bulged out the sides of his shorts. Standing with Thomas on her hip, a mother in bloom, she nuzzled his nose, at which point he mimicked the crowd and gave them his best version of patty-cake, which only served to send them into a frenzy again. Joe laughed, studying them, her son, her life, the moments that had brought her here.
Maybe it was the knowing. Or the enormity. Or the gratitude. Or the fact that her wound had healed and no longer controlled her. Or maybe it was something else. Whatever the reason, when the tear that had been hanging finally broke loose, trailed down along her nose and around her lips to her chin, Joe stood on that stage and shed her past. No longer identified by her scars.
Now she was identified by mine.
She shook her head, crossed her eyes, stuck out her tongue, bowed slightly, pressed Thomas to her heart, and exited stage left.
Beauty in the mess.
Epilogue
The clock on the wall read 10:02 p.m. The prison was quiet save the guard and me. I dipped the mop in the bucket, rinsed it, and continued working my way around the cafeteria.
Sergeant Rob Petersen worked two jobs to put his son through college. The night shift was his second. He slept little but talked often of his boy and the dean’s list. He was also the only man I’d ever met who whistled, nonstop, while he worked. As a result, he was the best whistler I’d ever heard in my life. We stared into his phone at the image of Joe standing beneath the spotlight, her iconic shrug and smile, her hugging our son, and their walking off. When the credits rolled, he closed the screen, slid his phone in his pocket, and sat shaking his head.
“Sorry, Pockets. Wish you could’ve been there.”
I stared at the polished concrete floors but said nothing.
He continued, “What’ll you do now?”
“Joe has hired some folks. Given new information, they’re asking for a retrial.”
Rob was a law-and-order guy, and I always liked him for that. He knew my chances were slim. “But that doesn’t change the facts.”
I shook my head. “Nope. I hurt Syd, and I kidnapped Amber and Joe, carrying both across state lines. The pardon was my best chance.”
“The governor denied?”
I nodded. “Yesterday.”
“Even with a letter from the Queen?”
“Even with.”
“That may not bode well with the voting public come November.” He shook his head. “Hard to imagine a guy who used to guard the Queen is stuck down here with me.” A pause. Rob glanced down a hallway. “Want me to let you slip out the side door?”
I laughed.
“How much longer?”
“Four years, two hundred twenty-two days, and . . .” I studied the clock. “Forty-five minutes.”
“Can you do it?”
I leaned on the mop and thought of Joe and Thomas. Standing on that stage. Alive. Laughing. Hope-filled. And free.
I nodded at the phone in his pocket. “For those two? Yes.”
I washed both the bucket and the mop and hung them in the utility closet. Rob patted me down, scanned me with the metal detector, then walked me through a locked door, eighty-seven steps down a hallway where we turned left, through another locked door, and up two flights of stairs and forty-two steps to a cell where he waited while Mary clicked a button in Control and remotely opened my door. Rob nodded. “Night, Pockets. See you tomorrow.”
I smiled. “I’ll be here.”
I stepped inside, Mary clicked the button again, and I listened in the dark as Rob’s footsteps, and whistle, faded. As my eyes adjusted to the dim, my ears to the quiet, and my heart to the six-by-ten cell, my mind began replaying the slideshow. Images of Joe. In random order. The shower floor. Muscadines in the garden. Tea with the Queen. The cabin. The fields where I grew up. The sands of North Africa.
I don’t know how long I’d been watching the movie when Joe’s voice whispered out of the darkness, “I didn’t expect you. Didn’t see you coming. But I’m so glad you . . .”
I reached out, across the line, and touched my finger to her lips. “Yes mum.”
Discussion Questions
Do you agree with young Joe’s philosophy that “if you don’t know something about somebody, you fill the gap with trust until you do”? Why or why not? Has that philosophy served Joe well in her life?
How did Joe’s celebrity fuel her loneliness? How else did fame affect her life, both positively and negatively? What about the lives of those she was close with, like Syd, Amber, and Pockets?
Joe’s childhood was difficult—living in twenty-seven foster homes—and likely traumatizing. How might her formative years have played a role in her acting ability and her eventual drug dependency?
Which character triggered the strongest emotional response (positive or negative) in you? Why?
What do you think of Pockets’s method of getting Joe sober? Did Joe’s letter to Pockets serve as a strong enough justification for his actions? Explain. What did you think of Pockets’s pursuit of Amber? Do you think he was “playing God”?
How did you feel about Pockets’s reveal of the paternity of Joe’s baby? Do you think Pockets did the right thing? Why or why not?
What are your hopes for Joe’s and Pockets’s future?
Was there a piece of wisdom or philosophical thought that Pockets shared that you emotionally connected with? If so, which one and why?
What do you think Pockets meant by “a life laid down is better than one picked up”?
Hope is an enduring theme in the book. What do you think of Pockets’s explanation of hope: “Love is what makes us who we are. Hope is how we express us. Hope is love with legs”?
Does this story strike you as allegorical? If so, in what way(s)?
Were you satisfied by the ending? Why or why not?
About the Author
Photo © Amy S. Martin
CHARLES MARTIN is a New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author. He and his wife, Christy, live in Jacksonville, Florida. Learn more at charlesmartinbooks.com.
Instagram: @storiedcareer
Twitter: @storiedcareer
Facebook: @Author.Charles.Martin
Praise for Charles Martin
“The Last Exchange is somehow equal parts page-turner, heart-breaker, and hope-dealer. Another brilliantly written novel by Charles Martin.”
—Annie F. Downs, New York Times bestselling author of That Sounds Fun
“The adrenaline-pumping third entry in Martin’s Murphy Shepherd series (after The Letter Keeper) explores human depravity and the healing power of love. Series fans will snap this up.”
—Publishers Weekly for The Record Keeper
“Very few contemporary novelists have found acclaim within mainstream and evangelical markets, but Charles Martin is among them. [The Letter Keeper] hinges on the Scriptural message of forsaking the found in order to seek the lost, a theme Martin brings to poetic and brilliant life.”
—Davis Bunn, writing for Christianity Today
“Martin follows up The Water Keeper with this heartrending, action-packed chapter in the saga of Murphy Shepherd . . . those familiar with the series will appreciate the emotional punch this rip-roaring adventure packs.”
—Publishers Weekly for The Letter Keeper
“Martin excels at writing characters who exist in the margins of life. Readers who enjoy flawed yet likable characters created by authors such as John Grisham and Nicholas Sparks will want to start reading Martin’s fiction.”
—Library Journal, starred review, for The Water Keeper
“The Water Keeper is a wonderfully satisfying book with a plot driven by both action and love, and characters who will stay in readers’ heads long after the last page.”
—Southern Literary Review
“The Water Keeper is a multilayered story woven together with grace and redemption, and packed tight with tension and achingly real characters. This one will keep you turning pages to see what else—and who else—Murph will encounter as he travels down the coastline of Florida.”
—Lauren K. Denton, USA TODAY bestselling author of The Hideaway
“In The Water Keeper Charles Martin crafts a compelling story with skill and sensitivity. Current fans won’t be disappointed; new readers will understand why Charles Martin is on the short list of contemporary authors I recommend above all others.”
—Robert Whitlow, bestselling author
“Martin explores themes of grace, mercy, and forgiveness in this sweeping love story . . .”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review, for Send Down the Rain
“Charles Martin never fails to ask and answer the questions that linger deep within all of us. In this beautifully told story of a prodigal coming home, readers will find the broken and mended pieces of their own hearts.”
—Lisa Wingate, national bestselling author of Before We Were Yours, for Long Way Gone
“Martin weaves all the pieces of this story together with a beautiful musical thread, and as the final pieces fall into place, we close this story feeling as if we have witnessed something surreal, a multisensory narrative for anyone who enjoys a redemptive story.”
—Julie Cantrell, New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of Perennials, for Long Way Gone
“A beautiful story of redemption and love once lost but found again, Long Way Gone proves two things: music washes us from the inside out and Charles Martin’s words do the same.”
—Billy Coffey, author of Steal Away Home
“Martin’s story charges headlong into the sentimental territory and bestseller terrain of The Notebook, which doubtless will mean major studio screen treatment.”
—Kirkus, starred review, for Unwritten
“Charles Martin understands the power of story, and he uses it to alter the souls and lives of both his characters and his readers.”
—Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times bestselling author
“Martin is the new king of the romantic novel . . . A Life Intercepted is a book that will swallow you up and keep you spellbound.”
—Jackie K. Cooper, book critic, Huffington Post
“Martin’s strength is in his memorable characters . . .”
—Publishers Weekly for Chasing Fireflies
“Charles Martin is changing the face of inspirational fiction one book at a time. Wrapped in Rain is a sentimental tale that is not to be missed.”
—Michael Morris, author of Live Like You Were Dying and A Place Called Wiregrass
“Martin spins an engaging story about healing and the triumph of love . . . Filled with delightful local color.”
—Publishers Weekly for Wrapped in Rain
Also by Charles Martin
The Murphy Shepherd Novels
The Water Keeper
The Letter Keeper
The Record Keeper
Stand-alone Novels
Send Down the Rain
Long Way Gone
Water from My Heart
A Life Intercepted
Unwritten
Thunder and Rain
The Mountain Between Us
Where the River Ends
Chasing Fireflies
Maggie
When Crickets Cry
Wrapped in Rain
The Dead Don’t Dance
Nonfiction
What If It’s True?
They Turned the World Upside Down
Son of Man
It Is Finished
Copyright
The Last Exchange
Copyright © 2023 Charles Martin
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.
Published in association with The Christopher Ferebee Agency, www.christopherferebee.com.
Thomas Nelson titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fundraising, or sales promotional use. For information, please email SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Publisher’s Note: This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. All characters are fictional, and any similarity to people living or dead is purely coincidental.
Cover design by James W. Hall
Cover images © Adobe Stock and iStock
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Martin, Charles, 1942- author.
Title: The last exchange / Charles Martin.
Description: Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, [2023] | Summary: "The latest novel from New York Times bestselling author Charles Martin travels from Hollywood to rural Montana as one man answers the question: How far would you go-really-to save someone you love?"-- Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2023013256 (print) | LCCN 2023013257 (ebook) | ISBN 9780785255970 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780785255994 (epub) | ISBN 9780785256007 (audio download)
Subjects: LCGFT: Novels.
Classification: LCC PS3563.A72327 L37 2023 (print) | LCC PS3563.A72327 (ebook) | DDC 811/.54--dc23/eng/20230407
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023013256
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023013257
Charles Martin, The Last Exchange
