Chapter 7 Summary

Taylor, Lou Ann, their two children, Mattie, and a young Guatemalan couple embark on a Sunday picnic. Lou Ann suggests the place where she and her estranged husband, Angel, had frequented and had even considered being married there. Cottonwood trees ring deep pools of mountain spring water. It is a paradise among the parched dessert. Lou Ann solicits continual reassurance that the rest of the group was happy with the spot. The young Guatemalan couple is named Esperanza and Esteban. Esteban had been an English teacher in Guatemala before coming to the States. Esteban's wife does not speak English as fluently, so he quietly translates the conversation. Despite his small, compact size, Esteban seems made of steel, but fragility enfolds Esperanza like a cloak. As the rest of the group jokes and eats, Esperanza seems obsessed with watching Turtle.

Taylor decides to go...