The Cove Read Online Free Page A

had it covered with the camera, and Pete was holding his own. The family was well represented. After the launch, there were plans for a party at Huckins Wharf, on the other side of the harbor, but Ben was thinking he might skip that.
    So far, he’d been lucky.
    He hadn’t seen Kathy Brackett yet, and the more he thought about it, as much as he wanted to see her and knew he couldn’t avoid seeing her eventually, it might be a good idea to put it off for now.
    He turned to leave but then drew to a halt.
    Kathy was standing across the street under one of the tall maple trees in front of Lester Michael’s house. Sunlight and shadow dappled her face and the large, white bundle she cradled in her arms. A baby stroller was parked next to her.
    Now it was impossible to avoid her.
    Gotta get it over with, he thought.
    She was looking straight at him as if all the activity down by the launch ramp wasn’t even happening. She looked like an illusion … one of those mirages he’d experienced while on patrol at high noon in the desert sun. She moved dreamily as she hitched her burden from one side to the other and raised a hand to wave. Ben looked left and right, making sure she was waving at him and then waved back. He forced a wide smile that felt frozen on his face as he started across the street toward her.
    “I heard you were back in town,” Kathy said. Her voice was as light and airy as always. The mere sound of it sent a dull ache through Ben’s chest.
    “So, apparently, has the whole town.”
    “Hey. Come on. You’re the war hero, right?”
    “Yeah. Right.”
    Kathy smiled and tilted her head to one side, then looked down at the bundle in her arms. Even at a distance, Ben caught a whiff of baby powder or shampoo.
    “Well … aren’t you?” Kathy asked.
    “Hardly.”
    The bundle in Kathy’s arms was squirming. She smiled softly as she looked down at the baby and chucked it under the chin while making soft cooing sounds.
    “So how’s — ahh , how’s married life treating you?” Ben asked. A choking sensation grabbed his throat and started squeezing, blocking off his air supply. The sunlight and shadow gave Kathy’s hair a sense of motion, even though there was no breeze. A cool dampness spread under his armpits.
    “It’s good,” Kathy said with the hint of an edge in her voice that gave Ben pause.
    “And … your baby … How’s she — ahh , doing?”
    “Amanda? She’s doing great.”
    Kathy shifted to one side, cocking her hip to expose the tiny face wrapped inside the blanket. The baby was asleep, and Ben thought she looked impossibly small and fragile. He never could see family resemblances in babies, but politeness impelled him to smile foolishly and say, “She has your mouth.”
    Kathy smiled tenderly at her daughter.
    “She’s fine … She’s great.”
    “And your husband? How’s Hor —” He almost used Dwight Brackett’s nickname, “Horse Lips,” but stopped himself at the last second. No need to be insulting. “How’s Dwight doing?”
    “He’s fine,” Kathy said. “Still working at Ames Hardware and — you know, lobstering or digging bloodworms whenever he can.”
    “No clams?”
    “Come on. He’ll never dig clams. Not enough money in it after all those red tide scares. ’ S’tough enough making ends meet these days. ’Specially now that we have a kid.”
    Ben grimaced at her use of the word we and nodded.
    “Times sure are tough. He’s — ahh …” He wasn’t sure he dared say what he intended to say. He was hoping to let it drop, but Kathy caught him up on it.
    “He’s what?”
    “No. Nothing. I was gonna say I thought he might … you know, be a little old for you.”
    Kathy gave him a sly smile that was impossible to read and said, “There’s only seven years between us. We’re doing fine.”
    “Good. Great,” Ben said. He wanted desperately to change the subject, so he said, “So did that big box store finally get approval to build on the lot out by