The Perfect Summer (Hubbard's Point) Read Online Free

from his boat, and bait from fishing. Her stomach hurt, thinking of where he might be.
Don't let him be with Lindsey. Don't let him be with her again. . . .
    “Annie, what are you doing?”
    At the sound of her mother's voice, Annie opened her eyes. Before she could answer, the phone rang.
    Sighing, her mother walked toward the bedside table. In that sigh, Annie thought she detected relief. Who would it be but her father, calling to say he was sorry to be late, sorry he'd missed picking up Peg, but that he'd be home in a jiffy to take them all to Pirate's Cove. Annie wanted to believe it herself, wanted to smile, but she couldn't yet.
    Bay, unsettled at the sight of Annie standing half-inside Sean's closet, picked up the receiver, ready to keep her voice calm and not let Annie know how furious she was with Sean.
    “Hello?” she said.
    “Bay, it's Frank Allingham,” came the deep voice.
    “Hi, Frank,” Bay said. Frank was an old friend of Sean's, their histories so interlocking, it was hard to remember where they'd started out: high school, college, business school, the boatyard, the bank.
    “Bay, is Sean there?”
    “No,” she said, eyes on Annie. Her daughter had been avidly watching Bay's face, but the minute she realized it wasn't Sean on the phone, she turned back to the closet. Now, as if she was searching for something, she was on her knees, going through her father's shoes.
    “Do you know where I can get ahold of him?”
    “I don't, Frank,” Bay said, detecting uneasiness in his voice. “What's wrong?”
    “Do you know . . . did he mention anything to you about where he was going today?”
    “Yes—he said he had a loan committee meeting.”
    “So he knew . . .”
    “What's wrong?” Bay said, hearing Annie gasp, watching her lunge deeper into Sean's closet. She started toward her daughter, began to reach down, to touch Annie's back, to pull her up and out of the closet, when Frank's words stopped her in her tracks.
    “Nothing, probably,” Frank said, and she could almost hear him wishing he hadn't called. “But, well, he wasn't there, Bay. We waited for him, and we have some important decisions pending, ten people waiting to hear if they get their mortgages. Mark is fit to be tied.”
    Mark Boland was the bank president—and the object of Sean's great resentment. Given his success with the new division, he had hoped to be tapped for the position, but the bank had brought Boland over from Anchor Trust.
    “Is Sean okay? It's not like him to bail on a big meeting.”
    “No, it's not,” Bay said.
    “When he gets in, will you have him call me?” Frank asked.
    “I will. Thanks for calling,” Bay said.
    But she'd already half-forgotten her promise. Annie turned to her, white-faced. Her mouth was open, her eyes confused, dark and almost bruised.
    “What is it, Annie?”
    “I can't tell if Daddy took his things. His suitcase is still here. But I don't see his boat shoes. He wouldn't need those, to go to his office. And he took something
else . . .”
    “Took what?”
    But Annie just shook her head, tears running down her cheeks. “He said he'd never leave it behind no matter what happened. It's not here, Mommy. He took it. Daddy's gone!”

2

    A NNIE RAN AROUND THE HOUSE, LOOKING IN closets and cupboards. Bay took a quick look outside, saw Peggy and Billy playing catch. She went into the den, where Sean had set up a home office. She glanced at the computer, and wondered what to do.
    Should she call the police?
    But what was there to call them about? Sean had taken his boat shoes on a workday, missed a meeting, failed to pick up Peg. The police would tell her he might be at the marina, might have gone fishing. Her heart was beating hard, as if she were just starting a race, picking up speed. Reaching out to pick up the phone, she realized her hand was shaking.
    Was Sean with Lindsey, or someone else, right now?
    When Sean had sworn that everything would change, she had thought he meant Lindsey,