Harbor Lights Read Free

rotten,” Jess said, dragging him to his feet. “You should see his haul of presents. They’re piled high. Davy doesn’t entirely understand yet that they’re his, so this should be fun.”
    Fun wasn’t something Kevin had had in his life for a while now, but when he saw Davy running around on his chubby little legs, his mouth already streaked with chocolate frosting, he couldn’t help but feel a little lighter. And when Davy spotted his father and a smile spread across his face, Kevin felt a split second of pure joy. It was Georgia’s smile, as bright and carefree as she had been.
    For the first time since his wife had died, the sorrow lifted briefly and he felt hopeful again.
     
    Despite his promise to Jess, Kevin spent two more weeks holed up at home, passing his days with Davy and his evenings hiding out in his room away from Gram’s pitying looks and his father’s increasing impatience. Mick clearly had plenty to say to him, Kevin could tell, but apparently an edict from Gram had kept his father silent. He doubted that would last much longer.
    To his surprise, it was Gram herself who broke the silence first. She joined him on the porch at dusk one evening, handed him a glass of iced tea and a plate of his favorite oatmeal raisin cookies and said, “We need to talk.”
    “About?” Kevin asked, even more wary than he hadbeen when Jess had made the same announcement. If Jess was good at uncomfortable, straight talk, it was because she’d learned from a master—their grandmother. Nell O’Brien had stepped in to raise them after their mother and father had divorced. She had a huge heart and a tart tongue.
    “The way you’re moping around this house day in and day out,” she replied. “It’s not good for you, and it’s certainly not good for your boy. A child needs to expand his world, to see other children.”
    Kevin frowned at that. “His cousins are here all the time.”
    “Caitlyn and Carrie are almost eight now, and while they love playing with Davy, he needs to be with some youngsters his own age.” She gave him a penetrating look. “He needs to laugh, Kevin. When was the last time you got down on the ground and rough-housed with him, made him giggle?”
    “Seems to me that Dad’s filling that role.” In fact, Mick seemed to delight in it.
    “It’s his father who ought to be doing it, not his grandfather. When was the last time you took Davy into town for an ice-cream cone?”
    “You took him just yesterday,” Kevin reminded her.
    Gram gave him an impatient look. “Is that what I asked? I want to know when you took him.”
    “I haven’t,” he admitted. “But I don’t see why that’s such a big deal. Davy’s got plenty of attention around here. That’s why I moved back to Chesapeake Shores.”
    “So we could raise him for you?” she asked. The question was pointed, though her tone was gentle.
    “No, of course not,” he retorted, then regretted his tone and sighed. “Maybe.”
    “Kevin, we all know you’re grieving over Georgia, andthere’s not a thing we wouldn’t do to help out, but you have to start living again. You have to give Davy a more normal life. I know Jess has talked to you about this, so I waited, but you’re showing no signs of changing. I can’t go on watching you shortchange Davy or yourself like this. It’s just plain wrong. You’re a vital young man with a lot of years ahead of you. Don’t waste them and live to regret it.”
    As much as he hated to admit it, Kevin knew she was right. He just had no idea precisely what he could do about it, not when he was filled with so many conflicting emotions. He was angry about a war that had taken a child’s mother and left him a single dad. He was guilt-ridden about not having tried harder to make Georgia reconsider taking another tour in Iraq, even after just about everyone in his family had begged him to. And he was grieving for a vibrant young woman who would never know her son, who wouldn’t be there