Indefensible Read Free

cheekbones as she. “I can’t wait for riding camp.”
    â€œYou think that cute instructor will be back?” Elise teased.
    â€œMu-um.” Lucy rolled her eyes. “I don’t care.” But there was a faint tinge to her cheeks. Her daughter was growing up. Nicely, Elise was proud to realize. She was mature, caring—despite what she claimed. Elise couldn’t wait to see the woman Lucy would become.
    â€œSo when do we go to your cottage, Mum?” Lucy asked.
    â€œIn a few weeks. After you visit your dad.” Elise tried to keep her voice casual, but Nick shifted behind her. The conversation was nearing territory that neither she nor Nick had any desire to visit.
    â€œIs it right on the beach?” Lucy asked.
    Elise’s shoulders relaxed at the reprieve her daughter gave her. “Yup. And I just read that the beach is renowned for its sand dollars.”
    â€œCool.” Lucy smiled. “I can add some to my shell collection.”
    Elise squeezed her knee. “There’s body surfing, too. And I thought we could plan a whale-watching excursion.”
    â€œDid you know we saw a whale go by Grandma Penny’s house once?” Elise’s ex-mother-in-law lived in Prospect, a seaside community forty minutes outside of Halifax. “It was a finback whale.”
    â€œNo, it wasn’t,” Nick said from behind her. “It was a right whale.”
    â€œOh, yeah, you’re right.” Lucy smirked. “Get it?”
    Nick reached forward and ruffled Lucy’s hair. “No one could miss it.” Nick’s tone was dripping with older-brother condescension, but it was also warm with affection. Elise’s breath released. Nick wasn’t completely cutting himself off from his family—or at least, not from Lucy.
    â€œAre we almost there?” Lucy asked, making a show of smoothing her mussed-up hair but unable to hide her pleasure from Nick’s unexpected gesture.
    Elise couldn’t remember the last time Nick had initiated contact with either of them. She hoped being away from Toronto would give her a chance with him. A chance to understand why Nick had done the things he did this year. A chance to change things for the better. Her heart lifted and she realized she was experiencing something she’d believed was out of her reach: happiness. “We’re about ten minutes from Cathy’s house,” she said to Lucy.
    Cathy Feldman, Elise’s old law school roommate, was now a professor at the law school. Cathy had not hesitated to offer her house when she heard Elise was coming to Halifax for the month. Elise’s only regret was that her friend wouldn’t be there—Cathy was on sabbatical in New Zealand.
    â€œSo when do we see Dad?” Lucy asked.
    Elise kept her eyes fixed on the line of traffic queued ahead of her. “I’m not sure. I’m going to call your father tonight to let him know Nick won’t be going sailing with him.” She threw Lucy a warning look: don’t sayanything . “I’ll ask your father to take you to riding camp so I can get Nick to his camp.” She glanced in the rearview mirror. Nick stared out the window, a mutinous look in his eyes, his jaw tense. He knew that phone call would not be pleasant, no matter Elise’s attempts to sound unconcerned, and he was already girding himself for battle.
    â€œLet’s go out for supper tonight,” Elise said. “We could go down to the waterfront. Get ourselves some real Nova Scotian lobster.”
    â€œCool!” Lucy grinned.
    No answer from the back.
    â€œWhat do you think, Nicky? Up for a crustacean feast?”
    â€œWhatever.” A chip bag rustled in the backseat.
    Don’t get angry, Elise. He’s probably just as nervous as you about breaking the news to his father.
    â€œDo you think Dad will get mad, Mum? About Nick’s camp?” Lucy asked, her voice low. The silence in the