The Seacrest Read Free Page B

girl. Or a pony.”
    “Okay, okay. Let me think. Maybe I need some inspiration. How about a kiss?”
    At first I thought she’d reel back and hit me. But to my surprise, she lowered her lips to mine, stopping just an inch apart. “Okay. Just a little one, though.”
    I reached my arms up to her neck and pulled her toward me. At the last minute, just as I felt the soft sweetness of her mouth brushing mine, she pulled back.
    “Nope. Too soon.” She got up and laughed, twirling around with the ball. “Come on. What’s my nickname?”
    I sat up, trying to control the heat surging beneath my bathing suit. “Okay. I’ve got it.”
    “What? What is it?”
    “Sassy.”
    She pranced toward me. “I love that! Okay. From now on, I’m Sassy to you.”
    Her father appeared out of nowhere, his face a study in disapproval. I think he hated me from the moment I’d asked her to toss the ball around. I also figured he’d probably seen us lying near each other, and got nervous.
    He glared at me. “Time for lunch. Let’s go.”
    There was no arguing with his stern tone. She tossed him the ball and wiggled her fingers at me. “See ya ‘round, Finn.”
    I grinned like an idiot. God, she was cute. “Okay, Sassy. See ya.”
    I watched her link arms with her father and sashay away from me. The sun winked on the brilliant sand, almost blinding me. As if hypnotized, I stared with slack jaw until I could barely make out her figure among the crowded, colorful throng of beach-lovers.
    Sassy.
    Oh, Sassy. You’re the one for me.
     

Chapter 5
    July 9, 2013
     
    F our days after burying my wife, I lay in the dark bedroom of our cottage, clutching one of her sweaters. It smelled like her. Beach plum blossoms. Wild roses. Tangerines.
    I know. That sounds so lame. I really am a man’s man, most of the time. I work outside with sledgehammers and hole diggers and even have a cool leather tool belt. But this whole double death thing had just about killed me.
    I hadn’t shaved or showered in days.
    Guilt over neglecting my job hovered around the edges of my subconscious, but I didn’t acknowledge it. It could wait, like all the phone calls, invitations to visit and the three casserole dishes sitting untouched in the fridge.
    I hadn’t eaten much since the funerals. A few tablespoons of peanut butter. A quart of milk with chocolate syrup squirted in it. A box of grahams.
    I don’t like noodle casserole, anyway.
    My eyes were swollen, and my stupid body kept heaving with grief. Embarrassing, really. I was glad no one was there to see.
    Cora wasn’t there.
    No. She’d never come back.
    I sighed and rolled over on the bed. My German Shepherd, Ace, hopped up and realigned himself against the back of my knees.
    He’s all I have left now. It’s just Ace and me.
    He nuzzled me with his nose, then pressed his big body against me and started to snore.
    I stroked his ears and along the side of his neck. “Good boy.”
    My throat tightened again.
    Had Cora really loved me in the end?
    I didn’t know. Much as I cared for her, much as I tried to make her happy, she seemed to shy away from me over the past few months. She’d smile that faraway smile and answer my questions as if they didn’t matter anymore.
    Why?
    What had I done?
    We hadn’t made love in weeks. She was always too tired after starting graduate classes. She studied every evening, and when I suggested a movie, she’d loose a quick laugh as if I were a child, practically shooing me away. I’d fall asleep before her, because I got up at five to feed the horses and start my day.
    Once I’d caught her whispering in the phone when I got up to use the bathroom. The next day she said it was a classmate; they were working on an assignment.
    Out of the blue, Cora wanted a Masters degree in music; and then a teaching certificate. All this came about quite suddenly, immediately following our final school loan payment. Now she’d started all over again, building up the debt and storming