Folly Cove by Holly Robinson Page B

the kitchen table afterbreakfast. This was one of Laura’s favorite rituals. Kennedy slept late most weekend mornings, so this gave her time alone with Jake.
    Every Sunday, she went down to the stables early to feed the horses and turn them out. Then she made a special breakfast. Something celebratory: waffles and sausages, maybe, or eggs Benedict, the way she’d always done, since they first were married, hoping to remind them of that precious time when they were young and so in love that they had chosen to change their lives for each other.
    This morning, mindful of Anne’s arrival last weekend, Laura had started a diet to recover her waistline. She’d made poached eggs served on a bed of spinach. No muffins. No hollandaise. Only a guilt-free melon slice on the side.
    Jake hadn’t complained about the scaled-back meal. Watching her husband wolf it down, Laura doubted he’d even tasted it. Then he’d slipped away from the table while she was nursing a second cup of coffee.
    Now Jake was leaning down to kiss her forehead. He smelled of mint mouthwash. His hair, dark and buzzed short on the sides but long in front, was slicked back from his forehead. “This isn’t the first time I’ve gone in on a Sunday, Laura. You know that as well as I do. And it’s an emergency extraction. Would you really want this poor woman to suffer until tomorrow?”
    Laura set down her coffee cup. He was right: several weekends a year, Jake was called in for emergency procedures.
    She tightened the belt of her plaid flannel robe as her husband opened his briefcase and checked its contents. It was the sort of briefcase that doubled as a backpack; Jake rode his bicycle the six miles to his office in Gloucester every day, even in the rain, and typically carried his laptop and lunch in the backpack. Another reason he still looked thirty.
    She, on the other hand, could easily pass for someone’s grandmother. How was it possible that they’d aged so differently?
    â€œYou promised you’d cut back your hours,” she said.
    â€œIf I do that, we’ll have even less money than we do now, and I already feel bad enough about asking your mom for help with Kennedy’s tuition.” He glanced at his watch.
    â€œI know. And I appreciate how hard you’re working,” she said. “But we never do anything as a family anymore.”
    Jake shifted his feet. “We took Kennedy to the mall last Sunday. And she’s older now, Laura. She doesn’t want to spend time with us.”
    â€œThat’s exactly why we should! She’ll be off to college in the blink of an eye! When was the last time you had a real conversation with her? Or invited her on a bike ride?”
    Or acted like you wanted to spend time with me,
Laura added silently.
    Jake laid a hand on her shoulder, gave her a friendly squeeze. “I promise to reserve next weekend. Maybe the three of us can hike in Ravenswood Park or something. Listen, I’m sorry, but I’ve got to go.” He leaned forward and kissed her again, this time on the top of her head, then closed the door gently on his way out.
    Laura knew she should be grateful to have this peaceful Sunday morning to herself, with her daughter sleeping upstairs. She had nothing to do at the stables until tonight, when she’d bring the horses in again, toss them some grain and check their water. No lessons until tomorrow. It was a blessing to have these leisurely hours wide open before her.
    The thing was, she didn’t
want
to be left alone. She wanted them to be a
family
. Not three separate people peeling off in different directions. She’d grown up with a single mother who was too busy to spend time with her children, and Laura was determined to give Kennedy the stability that she and her sisters had lacked.
    And, P.S., why couldn’t Jake understand that not everyone in this family would leap at the chance to take another
hike
?
    But