Tainted by Brooke Morgan

sad-looking?”
    â€œI don’t think they’re sad, Katy. I think he’s a little old and maybe he’s thinking about his life and remembering when he used to run around more, like when he was a puppy.”
    â€œBut that’s sad. That he can’t run around so much any more.”
    â€œBut he has you, chicken. You make him happy.”
    â€œI hope so.”
    â€œI’m sure so. Now, which story would you like me to read to you?”
    â€œI think I want to go to sleep now.”
    â€œOK.”
    â€œCan you leave the light on?”
    â€œYou know I can. I always do.”
    â€œLove you, Mommy.”
    â€œLove you too. Sleep well.”
    â€œCan we get clams again tomorrow? And make chowder again?”
    â€œWe’ll see. Henry might want to teach you how to play Ping-Pong.”
    â€œThat’s good.” Katy turned over on her stomach, her arms stretched over her head. “I like Ping-Pong. I think.”
    Holly pulled up the covers and kissed her on the head.
    When she’d found out she was pregnant, she’d looked at the line on the stick she’d peed on and felt a rush of pure fear travel through her. What was she going to do? How was she going to tell her parents? What would people at school think? What would Billy think? Billy, who, for the past six weeks, had been acting as if that walk on the beach had never happened. Curling up in bed, she began to weep, burying her face in the pillow.
    Anna thought Holly had gone ahead and had Katy because Holly believed in some romantic dream—that Billy would accept the baby and they’d live happily ever after. Anna was wrong, though. She kept Katy because in the middle of her crying fit she’d suddenly seen her. Pictures of a girl came running across her brain, one after another: a little baby dressed in pink asleep in a cot, a toddler running on the beach, a scared little first-grader on her first day at school. The images were so vivid, so real, Holly knew this child already existed as a person, waiting to be born, that there was no way she could ever not have her.
    Holly looked at Katy now, as she lay in bed. She resembled uncannily those images she’d had that afternoon. Bending over, she whispered, “Thank you,” in her sleeping ear. “Thanks for coming to me early and showing me how unbelievably special you are.”
    The memory of Jack Dane whispering to her in the bus came back and Holly straightened, left Katy’s room and went downstairs into the living room, to the answering machine. She listened to his message again and took down the number he’d left. Looking down on the pad of paper, she hesitated before taking the phone from its cradle. What was the point of having dinner with him? Was he calling her because he didn’t know anyone else in town?
    Care factor? He’s asked you out, Holl. He’s Faintworthy and he’s asked you out. Go for it, she heard Anna’s voice. What’s the worst that could happen?
    Holly picked up the receiver and dialed. On the third ring Jack Dane answered with, “Hello.”
    â€œHi. It’s Holly Barrett.”
    â€œHello, Holly Barrett. Thank you for calling me back.”
    â€œYou’re welcome.”
    â€œSo—are you going to tell me to get lost or are you going to go out to dinner with me tomorrow night?”
    â€œI’m going to go out to dinner with you tomorrow night. There’s a place called the Lobster Pot on the road to Buzzards Bay. The seafood is great.”
    â€œExcellent—should I meet you there, then? At eight?”
    â€œCan you get there on your own?”
    â€œI hope so. I have to get to know my way around. This will be good practice.”
    â€œOK.”
    â€œDoes this place have exotic cocktails?”
    â€œIt has cheap wine and beer. Do you mind?”
    â€œNot one bit. I’m looking forward to it. It will be, like, really, like cool.”
    Holly