sad-looking?â
âI donât think theyâre sad, Katy. I think heâs a little old and maybe heâs thinking about his life and remembering when he used to run around more, like when he was a puppy.â
âBut thatâs sad. That he canât run around so much any more.â
âBut he has you, chicken. You make him happy.â
âI hope so.â
âIâm sure so. Now, which story would you like me to read to you?â
âI think I want to go to sleep now.â
âOK.â
âCan you leave the light on?â
âYou know I can. I always do.â
âLove you, Mommy.â
âLove you too. Sleep well.â
âCan we get clams again tomorrow? And make chowder again?â
âWeâll see. Henry might want to teach you how to play Ping-Pong.â
âThatâs good.â Katy turned over on her stomach, her arms stretched over her head. âI like Ping-Pong. I think.â
Holly pulled up the covers and kissed her on the head.
When sheâd found out she was pregnant, sheâd looked at the line on the stick sheâd 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 dreamâthat Billy would accept the baby and theyâd live happily ever after. Anna was wrong, though. She kept Katy because in the middle of her crying fit sheâd 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 sheâd had that afternoon. Bending over, she whispered, âThank you,â in her sleeping ear. âThanks for coming to me early and showing me how unbelievably special you are.â
The memory of Jack Dane whispering to her in the bus came back and Holly straightened, left Katyâs room and went downstairs into the living room, to the answering machine. She listened to his message again and took down the number heâd 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 didnât know anyone else in town?
Care factor? Heâs asked you out, Holl. Heâs Faintworthy and heâs asked you out. Go for it, she heard Annaâs voice. Whatâs the worst that could happen?
Holly picked up the receiver and dialed. On the third ring Jack Dane answered with, âHello.â
âHi. Itâs Holly Barrett.â
âHello, Holly Barrett. Thank you for calling me back.â
âYouâre welcome.â
âSoâare you going to tell me to get lost or are you going to go out to dinner with me tomorrow night?â
âIâm going to go out to dinner with you tomorrow night. Thereâs a place called the Lobster Pot on the road to Buzzards Bay. The seafood is great.â
âExcellentâshould I meet you there, then? At eight?â
âCan you get there on your own?â
âI hope so. I have to get to know my way around. This will be good practice.â
âOK.â
âDoes this place have exotic cocktails?â
âIt has cheap wine and beer. Do you mind?â
âNot one bit. Iâm looking forward to it. It will be, like, really, like cool.â
Holly
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