Chapters (54)
- Cover
- Epigraph
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Epilogue
- A Note from the Author
- Discussion Questions
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Acclaim for David Rawlings
- Also by David Rawlings
Daniel’s voice slowed, as if he were measuring his words. “My cuff links from work.” He stopped and then lifted his gaze to her. “And your suitcase next to the front door.”
“My suitcase? Why?”
“I don’t know. And some kind of bank statement. From a bank I’d never heard of until I found that photo in Gramps’s recliner. Beyond Bank.”
Kelly felt the blood drain from her face.
Sixteen
Daniel filled Anna’s glass as the breeze swept across the deck. “Thanks so much for suggesting this celebration. I needed it more than I realized.”
“Losing Gramps was difficult for you, and you’ve worked so hard since Howard passed away. You deserve it.” As Anna took a sip, the breeze flicked the burgundy highlights across her face, the lowering sun kissing them with a deep-red glow.
Raucous laughter from his kitchen slipped under the glass doors and spilled outside. Comfortable silence descended on them, shepherded by the gentle breeze coming off the ocean. It felt like . . . a relief. Daniel batted away the feeling, his mind joining dots it didn’t need to.
“Where’s your better half?” he asked.
Anna nodded toward the kitchen. “In there, probably regaling your staff on the benefits of cloud computing. Kelly looks like she’s having fun.”
Through the doors, Kelly glided from group to group, platters of her afternoon’s creation in each hand. “She’s happy.”
Daniel looked back from the kitchen and into Anna’s glare, one eyebrow locked and loaded.
“Is she, Daniel? Really?”
“We have our problems like anyone, but Kelly still thinks I’m cheating on her. I don’t know how to convince her I have done nothing wrong.”
“Perhaps you need to look into why she doesn’t believe you.”
“Who knows? She’s so defensive whenever we talk that it’s almost like she doesn’t want to be convinced. Anyway, my more pressing problem at the moment is Milly and her failing at school.”
“How did the meeting with her teacher go?”
“Not well. It’s frustrating to have answers my daughter won’t let me give her. Honestly, it’s much easier when the problems sitting in front of you belong to other families.”
Anna laughed, her highlights now fiery, glowing embers in the setting sun. “I think that’s what makes it harder for people like us to have the knowledge we do.”
The gentle breeze ushered another wedge of comfortable silence onto the deck. The music roared as the glass doors to the deck flew open and Kelly sailed through, brandishing napkins and a fresh platter loaded with canapés, an intricate tomato rose at its center. A beaming smile gave way to tight lips, her eyes narrow and taut, a contrast to her free-flowing gray dress.
Anna took a napkin. “You’ve done a wonderful job with the food, Kelly. And you look gorgeous.”