Castles in the Sand Read Online Free PDF Page B

“Come here.”
    Fighting back tears, she walked around the table and slid onto his lap.
    “I promise you Susan will be fine.”
    “It hurts so bad seeing them like this.”
    “I know.” He wrapped his arms around her, and she leaned into him. “It’s too easy to imagine us in the same situation. Me being so consumed with my image that I would shut you and the boys out. But for the grace of God, there go I.”
    She put her face against his crisp white shirt. It worked pretty well as a handkerchief.

Five
    On Tuesday, her first morning at the beach house, Susan awoke at four. Despite the early hour, she followed her usual routine: She showered, ate two soft-boiled eggs and lightly buttered toast, drank a cup of tea, engaged in a quiet time—at least a feeble attempt at it; the open Bible laid in her lap for a few minutes—and walked the dog.
    Going through the motions was easier than worrying about what the day held in store for her. The routine was probably a close cousin to her chimp chatter.
    Now she sipped another cup of tea in the big armchair by the front window and cuddled with Pugsy. The long beach walk in the brisk predawn hour had worn him out. Wouldn’t Drake have a conniption if he knew she was outdoors at that time of day?
    But he wasn’t there to explain her lapse in good judgment.
    She watched the tide make its way inland. Big waves had already enticed surfers into the deep. Though they were only specks on the horizon, she could see them because the house sat high enough to afford a view over the seawall straight to the ocean.
    Julian surfed. Perhaps he was one of them. The previous day he showed her where he hid a door key on his patio. She was welcome to use it and his telephone anytime day or night, whether or not he was home. Julian was a nice man. Very compassionate.
    Should she call Drake and tell him of her uneventful evening and the morning beach walk?
    Best to spare him.
    Should she tell him of her phone conversation with Pepper Carlucci? Of their meeting scheduled to take place in three hours?
    Better to wait. Why borrow worry for him over something that had not yet happened?
    Lord .
    The prayer stopped.
    She remembered how her mind had shut down the night Kenzie left. Nearly three months later, it hadn’t fully restarted. It was like a dirty CD that got stuck on a smudge and played one word over and over and over.
    She couldn’t get past His name. Lord .
    She couldn’t pray.
    The most she could do was go through the motions of everyday tasks and count the minutes until she met Aidan Carlucci’s mother.
    The closest link to Kenzie.
    Closest? She was the only link.

    Standing in a warm sunny space outside the coffee shop, Susan twisted the strap of her handbag around her fingers. She was fifteen minutes early.
    Except for classical music pouring from loudspeakers hidden in flowerbeds, the second level of the open-air mall was quiet under a brilliant blue sky. A group of seniors clothed in cozy jogging suits sat at one of the food court tables. Occasional shoppers walked by. None resembled what she remembered of Aidan’s mother.
    They had met two years ago when Kenzie joined Aidan’s band, Glory Traxxx. Drake deplored their rock style and thought it not true worship music, but he admitted it seemed to connect with teenagers. So he allowed them to perform at the church for a special youth group rally. Mr. and Mrs. Carlucci had attended along with parents of the ten or so other band members.
    All in all Susan thought the evening a spectacular success. She didn’t stop grinning and tapping a foot from the moment of their energetic opening downbeat until the next morning when Drake announced things had been just a bit too wild, a bit too vague when it came to the gospel, not quite suitable for his tender flock.
    Soon after that, their youth pastor resigned. A mega-church in Texas hired him. Kenzie had seen him last year when Glory Traxxx performed there. He was happy.
    Some days, when Drake