Crazy About You Read Online Free PDF Page A

white clamshells crackling under the tires of the rental car. It occurred to her while driving that she could’ve continued up the highway to the hospital instead of crossing the bridge onto Cape Cod, but she promised her dad she’d care for the dog and the loose ends her parents left dangling at both of their businesses.
    Hershey was barking up a storm, the noise muffled by the closed windows. “Hang on, buddy, I’m here.” At the sound of her voice, the dog’s bark shifted into a higher gear of frenzy. She tested the knob on the front door and found it unlocked. The chocolate lab jumped at her, front paws thudding against her chest. She staggered backward, the hundred-plus pounds of manic dog nearly knocking her to the grass.
    “Hey there, big fella! You’re okay. But we need to talk to Mom about getting this lock fixed, right? We’ve told her she needs to be able to lock the front door when she’s out of town, haven’t we?” She rubbed the dog’s head with both hands, ruffling his ears and pushing him back at the same time. He barked once more before running to the far edge of the lawn to take care of necessary business amongst the hydrangea bushes.
    In the kitchen, she scooped food into Hershey’s bowl and refilled his water dish. The answering machine blinked, a red number two flashing. She clicked the Play button and her father’s voice filled the room.
    “Hey, Emma. Thanks for coming back home. Your mom and I are at the hospital already, hanging out in Sean’s room. The nurse said the doctors should be making rounds between ten and eleven. I’ll call again when we know more. Love you.” Click.
    She glanced at the oversized clock on the kitchen wall as the second message played, with a familiar voice she couldn’t quite place. “Captain Scott, this is Doctor Anderson. I’m calling to let you know we’re waiting at MacMillan Wharf again this morning. I hope the medical issue with your crew cleared up and we can get this trip under way. Need I remind you about the limited window of opportunity for this venture? I’m butting against a hard deadline. If you need to reach me, you’ll have to call my assistant’s cell phone as mine is…indisposed.” He rattled off a phone number with a New York prefix. “Thanks and see you soon.” Click.
    Indisposed? Who says that about a cell phone? She shook her head, realizing her dad wouldn’t be meeting the guy for his limited opportunity boat ride. She played the annoying message again and jotted the number onto a nearby pad. Before she could decide whether to return the call, the phone rang. “Hello?”
    “Oh, Emma, thank goodness you’re there, honey. Did you feed Hershey?”
    She rolled her eyes. “Yes, Mom. More important, how’s Sean? What did the doctor say?”
    There was a short pause. “He’s still pretty sick. It was a mess when they opened him up, and they couldn’t even remove all the pieces of his broken appendix, because of the scarring and whatnot. The doctor said it probably ruptured a week ago.”
    Emma frowned. “How can that be? I thought if the appendix burst, a person died from the toxins or something.”
    “Apparently Sean’s body formed an abscess around the poison, keeping it from flooding his system. The doctors are pumping him with antibiotics every few hours.” She paused again before continuing in a voice that was one step above a whisper. “We’re so lucky he didn’t die. I should’ve taken him to the doctor a week ago, when we thought it was the flu.”
    “You can’t blame yourself, Mom. Sean’s a big boy.” In more ways than one. Captain of his high school football team, her older brother stood over six feet tall and weighed in at well over two hundred pounds, mostly muscle. He’d had a full scholarship to college until he was sidelined at the beginning of junior year with ACL problems. Without the prospect of a professional career, he’d lost his drive and returned to Provincetown after graduation to work