Irrefutable Read Online Free PDF

squatter. The pool had long since been filled in and the stage was gone. The floating boat slips had moved to their new location, on the other side of the lake. The only other structure that remained was the old, wooden pier, with its Styrofoam pontoons disintegrating into the dirt.
    Alex parked the car in the crumbling lot and walked through the knee deep grass toward the now deserted marina. He wasn’t sure why he came. He didn’t expect to find any evidence here.
    “Remember when we used to come out here late at night and make love on the end of the pier?” Allyson was walking beside him.
    “I remember.” he said.
    “The one time, when we thought we were alone…”
    “And the light came on in that sailboat.” Alex said. They both laughed.
    “You jumped in the water because you were afraid someone would see you naked.” Allyson teased.
    “Yea, and you stayed on the pier, hoping to be seen.”
    He walked slowly to the edge of the pier and stepped up. The weathered boards groaned under his weight.
    “Good times.” he said, softly. He pictured the scene twenty years ago. Cabin cruisers and sailboats rocked gently in their slips, the sound of water lapping at their hulls. He could smell the burgers cooking on charcoal grills. He could hear the partiers, laughing and talking, as they enjoyed the warm summer evenings on the decks of their boats. He thought back to a carefree time when children splashed and played in the water, when he and Allyson talked about getting married and the yacht they would grill burgers on someday.
    Now, the pier rested on the hard, dry ground. The lake had been lowered fifteen years earlier to expose land that would be used to build, what is now, The Cove.
    The shore line, now some fifty yards from the end of the pier, makes the memories of the marina in its heyday, seem even more distant.
    Alex walked to the end of the pier and sat down, still thinking of Allyson and the times they had here. He let his feet dangle off the edge. But now, like Allyson and the dreams they shared, the water was gone. His toes hit only dirt.

Chapter Four
     
     
    The Lady Dragons were up two to nothing in the bottom of the second inning.
    Alex stood outside the fence along the first base line. At nine o’clock the sun was still low enough in the sky that Alex had to use his hand as a visor.
    “Rough night?” Rachel said, startling him.
    “You could say that.” He hadn’t expected to see her today.
    “So, has she spoken to you this morning?”
    “Only to tell me I was going to make her late for the game.” He leaned on the fence and propped his elbows on the top. “So, what brings you here?”
    “Carmen invited me. She said it would be nice to have someone to watch her play.”
    “That’s nice.” Alex said, shaking his head. “I told her I’d be here.”
    “What, you told her as you were walking out the door on her prom night? I guess now you can see her point.”
    Alex let out a sigh. “I suppose I can.” He folded both arms across the top of the chain link fence and leaned forward to stretch his back.
    Rachel rested her arms on top of the fence beside him. “We talked some last night. I think she understands why you have to be gone so much. She doesn’t like it, but she understands.”
    “I can’t control when I’m called. I tried to explain that.”
    “She is a sixteen year old girl who needs her father. You’re all she’s got.” Rachel turned toward Alex. “The teen years are a very emotional time for girls. Trust me, I used to be one. A father is supposed to be there to protect her, to scrutinize her dates and her mother is supposed to be there for support, to act as a buffer between her dad and the boys she brings home. Kids may tell you different, but I think deep down, that’s how they know parents really care.” Rachel looked at Alex for a reaction. “Carmen has neither. She needs to be able to deal with that, to have an emotional outlet. She knows you can’t be there