Remember the Time Read Online Free PDF Page B

book got tossed out the window.
    Mike held a glass of J & B as he stared out the bay window in his bedroom. With all the leaves off the trees, he had a clear view of her house. The only light he could see came from the den. It seemed to be the only room she used anymore. His sister had told him that she hadn’t slept in the bedroom she’d shared with Paul since his death. Kate kept her clothes there and used it as a rather large dressing room, but that was it.
    There was a living room and dining room. Both were formal. Packed with antiques that Kate had collected throughout her travels with Paul, they reminded Mike of some of the historic homes he’d visited. Filled with beautiful furnishings, but never used, they seemed like stage settings waiting for the players to make their entrance and bring them to life. Paul and Kate used to give legendary parties. Now, no one entered those rooms.
    She had two guest rooms on the second floor. They were at the back of the house and he guessed she slept in one of them, when she wasn’t using the couch in the den. Like most Victorian houses, it had one very large bathroom on the second floor, and a very tiny WC on the main floor. And, finally, there was the little tower room. He’d been in it only once, when he and Paul had moved some old boxes of papers out of the den. It had been in the dead of winter and they could see their breath as they piled the five years’ worth of tax paperwork in a corner. At the time it seemed that the room contained all the usual things people had in their attics … Christmas decorations, old clothing that no one wanted, a shelf covered with magazines and broken things that needed mending but no one ever got around to.
    Mike brought the highball glass to his lips and sipped the scotch. The ice had melted. It tasted like warm medicine and he grimaced. Finishing it in one gulp, heturned from the window and went back downstairs to wait for Sheryl and his nephew, Matt. He hadn’t seen the boy in nearly a year and he was looking forward to it. He had wanted to invite Kate over, too. That was, rather apparently, out of the question.
    He was in the kitchen fixing himself another drink when he heard the front door slam and a shout. Smiling, Mike shouted back, “In the kitchen!”
    A tall, well-built young man appeared in the doorway with an astonishingly similar smile on his face.
    “Christ, did you get taller?”
    Matt grinned. “No—I think you’re shrinking.”
    Mike snorted as he put an arm around his nephew. “Where’s your mom?” he asked, handing Matt a Coke. He motioned for him to sit at the table.
    “She said to tell you she’d be here later.”
    “So.” Mike sat across the table from Matt. “Judging from your stats, you had a pretty good season.”
    “Pretty good? I ended up hitting two-ninety and change with eighteen home runs. I only made three errors! I’d say that was damned good.”
    Mike smiled. His cockiness reminded him of Paul. “Like I said. Pretty good … for single A ball.”
    “Thanks for your support, Uncle Mike.”
    “So, is this it? Are you convinced this is what you want to do?”
    Matt nodded emphatically.
    “It’s a hard life, Matt. There are a thousand other guys like you, all saying the same thing.”
    Matt’s face took on a stubborn set. “There may be a thousand other guys out there saying it, but I’m gonna do it. I’ll be one of the best second basemen in the majors some day. Count on it.”
    Mike rested his chin in his hand and stared at Matt for a moment before asking, “What does your dad think?”
    “He’s all for it.”
    Mike suspected as much. Since the divorce, if Sheryl said “black,” Dan said “white.” And Sheryl was pretty much saying “black” about Matt’s baseball aspirations. Mike took a fence-straddling approach to the whole situation. The boy obviously had a talent for the game, but Mike also knew how tough it could be. He loved his nephew with all his heart. But more