The Whiskey Sea Read Online Free PDF

clam chowder, and Frieda reached for the ladle.
    “You still look lovely, even with the unusual accessories,” Hicks said, his eyes all misty and annoying.
    She didn’t respond. Bea started urging a pleasant conversation that wasn’t going to happen, Silver stared down into his chowder and ate slowly, as if he wanted to draw out the evening, and Hicks was clearly trying his best to charm her. He glanced from time to time at his food, but mostly he kept his focus on her. There was something strange in his eyes when he gazed at her, some kind of softness, but it was a highly focused sort of softness. She’d never seen this look before from anyone, and she had no idea what it meant.
    He said, “Congratulations on graduating from high school.”
    Frieda nodded, then averted her gaze. He kept staring; she could feel the weight of it on her skin, and she wanted to shrug it away.
    Hicks said, “You gotta be smart to finish.”
    After chomping on bread, Frieda dug into the chowder. “I barely passed.” That wasn’t exactly true, but she wanted Hicks to believe it. Studying and reading had been a refuge of sorts, plus it turned out she was as good a student as any. It showed she was no slacker. Her grades fell because she wouldn’t participate in group assignments or stand in front of the class and read an essay. Beyond high school few opportunities awaited working-class women in Highlands. Unless one found a way to go to college, it was either a poorly paying job cooking and cleaning, or marriage and babies.
    He smiled. “Still, it’s an accomplishment.”
    She glanced over at him and registered the admiration in his eyes. Maybe what she was seeing was puppy love. But if he had a crush on her, why hadn’t he approached her before? Why make some deal with Silver? His apparent actions seemed archaic and made him out to be spineless.
    “I brought you something,” Hicks said, and then shifted awkwardly, as if he was unsure whether to get it now or not.
    Frieda glared hard.
    He fidgeted, then stood up clumsily and pulled out a small box from his pants pocket. He sat again and pushed the box toward Frieda. Curious, she opened it to find an almost-round, blackened . . . something.
    “It’s an old coin—from a shipwreck, I’m pretty sure. I found it a year ago when I was clamming. I raked it up and kept it for a special occasion.”
    Picking up the coin, Frieda examined it closer. On it were some odd markings that indeed looked very old.
    Hicks said, “I never took it to a museum or an expert to find out if it’s valuable.”
    Bea chimed in, “I can ask my teacher.”
    Frieda rubbed the coin between her thumb and index finger.
    “I cleaned it up as best I could, but I didn’t want to damage it. I’ve heard you can do more harm than good if you don’t know what you’re doing,” said Hicks, a hopeful expression on his face. “It could be worth something.”
    He seemed to be waiting for her approval. Funny thing was, Frieda did like the gift. But she wasn’t about to show it. “If it’s worth something, I can’t accept it. If it turns out to be a trinket, then . . . thank you.”
    An awkward silence hung in the muggy air after that. Bea did her best to fill it, bringing up the graduation ceremony Frieda had shunned, what all the kids from her class were doing over the summer, and finally, the weather. But the conversation inevitably led back to the boat, with Hicks and Silver discussing the Wren ’s quirks and charms, the work that needed done, and Hicks’s plans for her.
    Frieda could not endure that conversation. Why didn’t Silver and Hicks just go join the drunks down at the speakeasy so she didn’t have to hear this? She despised both of them in that moment. She imagined grabbing each of them by the head and knocking their noggins together. She wiped the chowder bowl clean with a piece of bread, stuffed it in her mouth, and left the table without a word.

CHAPTER THREE
    On Monday morning Bea