To the Grave Read Online Free PDF

bank leading down to the river. I’d put a fence in front of the bank.”
    â€œEspecially if you don’t want your toddlers rolling down into the river. How many are you planning on having? Toddlers, I mean.”
    â€œA dozen,” Catherine answered, seemingly oblivious to Marissa’s teasing. “I think this would make a great backyard.”
    â€œIt sure would. You were right about this place. It’s a nice spot for a house.”
    â€œWhat about your bad vibe?”
    â€œI think it came from that dreadful cottage. The rest of this area is great. There’s plenty of room for a nice, sizable house for all of those children you’re planning to have, a big lawn for them and their little friends, and you’d even have room to build a large boathouse. You could keep the Annemarie here,” Marissa said, referring to the Gray family’s cabin cruiser that their father had named for his wife and the sisters now jointly owned. “And doesn’t James also want a motorboat?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œWell, there you go. It’s perfect.” Marissa raised her eyebrows. “What I wonder is why you’re showing this place to your sister as if you’re trying to persuade me it would be a great site for a new house? Why aren’t you talking to James? Do you think he really doesn’t want another house, a real home for a wife and children?”
    Catherine sighed. “Here’s my problem. James has talked about wanting a house. He hasn’t asked me to marry him, although he says he loves me. Does he never want to marry again because of the way things went with Renée? Because I won’t be a live-in girlfriend who maybe gives him the couple of kids I think he wants, Marissa. I know a lot of people would consider me old-fashioned, but I want commitment.”
    Marissa looked at her seriously. “You should just come out and ask James if he ever plans to remarry. After all, you’re the psychologist and I thought you people believed in talking about your feelings.”
    â€œWe do, except—”
    â€œExcept this matter concerns you and also you’re afraid of what you’ll hear. In that case, I’ll give you my opinion. I think James wants to marry you, but he’s someone who plans everything and who won’t move ahead with a project until he thinks he has ironed out every wrinkle. The two of you deciding where you would like to live is a wrinkle he wants gone when he asks you to marry him. He’s not impetuous, which is good, because neither are you. You’d have a nervous breakdown if you were married to an impetuous man.”
    Catherine stood still for a moment, looking out over the Orenda River. The breeze created ripples that sparkled in the sun. The water lapped softly against the thick layer of granite riprap neatly piled along the shoreline to prevent erosion. Off to her left, she heard a robin singing and she saw a squirrel running back to the trees with a nut in its mouth, storing food for the coming winter. Yes, this place could be beautiful, Catherine thought. What a perfect place for a house to share with James and the children both Marissa and she thought James wanted.
    She turned back to Marissa. “This would be a wonderful spot for a house!”
    â€œSo give James a little push, silly, and tell him, not me. Don’t be shy about making suggestions to the man you love. I’m certainly not.”
    â€œI know,” Catherine said drolly. “So does your Eric.”
    â€œEric appreciates my candor.” Marissa paused. “Most of the time. Occasionally he gets stubborn and I don’t think he listens to me. Just because he hasn’t asked for my opinion, though, doesn’t mean he shouldn’t hear it—” Marissa frowned. “Are you even listening to me?”
    Catherine had wandered away and was snapping a photo of bright leaves sailing toward the river on a