Read Online The Beach House by JT Harding - Free Book Online Page A

gone a half mile when Jenni asked,
“What do you do, Joe? And Kim, does she work?”
    “Kim stopped when Ami came along. She’s not
sure if she’s going back. I think we might want a couple more kids
first.”
    “You can afford to do that? So what is it
you do?”
    Joe hesitated, not sure how much he wanted
to let out, how she might take it. Some people became strange when
he told them who he was.
    Jenni slowed and looked at him. “Oh God,
you’re not a gangster or something, are you?”
    Joe laughed and stopped. “No, nothing like
that. Worse. I write. Books. Thrillers.”
    “I’m impressed.” Jenni’s eyes widened, but
Joe sensed the emotion was forced. He observed the reaction often.
“So have I read anything you’ve written? Do you write under your
own name? What is your last name?”
    “Fransiscus,” Joe said. “Joe Fransiscus. You
might have read one of my books.” He made an effort to keep his
voice casual.
    This time the sudden flare in Jenni’s pupils
was real. “Oh fuck. Oh my God, I’m sorry,” and she looked down at
Ami, blissfully asleep on her shoulder. “I didn’t mean to cuss in
front of your daughter,” she whispered.
    Joe laughed. “It’s okay, she’s very broad
minded.”
    “You’re the Joe Fransiscus? The Dead Reckoning , the Dark Waters Joe Fransiscus?”
    Joe nodded.
    “No wonder your wife doesn’t have to go back
to work. Oh my God, Joe.” She looked at him, and he was
disappointed in her reaction, wondering if he shouldn’t have
followed his instincts and told her he managed a bank.
    “It’s only a job,” he said.
    Jenni laughed, a little nervousness showing.
“To you maybe.” She looked out over the ocean, looked back and
seemed to be making some decision. “Okay. I’ll try and pretend it’s
only a job. I promise I won’t ask for your autograph or anything
tacky.”
    Joe laughed, his shoulders relaxing. “Are we
going to be friends then?” he asked, discovering he was nervous
waiting for her reply.
    Jenni looked shy again. “Do you want us to
be?”
    “I do. I’d like that a lot. Kim too.”
    She looked up into his eyes and he thought
he saw a spark of interest deep inside their steel gray. “I’d like
us to be friends, Joe.”
    They walked on, the atmosphere between them
different now, but not uncomfortable.
    Another quarter mile went by and then Jenni
asked, her voice casual, “So how long are you staying at the
house?”
    “We’re booked for a month,” Joe said.
“Though we might want to stay longer.”
    “Fantastic,” Jenni said. “You want to come
swimming tomorrow?” Her question sounded throw away, as though his
reply didn’t matter to her one way or another.
    “I’d like that,” he said.
    “Will Kim come as well?”
    “Kim hates the water. Hates the ocean. I
can’t even get her to get on a boat. I wanted us to go on a cruise
last year and she refused point blank. We almost didn’t come here
because she knew she had to come over on the ferry.”
    “It’s only a half mile,” Jenni said.
    Joe laughed. “I know. But it’s not the width
that worries her, it’s the depth.”
    Jenni laughed with Joe. “I promise not to
raise the subject again then.”
    Ami started to grizzle and wriggle on her
shoulder and Jenni slowed and looked toward Joe, raised her
perfectly shaped eyebrows. They had not been plucked or fashioned
in any way, just naturally perfect.
    “She needs changing, I expect,” Joe
said.
    “Changing? Oh, I see, you mean
changing.”
    Joe laughed. “Here, give her to me and I’ll
swap her nappy for a clean one.” He took the waking infant from
Jenni and once more their fingers brushed, the touch electrifying
him. “You might want to look the other way, and maybe step back a
few paces. This is not always pretty.” Joe started pulling baby
changing equipment from the rucksack.
    “I expect I’ve seen worse,” Jenni said,
squatting down beside him, fascinated by the operation.
    Joe grasped Ami’s ankles in one