Read Online Between Before and After by Amanda Dick - Free Book Online

that if he concentrated on the good times, he would be able to get through these few days. How wrong he had been.
    First it had been Finn driving the Monaro. That flashback had been bad enough. Then it was fishing off the jetty, something Danny had loved and been good at. The fact that they didn’t catch anything was a sign, as far as he was concerned. What had capped it all off was Kate setting that extra place at the table. Why did she have to do that? Why did she need another sign that he was missing? Didn’t she feel it keenly enough already? He could tell just by the look on her face as she stared at the empty chair that she did. Why did she do that to herself? Maybe she thought they all needed a reminder?
    He huffed out a frustrated breath and paused in front of the rickety wooden boat shed. Taking another swig of beer, he pulled the wooden cross-bar off its mounting and dropped it on the sand. The doors swung open immediately, the damp, musty smell rushing out at him. He pushed one of the doors open wider, peering inside in the failing light. The old dinghy stared back at him, a further reminder of days gone by. His eyes slowly grew accustomed to the darkness. A selection of beach toys hung out quietly at the back of the shed, just as always. It was as if they were waiting for something. Or someone.
    He sat down on the edge of the dinghy, taking another long sip from the can in his hand. He was alive, but he felt like he was bleeding to death. He could feel the life leaking out of him, one drop, one day, at a time. He didn’t know how to stop it. What would happen when the last drop, the last day, was gone? What would he be then? Was there something between alive and dead, between before and after?
    “Cards!” Finn announced triumphantly about an hour later. “Last Card - I’m feeling lucky.”
    “Strip Poker.”
    “Max!”
    “What?” he belched. “You said we should play a game.”
    “What are you, twelve?” Lacey laughed.
    “Where’s the deck?” Gavin hunted around in the bookshelf in the living room, pushing Monopoly, Cluedo and Yahtzee aside.
    “I’m not playing Strip Poker with you bunch of reprobates,” Lacey said, getting up off the couch and giving Gavin’s bum a gentle slap on her way to the kitchen. “And I’m sure Kate agrees.”
    “I’m with you, sister from another mister.” Kate held her glass aloft, winking.
    “More wine?” Lacey grabbed the bottle from the fridge and brought it back with her.
    “Now that you’ve made a super special effort to bring the bottle with you? Okay.”
    “Okay to Strip Poker?”
    Kate rolled her eyes at Max. “Okay to wine. No-bloody-way to Strip Poker.”
    “Aw, don’t be shy - you’re amongst friends.” Max winked up at Kate from his place on the floor, sprawled on the orange, shag-pile rug in front of the fireplace.
    Lacey refilled both their wine glasses then set the almost-empty bottle down on the coffee table in front of them, settling back into one of the long, comfortable sofas. 
    “No bloody cards,” Gavin announced disgustedly, collapsing into the sofa beside Lacey and drawing her in close. “They’ve disappeared. We’ll have to think of something else to do.”
    “Spin the bottle!” Max chuckled, deftly ducking out of the way as Lacey lobbed an empty beer can in his general direction.
    “Jeez, watch it! You came within a kilometre of me, there.”
    Gavin smiled, reaching for his beer off the coffee table.
    “Done,” Finn said, closing the lid to the old radiogram in the corner and walking over to collapse on the sofa next to Kate. “And if you have any complaints about the music, you can take them to Nina and Jim. I did the best I could with what I had.”
    The Beatles ‘Drive My Car’ filled the room and he grinned.
    “Rubber Soul?” Lacey asked, spying the album cover lying on the floor next to the radiogram.
    “Never any complaints about The Beatles,” Gavin nodded sagely.
    Max proceeded to sing loudly along to