Read Online Dreadful Sorry by Kathryn Reiss - Free Book Online Page A

tourism brings in. A few of them are opening bed-and-breakfasts in their own homes, but mostly it's people like us—
outsiders
—who are setting up the tourist places. You wouldn't believe how much the locals value their privacy!" Paulette laughed. "Up here, unless your family has been here a hundred years, forget it! You're a foreigner. It takes some getting used to. In California you're practically an old-timer if you've lived there two years."
    Molly murmured something in response. The fatigue that had pressed down on her so heavily at home assailed her again as they left the highway and drove along a narrow road through what seemed to be miles of dense forest.
    "Would you just look at these trees?" Paulette said brightly. "I still can't get over how much of Maine is mostly forest. Two minutes out of a city and you're in the wilderness, practically. There's bears in the woods. And, would you believe, moose?"
    Molly yawned, then covered her mouth. "Sorry. I'm just so sleepy."
    "Go ahead and have a nap, then. We'll be on Route 9 till we get to Machias. Then we have to go further over to the coast, to Starboard. Even then, it'll be a drive. Hibben is tucked between Bucks Harbor and Benson. I mean, barely on the map. You'll see. Way north, and then so far east, we're just about the first people in all of America to see the sunrise each morning."
    Molly retreated gratefully behind closed eyelids. She didn't want to talk to Paulette. She was feeling unaccustomedly awkward and ungainly next to this slender, small-boned woman with a haircut like a little boy's. She wanted only to see her dad and then go to sleep for a week or two.
    "It's dark, anyway," chattered Paulette. "But you'll just love the scenery in the daytime. Especially since Ohio is so flat. The mountains and trees weren't such a shock for me, since I'm from San Francisco, you know. Not that there are very many trees in the city, of course, but it's only a short drive to the mountains. And of course there are hills all around. This is different, though. It's like the cities up here in Maine are just little patches of paint on this big, wild dark green canvas of a state. There's miles and miles of farmland, too. People grow crops of potatoes and corn, mostly. Wait till you see our own crop of wild blueberries! I can't wait to show you around. Billy and I have driven all
over
the place buying supplies for the house. Not that it's in terrible shape or anything. The house, I mean. Nothing structural, really, although one of the porches had dry rot and we had to replace it. It's mostly just an old, musty place. We want to freshen it up with new paper and paint and trim and all that. We want it to have a
cozy
feeling—you know? Billy likes things cozy." She giggled again. "You know?"
    Molly feigned sleep while Paulette rabbited on and on. The young woman's high, breathless voice rose and fell in a quick cadence almost like a song. Soon Molly really did sleep, or figured she must have, because in no time at all, it seemed, she opened her eyes and found they were on a winding road. She could smell the sharp salt smell of the ocean even through the closed windows. Paulette's voice was still going strong:
    "You can't see it very well in the dark, of course, but the ocean's churning down there like you wouldn't believe! You can see it from the cliff by our house if you walk out on the headland. When there's no fog., that is. The fog just seems to pile up around our house. I know you don't like water much, or is that just in pools? You can't swim in the water around Hibben, really, anyway, because the waves are too rough and there's no real access to the water. Well, there's the wharf, with a little pebbly beach, but the villagers keep their fishing boats there, and the ferry docks there, too. So it's kind of not the
best
place to swim ... But you won't be wanting to swim anyway, right? I hope you won't feel afraid with so much water nearby."
    Molly couldn't see well