Read Online Lake Effect by Johannah Bryson - Free Book Online

Kyrie’s flying with you. I know she is. I know you’re together.” She’d told Wyeth about Jack but she hadn’t been able to bring herself to talk about Kyrie. She knew he’d understand, but would knowing this change the way he felt about her, the way he looked at her? Would he find her grief too great a burden? No, he wasn’t ready to hear this and she wasn’t ready to share it with him just yet. If and when their relationship turned into something deeper, something more, then she would share Kyrie with him, but not yet. Norman hopped into the car without any fuss, stretched out across the back seat and released a deep sigh. The drive to the lake wasn’t too far from the cemetery.
    There was a certain exhilaration that came with boarding the ferry back to Whiskey Island. It had always been a feeling of escape for Shelby. When Jack and she would come for the weekends it was an escape from their working worlds and later, afterwards, it became an escape from her grief. Shelby parked her car on the deck, got out and stood by the rail, the wind blowing back her hair, breathing in the warming air of summer. Would Wyeth be there when she got back? Probably not. She knew the benefit he’d invited her to was coming up soon — too soon now for her to change her mind and attend. She tried to picture it but just couldn’t.
    You’re being silly,
she scolded herself.
You wouldn’t fit in a group like that. Those people were born to do benefits and parties. You wouldn’t have a thing to wear that was appropriate.
Shelby reminded herself that money was no longer an issue — would never be an issue. Jack had made sure of that. She’d been shocked when the insurance company told her the house and the cottage would both be paid off. She’d gotten top dollar for his share of the construction business from his partners. At first she thought they were just being overly kind and generous to her. It had taken her lifelong friend and attorney, Rick, to assure her she was getting a fair price and so were the partners.
    It had taken a year for the estate to be settled. All that money meant that she would live quite comfortably for the rest of her days, but Shelby took little comfort in it. She’d never needed much money and without someone to share it with it was all rather hollow. She’d done without for so long she’d never get used to just buying what she wanted when she wanted it. The only thing she’d ever seriously considered buying had been the old manor house.
    Shelby always thought it would’ve made a marvelous bed and breakfast, something the island needed desperately too. The Grand was lovely but only if you wanted to come to the island during the season. The few B&Bs around were always booked to capacity, a few with waiting lists a year long.
    She thought of Wyeth, her hand in his as he showed her through each of the manor house’s rooms. He’d done a wonderful job with the restoration.
He’d done a wonderful job kissing you too.
    The deep horn of the ferry blew the fog of her dreams away. She turned from the rail and made her way back to the car. Norman hated the ferry and hated the horn even more. She looked at him in the back seat and patted his head. “You poor miserable creature, we’re almost home.”
    The evening sun was just beginning to set as she drove off the boat and onto the main road. The emergency clinic sat just to the left of the docks. One of the reasons she and Jack had chosen Whiskey Island over the others was the fact that medical help was available here year round. It wasn’t a hospital by any stretch, but it’d keep you alive until you could be flown out to one.
    Shelby turned into the clinic’s drive when she noticed Cheri Beauchamp’s car there. Norman, just content to be back on dry land, was more than happy to lie still while she ran in.
    â€œShelby! Honey I’m so glad to see