Read Online Picture This by Jacqueline Sheehan - Free Book Online Page B

over her. She draped one arm over his back and he let her.
    R ay had phoned her in May. “Rocky, I fully supported your need to unscramble after Bob’s death.” Rocky noted that the word “grieving” was no longer used. Now she was “unscrambling.” “Now it’s time to come back, because if I have another year like this one, with students backed up from here to Boston trying to get an appointment, then I’m going to need medication. Call me.”
    Rocky had meant to call him back in May. Then her brother, Caleb, called her. “The lease is up with your renters. You’ll be glad to know that they did not burn the place down, although the fire department was called because the flue was closed when they tried to start a fire in the fireplace. Twice. Apparently English professors have a flat learning curve with all things related to fire. The house smells a little barbecued. They want to know if you’ll rent to them for another year. I told them no. And let me save you from making the call where you ask me to help move you back into the house. Tell me now so that I can schedule it. I’ve got a life and a job. August, right?”
    R ocky needed to shoot something before she made her next phone call, even if it was just the round target tacked to some hay bales. She packed her bow and arrows, slung them over one shoulder. Cooper was never invited for archery times, and when he saw her gather her equipment, the center of his brow rose up in disappointment, his black body slumped to the floor, and he sighed with a flutter of his lips. Rocky looked back at the dog. She had one hand on the door, ready to depart.
    â€œYou’re right, this is the one place that I don’t take you.”
    Cooper lifted his head. His ears cupped in Rocky’s direction.
    When she had first found him in November, left for dead with an arrow protruding from his chest, Rocky didn’t ever want him within a mile of an archery range again. She figured one arrow lodged in his body was enough for this particular lifetime.
    To Rocky’s surprise, Cooper dropped his head to his front paws. What did he hear? Was it something in her tone? Did he discern worry, confirmation? Rocky was never entirely sure, but he seemed to understand the non-negotiable nature of her decision to leave him at home.
    Rocky usually relished the walk to Tess’s house. Now she vibrated erratically from the crush of seeing Hill with his living, breathing wife, from Natalie’s unanswered phone call, from her new house purchase, from the call she had to make to Ray. Archery helped her think, and she longed for the solace of it.
    She felt the warmth of the day on her bare legs; the moist air swirling around her was peppered with sea salt. She traveled the central paths across the island, taking a dirt road, then diving into the woods, emerging once in someone’s driveway, then past a ball field tucked into the interior of the island. She trotted the last half of it, glad for the kinesthetic distraction.
    Tess had already left on the ferry for her ritual day in Portland that culminated with dinner and darts with her ex-husband. The backyard was completely Rocky’s, and she could shoot arrows until her arms turned to jelly. She tacked a new plastic-coated target to the stack of hay bales. She shifted into the archer. With her body taking the cue, her head began to clear, jettisoning everything except bow, arrow, target, body, and wind.
    She found her spot where the grass was trampled from the consistent pawing of her feet, sometimes shod, but recently bare. It was the first week in July, and the warmth of the ground wrapped around her feet. She hefted the bow. Rocky had advanced to a thirty-five-pound bow, and it was like starting all over again. She turned sideways, her left shoulder toward the target, notched the arrow, and pulled back.
    Her right arm quivered as she pulled back. She struggled to pull up and