Read Online Secret Lives by Diane Chamberlain - Free Book Online

Ben said. “I have two
sandwiches.”
    “I don't want to take your lunch.”
    He patted his flat stomach. “I really don't
need two sandwiches.”
    They climbed into the bed of the pickup truck
and sat under the shade of the elm. Below them, Ferry Creek slapped
against its banks, and Eden could hear the groaning of the
suspension footbridge that spanned the width of the creek. She'd
played on that bridge as a child. Cassie would probably love
it.
    Ben threw her a beer from his cooler and
handed her a cheese sandwich. She peered inside at two orange
slices of American cheese, iceberg lettuce, mayonnaise, and catsup
and bit her lip.
    “It's the catsup, huh?” he asked.
    She nodded. “A little odd.”
    He handed her the plain piece of bread from
his own sandwich.
    “Music?” He turned on the tape player still
attached to his belt. The music was fast, full of accordion. The
lyrics were in French. She looked at him questioningly.
    “Zydeco.”
    “Interesting.”
    “It's happy music. I have no idea what
they're singing about, which is fine with me. You don't speak
French, do you?” He looked worried until she shook her head. “Good.
It'd wreck it if I knew what they were saying. This way I can
pretend they're singing about whatever I choose. Make it up to suit
my mood.”
    She smiled at him. Had she really thought a
few hours ago that he was intimidated by her?
    He leaned back against the side of the truck.
“I read most of your mother's books when I was a kid. They were
full of adventure.”
    “I'm afraid my mother's only adventures were
in her mind.”
    “I tried reading one of them to my daughter,
but she'd rather watch the movie. Typical kid, I guess. She's a big
fan of yours.”
    So, he was married. She wasn't sure if she
felt relief or disappointment.
    “I told her I sort of knew you,” he said.
    “Now you can tell her you really do. I'd be
happy to meet her, if you like.”
    “Well, I don't get to see her that often. She
lives with my wife.”
    “Oh. Where does your wife live?”
    “Annapolis.” He stretched his legs out in
front of him. “Your daughter's about the same age as mine. Cassie,
right?”
    “Do you know about her from Lou and
Kyle?”
    “Everybody knows about Cassie, don't they?
Including all the personal details of how long you tried to get
pregnant, how you spent the last three months of your pregnancy on
bed rest, et cetera?”
    She made a face. Wayne had said he was sick
of people learning the most intimate details of their lives while
waiting in grocery store lines.
    “How do you tolerate having so little
privacy?” Ben asked.
    “Sometimes I don't tolerate it very well.”
After Heart of Winter, her face had been on so many magazine covers
that she'd lost count. That had been fine until Wayne left. Then
she'd wished she could have disappeared from the public eye
altogether.
    “So how do you go about writing a
screenplay?”
    “The research comes first. I thought I'd have
to pick Kyle's brain, since he's the only person still living who
knew Katherine well. But last night he told me she kept a journal.
It would make my work much easier, except that it's written in a
dozen notebooks and Kyle plans to feed them to me one at a
time.”
    A smile broke slowly from Ben's lips. “He
wants to keep you here as long as he can. He was so excited you
were coming.”
    “I don't know why. I didn't give him the most
pleasant years of his life. Anyhow, I don't want to work strictly
from the journal, because I have a specific idea of how I want to
present her…” She cocked her head to look at him. “How do you think
of her? I mean, as someone who only knows about her from the
media?”
    He swallowed a bite of his sandwich. “As an
isolate,” he said. “A woman who valued solitude above anything
else. That's something hard for me to understand. I'd rather get
hit by a train than spend my life alone.”
    “Exactly,” Eden said. “No one understands her
because of the way she's been