Read Online Silent Witness by Rebecca Forster - Free Book Online
Authors: Rebecca Forster
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gloom.
Josie had looked toward the ocean as if it would wash away her melancholy but the sea was no more uplifting than the town. No one was in the water. The surfers did not sit their boards, no children kicked at the shore, no girl raised her skirt to her knees and laughed at the cold.
Josie checked out the pier. Two people walked the length of it a hundred yards apart, both hunched into their jackets. Life as minimalist art.
Josie scanned back to the bike path but her attention wandered. She was at odds and ends because her schedule was off. Since Hannah's arrival even that most basic part of her life had changed. The time Josie ran, the time she showered, the time she sat down to work. The two of them had been close to finding a rhythm. Then school started and everything changed again. Josie had to drive Hannah to school and that meant her run was half an hour late and like a house of cards, the rest of the day fell in on itself. She would get used to it. She just was not used to it yet. Nor was Josie used to the heaviness in her that harbingered some sort of grand cataclysmic event gathering on the horizon, in the gloom, just past the haze where Josie could not see. Finding no comfort, no inspiration, no answers to her questions, Josie had turned her back on the beach and picked up the time as she ran home, away from the gathering storm.
Now, glancing at the clock Josie saw she was only forty-five minutes off on what used to be a set-your-watch-by-it-schedule. She was dressed, her appointments cancelled for the day and she had fifteen minutes before she was due to meet Archer. Still she was off her mark. The night had been restless, the morning silent as she and Hannah kept their thoughts private. Her run hadn't worked out the kinks in her body or her psyche. The walk to Burt's did not lessen the rough edges of unease. Her restlessness turned to trepidation when she opened the door and found Burt behind the bar hunched over the morning paper.
''Hey.'' Burt raised his head, greeting Josie without his usual smile.
Josie gave him a halfhearted one as she slalomed around the mismatched tables, stopping to pick up a napkin that had been missed in clean up the night before. She put her large bag on the bar, slid onto a stool, planted her elbows, laced her fingers and cradled her chin on her doubled fist.
''Got coffee?''
Burt shook out the newspaper, laying it on the bar as he turned to get her a cup.
''Archer's in a shit load of trouble. He made the front page.'' Burt lifted the newspaper slightly. Josie tilted her head and pulled the coffee toward her.
''I saw it,'' she said.
''Probably doesn't tell you anything you don't know. Says you were the one to bail him.'' Burt shook his head and clicked his tongue against the place where his tooth was chipped. ''I don't know what I'm more surprised at: you taking on something big like this again or Archer having this grief. Man, life is so fucking weird.''
Josie cupped her hands around the coffee mug. The coffee was black; she preferred it with cream. Burt had forgotten. This morning black would do.
''Weird enough for me but I can't imagine how you must feel after all these years, Burt,'' Josie mused.
''How long have you been with him, Josie?'' Burt glanced at Josie as he straightened and folded the paper.
''A year. We were going to celebrate our anniversary before all that stuff with Hannah. Now, this. . .''
Josie drew one hand through her short, short hair, looked at Burt and wondered if he saw the change in her. The shock of yesterday was lodged like shrapnel behind the deep blue of her eyes. Either Burt didn't see it or he simply accepted that bad things changed people. If you were alive after a bad thing, cool. Life according to Burt.
''Yeah, well, let's see,'' Burt mused. ''I think I've really only known Archer about two years.''
Josie's raised a brow. There were more surprises and that alone should not surprise her.
''I thought you guys went way
Josie had looked toward the ocean as if it would wash away her melancholy but the sea was no more uplifting than the town. No one was in the water. The surfers did not sit their boards, no children kicked at the shore, no girl raised her skirt to her knees and laughed at the cold.
Josie checked out the pier. Two people walked the length of it a hundred yards apart, both hunched into their jackets. Life as minimalist art.
Josie scanned back to the bike path but her attention wandered. She was at odds and ends because her schedule was off. Since Hannah's arrival even that most basic part of her life had changed. The time Josie ran, the time she showered, the time she sat down to work. The two of them had been close to finding a rhythm. Then school started and everything changed again. Josie had to drive Hannah to school and that meant her run was half an hour late and like a house of cards, the rest of the day fell in on itself. She would get used to it. She just was not used to it yet. Nor was Josie used to the heaviness in her that harbingered some sort of grand cataclysmic event gathering on the horizon, in the gloom, just past the haze where Josie could not see. Finding no comfort, no inspiration, no answers to her questions, Josie had turned her back on the beach and picked up the time as she ran home, away from the gathering storm.
Now, glancing at the clock Josie saw she was only forty-five minutes off on what used to be a set-your-watch-by-it-schedule. She was dressed, her appointments cancelled for the day and she had fifteen minutes before she was due to meet Archer. Still she was off her mark. The night had been restless, the morning silent as she and Hannah kept their thoughts private. Her run hadn't worked out the kinks in her body or her psyche. The walk to Burt's did not lessen the rough edges of unease. Her restlessness turned to trepidation when she opened the door and found Burt behind the bar hunched over the morning paper.
''Hey.'' Burt raised his head, greeting Josie without his usual smile.
Josie gave him a halfhearted one as she slalomed around the mismatched tables, stopping to pick up a napkin that had been missed in clean up the night before. She put her large bag on the bar, slid onto a stool, planted her elbows, laced her fingers and cradled her chin on her doubled fist.
''Got coffee?''
Burt shook out the newspaper, laying it on the bar as he turned to get her a cup.
''Archer's in a shit load of trouble. He made the front page.'' Burt lifted the newspaper slightly. Josie tilted her head and pulled the coffee toward her.
''I saw it,'' she said.
''Probably doesn't tell you anything you don't know. Says you were the one to bail him.'' Burt shook his head and clicked his tongue against the place where his tooth was chipped. ''I don't know what I'm more surprised at: you taking on something big like this again or Archer having this grief. Man, life is so fucking weird.''
Josie cupped her hands around the coffee mug. The coffee was black; she preferred it with cream. Burt had forgotten. This morning black would do.
''Weird enough for me but I can't imagine how you must feel after all these years, Burt,'' Josie mused.
''How long have you been with him, Josie?'' Burt glanced at Josie as he straightened and folded the paper.
''A year. We were going to celebrate our anniversary before all that stuff with Hannah. Now, this. . .''
Josie drew one hand through her short, short hair, looked at Burt and wondered if he saw the change in her. The shock of yesterday was lodged like shrapnel behind the deep blue of her eyes. Either Burt didn't see it or he simply accepted that bad things changed people. If you were alive after a bad thing, cool. Life according to Burt.
''Yeah, well, let's see,'' Burt mused. ''I think I've really only known Archer about two years.''
Josie's raised a brow. There were more surprises and that alone should not surprise her.
''I thought you guys went way
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