Read Online What Washes Up by Dawn Lee McKenna - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Dawn Lee McKenna
Ads: Link
I will.”
“You look so sad.”
Maggie gave her mother half a smile, then looked down into her coffee. “Mom, you remember when you told me that you and Daddy almost didn’t get married, but you got a second chance?”
Georgia blinked a couple of times, then took a sip of her coffee. “Sure.”
“I think I might have blown it with Wyatt,” Maggie said softly.
Georgia put her coffee mug down. “With Wyatt? Aw, no, sweetie, I doubt that. Why?”
“I kept something from him. Something important, but please don’t ask me what.”
“And now you’ve told him?”
Maggie nodded, and Georgia ran a finger around the edge of her cup. “Well, I’ve found that it’s a lot easier for a man to recover from the truth than it is for him to feel lied to. Wyatt’s a strong man, Maggie. Whatever it is, just give him some time.”
“I’m afraid that I killed something before it really got started, Mom.”
Georgia looked at Maggie for a moment. “Honey, I just don’t think Wyatt scares that easily. You’re probably still going to have to deal with falling in love with him.”
Maggie gave a nervous laugh. “Mom, I’m not in love with him.”
Georgia put a hand on top of her daughter’s. “You will be,” she said simply.
Maggie got out of the Jeep, and could hear Coco going insane inside. The poor dog had been in all night, and Maggie hoped there weren’t any surprises waiting for her. As she headed for the stairs, Stoopid, delighted that Coco wasn’t available to impede his progress, pell-melled over from behind a hibiscus.
Maggie raised a hand to the rooster. “I already heard,” she said, and he seemed to deflate a little He stumbled to a stop a few feet away, let her have one of his unimpressive crows, then ruffled his neck feathers and headed over to the chicken yard.
Once inside, Maggie rubbed away Coco’s impending cardiac arrest, apologized several times, then let the dog out and headed for Kyle’s room. She stopped by the foot of Kyle’s bed and looked around her, really looking for the first time in a while.
They had never had a lot. David had worked like a dog as a shrimper, and she had worked her way up in the Sheriff’s Office, but they’d never made more than they’d needed. Vacations were cheap and close by, sneakers were serviceable rather than celebrity-endorsed, and the kids worked hard to earn their modest allowances.
But Kyle had so much, when Maggie looked at his situation through the lens of the last several hours. His Xbox had been a Christmas gift from her parents, but he had one. There were three shelves of books, and more action figures, board games, and videos than she could count. She wasn’t sure what was there, but she knew there was food in the fridge. Kyle had gone through tragedy, but he had never been hungry and he had never been alone.
Maggie pulled Kyle’s backpack from last year out of his closet, and put in the Bumblebee action figure and a couple of big silver guys she hoped were villains. She added some comic books from the bottom of Kyle’s stack, then rummaged through his desk drawer and gathered a pack of markers and a pad of paper. On her way out of the room, she grabbed an unopened pack of underwear that she’d bought on sale for the coming school year. She wasn’t sure they’d fit, but they were better than nothing.
After putting together a few changes of clothes that Kyle had outgrown, and feeding the chickens and Coco, Maggie wandered around the house, finding a few other odd things to take to the little boy, then she climbed back into the Jeep, blinked her scratchy eyes a few times against the full morning sun, and headed back into town.
The Homeland Security team had opted to stay at the Bayview hotel rather than run back and forth to Tallahassee. The hotel was a two-story brick building right on Scipio Creek, the channel of the Apalachicola River that eventually opened into the bay. The rooms were accessed by an outdoor hallway right
“You look so sad.”
Maggie gave her mother half a smile, then looked down into her coffee. “Mom, you remember when you told me that you and Daddy almost didn’t get married, but you got a second chance?”
Georgia blinked a couple of times, then took a sip of her coffee. “Sure.”
“I think I might have blown it with Wyatt,” Maggie said softly.
Georgia put her coffee mug down. “With Wyatt? Aw, no, sweetie, I doubt that. Why?”
“I kept something from him. Something important, but please don’t ask me what.”
“And now you’ve told him?”
Maggie nodded, and Georgia ran a finger around the edge of her cup. “Well, I’ve found that it’s a lot easier for a man to recover from the truth than it is for him to feel lied to. Wyatt’s a strong man, Maggie. Whatever it is, just give him some time.”
“I’m afraid that I killed something before it really got started, Mom.”
Georgia looked at Maggie for a moment. “Honey, I just don’t think Wyatt scares that easily. You’re probably still going to have to deal with falling in love with him.”
Maggie gave a nervous laugh. “Mom, I’m not in love with him.”
Georgia put a hand on top of her daughter’s. “You will be,” she said simply.
Maggie got out of the Jeep, and could hear Coco going insane inside. The poor dog had been in all night, and Maggie hoped there weren’t any surprises waiting for her. As she headed for the stairs, Stoopid, delighted that Coco wasn’t available to impede his progress, pell-melled over from behind a hibiscus.
Maggie raised a hand to the rooster. “I already heard,” she said, and he seemed to deflate a little He stumbled to a stop a few feet away, let her have one of his unimpressive crows, then ruffled his neck feathers and headed over to the chicken yard.
Once inside, Maggie rubbed away Coco’s impending cardiac arrest, apologized several times, then let the dog out and headed for Kyle’s room. She stopped by the foot of Kyle’s bed and looked around her, really looking for the first time in a while.
They had never had a lot. David had worked like a dog as a shrimper, and she had worked her way up in the Sheriff’s Office, but they’d never made more than they’d needed. Vacations were cheap and close by, sneakers were serviceable rather than celebrity-endorsed, and the kids worked hard to earn their modest allowances.
But Kyle had so much, when Maggie looked at his situation through the lens of the last several hours. His Xbox had been a Christmas gift from her parents, but he had one. There were three shelves of books, and more action figures, board games, and videos than she could count. She wasn’t sure what was there, but she knew there was food in the fridge. Kyle had gone through tragedy, but he had never been hungry and he had never been alone.
Maggie pulled Kyle’s backpack from last year out of his closet, and put in the Bumblebee action figure and a couple of big silver guys she hoped were villains. She added some comic books from the bottom of Kyle’s stack, then rummaged through his desk drawer and gathered a pack of markers and a pad of paper. On her way out of the room, she grabbed an unopened pack of underwear that she’d bought on sale for the coming school year. She wasn’t sure they’d fit, but they were better than nothing.
After putting together a few changes of clothes that Kyle had outgrown, and feeding the chickens and Coco, Maggie wandered around the house, finding a few other odd things to take to the little boy, then she climbed back into the Jeep, blinked her scratchy eyes a few times against the full morning sun, and headed back into town.
The Homeland Security team had opted to stay at the Bayview hotel rather than run back and forth to Tallahassee. The hotel was a two-story brick building right on Scipio Creek, the channel of the Apalachicola River that eventually opened into the bay. The rooms were accessed by an outdoor hallway right
Similar Books
