A Matter of Time by David Manuel Read Free Book Online

compote she had made for him. It was low-cal,
     low-fat, and—boring. Gone were the days of home-made apple pie with a slice of aged cheddar alongside—
and
a scoop of coffee ice cream. Gone forever, thanks to by-pass surgery two years ago.
    He had just informed his wife that his old friend Ron Wallace, one of Eastport’s charter fishing boat captains, had invited
     him for a week’s deep-sea fishing. In Bermuda. And Peg was more excited about it than he was.
    For years, Ron had enjoyed a unique arrangement with a Bermuda charter captain named Ian Bennett. They were old friends, their
     boats were compatible, and the third week in October, when each of their seasons was pretty well over, the two captains would
     take a busman’s holiday. They would swap boats for a week.
    Usually they brought their wives, but this year the wives couldn’t go. Ron’s irascible mother-in-law hadcome to live with them until his wife Bunny could find a suitable graduated-care facility for her. So far, nothing had suited
     her, and Bunny pleaded with Ron to go down to Bermuda without her—anything to get him out of the house.
    Nan Bennett, on the other hand, was staying home because she was worried about their son Eric, who was having serious trouble
     in school. Ian was still planning to come up to the Cape, though for him it would not exactly be a holiday. He was bringing
     four members of Bermuda’s Blue Water Anglers Club, who loved the striped bass that could be caught out of Eastport. Last year,
     one had gotten his picture in the Cape Cod
Times
, holding up the largest striper ever caught in Cape Cod Bay.
    For Ron, it was definitely going to be a vacation. He would go out when
he
felt like it, take what
he
wanted to eat and drink, and bait no one’s hook but his own. He invited Dan, and they would stay at Sandys House, a guesthouse
     not far from Ely’s Harbour, where Ian kept his 15-ton, 42-foot powerboat,
Goodness
.
    But Dan was not sure. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been away from the station for a whole week,” he said to his wife.
    Peg sat down opposite. “It’s not like you’ve got anything going on right now,” she pointed out. “In fact, according to Leo
     Bascomb, in all his years on the force, it’s never been as quiet as right now.” She laughed. “It’s finally behaving like a
     village police department—where nothing ever happens.”
    Dan grudgingly smiled. “It
is
kind of quiet. But what about my appointment with Dr. Alexander?” The surgeonwho had performed the by-pass wanted to see him annually for the next three years.
    “I’ll reschedule it.”
    “But—”
    “Dan Burke! If he knew what you’d been invited to do, he’d be all for it!” She got up and started clearing the dishes. “Just
     watch what you eat and keep up your walking.”
    He laughed. “You’ve taken away all my reasons for not going.”
    “Checkmate!” she replied, but from his expression she could tell he was not resolved.
    Suddenly she turned to him. “You know what your problem is? You need to be needed. All these years, you’ve been like a mother
     hen to that police department! And now—they don’t need you.”
    “I don’t think I like that analogy,” he muttered, putting away the glasses.
    “You don’t like it, because it’s true!” She came up behind him and hugged him around the middle. “You know, you really
are
getting thinner,” she said appreciatively.
    “Well—maybe you’re right,” he capitulated.
    “Oh, come on! Think how much fun you’ll have! You love to fish! And drink beer and tell war stories and go around with your
     shirt hanging out!” She laughed, and he joined her.
    “You’re amazing!” he said, shaking his head. “And you know what? Now that I’ve got my mind wrapped around it, I’m beginning
     to look forward to it.”
    “You should! You might even run into Brother Bartholomew down there.”
    Dan shut the cupboard door and hung up the towel. “I’d forgotten