Intrusion: A Novel by Mary McCluskey Read Free Book Online

had wanted that jacket so badly, and she had hesitated for a while, really wanting to wait until after Christmas, to see if it would go on sale. Thank God, Kat thought now, thank God I said yes. He was so happy that day, coming home with the coat on a hanger. He had carried it thrown over his shoulder and walked with a jaunty step to the car. Then, he hung it carefully in the closet, waiting for that special occasion. How many times had he worn it? Twice? Three times? She could not imagine ever giving it away, or throwing it away, but what could she do with it, except stroke it, hold it to her face as if she could breathe him in, breathe him back to life.
    She turned from the closet to look at the framed photographs squashed on top of the dresser among open video games, empty DVD cases, books, and dried-out pens. There was Chris with his friends, Vanessa and Ben and another boy, his name gone from her memory. They were maybe ten years old, grinning at the camera. Kat spotted herself in the background, her hair tied back in a ponytail. She was laughing. Rewind, Kat thought. Rewind to that point, right there. Start over.
    Kat, suddenly weak, heart pounding, sat down abruptly on Chris’s bed, still holding the photograph. What she really wanted to do was get under the covers, lie where Chris used to lie, snuggle down where he used to sleep. But though she longed to do it, she was also frightened. Her heart might implode with the pain of it. Scott could come into the bedroom and find this just too strange, too crazy. He might fear that she had reached some final breaking point.
    A shadow crossed the doorway, and she looked up to find Scott watching her.
    “You okay?” he asked.
    “Yep. Just looking at these old pics,” she said, standing, placing the photograph back on the dresser.
    He came to stand beside her, lifted another picture. It showed them camping years ago, in Yosemite. She must have taken the photo herself, for there was Scott, grinning, and Chris and two of his young friends.
    “That was a fun trip,” Scott said.
    “Oh yes,” Kat said, remembering the fire that wouldn’t start, the tent that wouldn’t stay up, the new hiking shoes she had foolishly bought only a week before and not worn in, so that she had blisters on her feet the size of silver dollars. But she remembered, too, late at night under the stars, the boys laughing in their own tent, Scott beside her as they whispered about the happenings of the day.
    “It was wonderful,” she said now. They stood for a while longer looking at the pictures on the dresser.
    “I was hoping you were making coffee,” Scott said. “And maybe a sandwich. And a slice of Brooke’s date loaf.”
    “Oh, you are so subtle! Well, keep hoping, buddy.” She turned then, to look at him. “I’ll make something in a minute. Okay?”
    He placed a gentle, closed fist against her cheek for a moment.
    “Thanks.”
    Later, as she carried a mug of coffee and a sandwich into Scott’s den, she saw that he was bent over his desk, studying plans and blueprints.
    “You almost done?” she asked.
    “I’m getting there.”
    Kat looked over his shoulder; the plans made no sense to her.
    “I’m going to have a bath, then read in bed.”
    Scott glanced at his watch.
    “Already? It’s barely eight.”
    “So?” she said.
    Scott did not respond. He had returned to the blueprints, had begun to make notes on a yellow legal pad, engrossed in his work.

SEVEN
    W hile Scott showered and prepared for work on Monday morning, Kat carried her laptop through to the dining area, next to the kitchen in their contemporary open-plan home. She placed it on the table, along with a legal pad and pen, and then she made a pot of strong coffee. When Scott came downstairs, dressed for the office, he studied her, puzzled.
    “What’s this?”
    “Job search.”
    He came to kiss the top of her head.
    “That’s good, sweetheart. That’s really good.”
    Over the next week, Kat studied prospective