Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain Read Free Book Online Page A

pulled out of me in the nick of time, even though it was real hard for him. He took care of me.
    All day long, I worried about other people. Was Nonnie going to have to start getting shots for her sugar? Was Baby William ever going to say more words than “mama” or would he be one of them dumb boys other kids picked on? Would Mary Ella get herself in trouble again? Worry worry worry. But when I was with Henry Allen like I was right now, him slipping my nightgown over my head and pressing his body into mine, so gentle and sweet, I could forget about everything except him and me and our dreams about the future.

 
    5
    Jane
    “We’re waiting for one other couple,” the young blond captain of our catamaran told us as he adjusted the sails. We’d been in Hawaii five days by then and I’d never been so tan or so happy. Or so in love. I sat on the catamaran’s long bench seat with Robert, holding his hand as we waited. We hadn’t stopped touching each other since our wedding. We’d already had a full day of swimming, snorkeling, and learning—or trying to learn—how to surf on those long heavy surfboards, and now we were looking forward to a romantic sunset cruise. At the moment, though, the catamaran rested half in the water, half on the pristine beach.
    I pressed my lips to Robert’s warm shoulder, breathing in the scent of suntan lotion and sweat. I couldn’t get enough of him this week, and if it had been up to me, I would have skipped the boat ride altogether for a few extra hours alone in our room. We had our own little bungalow close to the beach, and it was so romantic to make love to the sound of the waves lapping the shore, the ceiling fan cooling the air above us.
    Last night, he said I almost seemed to enjoy lovemaking too much. “I’m not complaining,” he’d added quickly with a smile. “It’s just unusual.”
    “How do you know what’s usual for most girls?” I’d asked him. “You and your friends don’t talk about it, do you?”
    “No,” he said. “Lord, no. You surprised me, that’s all.”
    It also seemed to surprise him that I didn’t bleed after we made love. I didn’t understand that, either. Didn’t every girl bleed the first time? I worried he’d think he wasn’t my first. He most definitely was.
    “This must be them,” Robert said, as another couple trotted across the beach toward the catamaran.
    “Hello, hello!” the man said as he and the woman scurried aboard. Even in those two words, I could hear the Yankee accent.
    “Hope we didn’t hold you up!” the woman said.
    “Not at all.” Robert rose to his feet and shook the man’s hand. “Come have a seat.” He motioned to the long bench seat, just big enough for the four of us. They sat down, the woman next to me. Our captain hopped off the boat onto the beach, slid us easily into the water, then hopped on again and soon we were cutting across the water into a fiery orange sunset.
    The man and woman—Bruce and Carol—were from New York City and they were in Honolulu to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary. They were garrulous and energetic and within the first three minutes of the cruise, we learned that Bruce was a stockbroker and Carol was president of the PTA. They were big fans of John Kennedy, and we talked about our hopes that he might beat Nixon in the November election. Well, I talked about my hope. Robert stayed out of that conversation, and I could tell he’d had enough of it when he abruptly said, “What have y’all done so far on the island?” The question was so out-of-the-blue that Bruce and Carol looked momentarily lost.
    I picked up Robert’s cue. “We learned to surf this morning,” I said. I knew he didn’t like conversations about politics.
    “Oh, isn’t that fun?” Carol said. “We did that yesterday. I was terrible at it, but Bruce was a natural.”
    “Wish we had those boards at Jones Beach,” Bruce said. The hard edges of his accent grated on me.
    “Tell them what we