Remember Me by Mary Higgins Clark Read Free Book Online Page A

driven over it a third time. No more panicky driving for me, she vowed. Not when it means I’m jeopardizing Hannah.
    The sun was still high over the ocean, and to Menley it seemed as though the house had a contented air about it as it basked in the warm rays that enveloped it. Inside, the sun streaming through the stained glass of the fan-shaped window over the door cast a rainbow of colors onto the bare oak floor.
    Holding Hannah tightly, Menley walked to the front window and looked out over the ocean. She wondered if, when this house was first built, the young bride had ever watched to see the mast of her husband’s ship as he returned from a voyage. Or had she been too busy dallying with her lover?
    Hannah stirred restlessly. “Okay, chow time,” Menley said, wishing once again that she had been able to nurse Hannah. When the post-traumatic stress symptoms began, the doctor had ordered tranquilizersand discontinued the nursing. “You need tranquilizers, but she doesn’t,” he had explained.
    Oh well, you’re certainly thriving anyway, Menley thought as she poured formula into the bottle and warmed it in a saucepan.
    *   *   *
    At seven o’clock she tucked Hannah into the crib, this time snug in a sleeping bag. A glance about the room confirmed that the quilt was folded on the bed where it belonged. Menley stared at it uneasily. She had casually asked Adam if he had covered the baby during the night. No, he had replied, obviously wondering why she asked.
    She had thought quickly and said, “Then she isn’t as much a kicker up here as she was at home. Probably the sea air keeps her sleeping quietly.”
    He hadn’t realized there had been a far different reason for the question.
    She hesitated outside the baby’s room. It was silly to leave the hall light on. It was much too bright. But for some reason Menley felt uneasy about the prospect of coming upstairs later with only a tiny night-light to guide her footsteps.
    She had her evening mapped out. There were fresh tomatoes in the refrigerator. She’d fix a quick pomodoro sauce, pour it over linguine and make a watercress salad. There was a half loaf of Italian bread in the freezer.
    That will be perfect, Menley thought. And while I eat, I’ll make some notes for the book.
    The few days in Chatham had already given her ideas on what she would do with the story line. With Adam away, she would spend the long, calm evening fleshing them out.

14
    H e had spent the whole day on Viv’s Toy. The twenty-two-foot inboard/outboard motorboat was in excellent shape. Vivian had been talking about replacing it with a sailboat. “Now that I’ve got a captain for it, should we get one big enough to do serious sailing?”
    So many plans! So many dreams! Scott hadn’t been scuba diving since that last day with Vivian. Today he fished for a while, checked his lobster pots and was rewarded with four two-pounders, then put on his scuba gear and went down for a while.
    He docked the boat at the marina and reached home at five-thirty, then immediately went next door to the Sprague house with two of the lobsters. Henry Sprague answered the door.
    â€œMr. Sprague, I know at our reception your wife seemed to enjoy the lobster. I caught some today and hoped you might like to have a couple of them.”
    â€œThat’s very kind,” Henry said sincerely. “Won’t you come in?”
    â€œNo, that’s fine. Just enjoy them. How is Mrs. Sprague?”
    â€œAbout the same. Would you like to say hello? Wait, here she is.”
    He turned as his wife came down the hall. “Phoebe, dear, Scott has brought lobster for you. Isn’t that nice of him?”
    Phoebe Sprague looked at Scott Covey, her eyes widening. “Why was she crying so hard?” she asked. “Is she all right now?”
    â€œNobody was crying, dear,” Henry Sprague said soothingly. He put an arm across