A Time To Heal

“Jeremy Fisher’s dad said he’ll shoot anyone who tries to break in to the bait shop,” young Jon said. “He bought a new pistol up in Henderson.”

Seth glanced down at the boy with a look of concern. They didn’t need a citizenry up in arms. Most folks in this part of the country owned at least one gun, mostly for hunting, but a lethal weapon nonetheless.

“I hope you’ll discourage that kind of talk,” he said to Danny. “It’s dangerous.”

Danny nodded. “I certainly will, but you have to know lots of folks are talking, not just Ken Fisher.”

Seth knew all right, and the talk worried him.

He picked up a knife to butter his roll and said, “I was hoping to have this thing solved before Alicia arrives. Looks like that’s not going to happen.”

His daughter’s visit was an amazing turn of events, considering the fact that he’d had to fight Rita for every visitation in the past. Now she was letting Alicia come to Wilson’s Cove for the entire summer.

“Alicia?” Susan asked, a forkful of potatoes halfway to her mouth.

He nodded. “My daughter. She lives in Houston with her mother.”

“And she’s coming here?” The teenage Shelby’s eyes lit up. “How old is she?”

“Fourteen.”

“Cool,” Shelby said, her braces flashing. “Way, way cool. I’m fourteen, too. Maybe we can hang out and I’ll show her around.”

The offer warmed him. Shelby was a nice kid. With her as a friend, Alicia would meet the right kids. “I’d appreciate that. Thanks.”

“No problem. New people keep summer from being so boring.”

Both her parents laughed. Seth grinned. He’d heard the “boredom” complaint from Alicia.

“I don’t think anyone ever mentioned that you have a daughter,” Susan was saying.

“What?” He pretended shock. “The ladies at the Quick Mart missed out on a piece of information? I thought they knew everything about everyone.”

The table chuckled again and conversation moved to the two sisters, Donna and Sharon who collected information in the same way other women collected recipes. If you wanted to know about sickness or funerals or new babies or romances, Sharon or Donna had the scoop.

Amused by the topic, Seth glanced across the table at Kat. Eyes down, she pushed her lettuce from one side of the plate to the other. She must have felt his gaze because she looked up. What Seth saw in her expression both puzzled and concerned him.

A few minutes ago, she’d been laughing. Now she looked stunned.

“Kat?” he said quietly. The others, in a friendly argument over the last hot roll didn’t seem to notice.

She shook her head and forced a smile. But he was trained to read body language. He saw.

Something had disturbed her.

Was it him? Had his casually tossed comments about Alicia come as a surprise?

Hadn’t she known he had a child?

He held her gaze as realization dawned.

She hadn’t known.

And even after all this time, Kat still grieved.

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