Long Time Coming Read Online Free Page B

have coffee with a man?"
    Without waiting for her answer, he got out, slamming the car door behind him. He came around for her. She watched eyes light up with recognition as the hostess led them to a booth. Whispers and soft exclamations of surprise and delight followed them like a wake.
    Self-consciously she slid into the booth.
    "Does that happen everywhere you go?"
    "What?" He looked at her with perplexity. "Oh, you mean the celebrity bit? Ignore it."
    She tried, but it wasn't easy to do since she was getting as close a scrutiny as Law was.
    When the waitress approached with menus, she asked for Law's autograph, which he gave her along with their order for two cups of coffee.
    "So what'd she do?" he asked as soon as the swooning waitress had withdrawn.
    "Who?"
    "Your sister. Sharon. What did she do when she learned she was pregnant?"
    "Oh, she, uh…" Marnie lowered her eyes. "She wanted to have an abortion."
    Across the table she sensed Law's reaction. His body got tense. She saw his hands form fists. It gratified her to know that Sharon's first option was as repugnant to Law as it had been to her. At least he hadn't been cavalier about it.
    "Why didn't she?" he asked.
    This was difficult for Marnie to discuss. It had been one of the most tumultuous times within her family. That's when it had begun to disintegrate. None of them had ever been the same after it.
    "Sharon confided her plans to me," Marnie told him in a small voice. "One night after supper Sharon said she needed to talk to me. She told me she was pregnant. She was scared. That frightened me because I'd never seen her that disturbed over anything before.
    "We stayed up all night, crying together, wondering what we should do. Tracking you down was out of the question. You were in the navy and, well, we didn't think you'd care to know. We didn't know what to do.
    "But I couldn't believe that she wanted to get rid of it, dispose of it like garbage. I mean, it was a baby, your baby." She paused, glanced at him, then went on.
    "I couldn't stand the thought of it. And I knew that Mother and Dad would rather have an illegitimate child than an abortion on their consciences."
    "So you told them what she intended to do," he said.
    "Yes. They forbade her to. She was furious with all of us. Her nine months of pregnancy weren't very joyous. But then David was born," she added with a wistful smile, "and we all loved him."
    "Even Sharon?"
    Her smile faltered. "She came to love him. He was so adorable and precocious, it was impossible not to."
    He stared at her, sensing there was more to tell, but the arrival of their coffee spared her from having to elaborate. When the waitress withdrew, Law asked, "Why isn't David with Sharon now?"
    "Sharon died." Wordlessly he stared at her. "When David was only four."
    He took a sip of coffee. "How?"
    "A car accident. My parents were devastated. Dad had a heart attack and died that same year. It's been just Mother, David, and me since then."
    "That summer changed the course of your lives."
    "I guess you could say that, yes," she agreed ruefully.
    "That was a terrific summer for me. My folks wanted to treat me to a good time."
    "I remember them. It was easy to see that they were very proud of you. You'd graduated at the top of your class. By the way congratulations on realizing your goal and becoming an astronaut."
    "How did you know that was my goal?"
    "You told me. One afternoon while Sharon was sunbathing, you and I took an inner tube out to ride the waves. You told me then that you were going to navy flight school to become a test pilot, then you wanted to apply for the astronaut program. I was so proud when I read in the newspaper that you'd been accepted. I felt like … well, like I knew you."
    He was smiling, but suddenly his smile disappeared. "I hadn't thought about that summer in Galveston for years. Hell of a way to be reminded," he grumbled, signaling the waitress to refill their coffee cups.
    Marnie took a careful sip of hers,