Waking the Dead Read Online Free

you’re here.”
    “I’d love it if we could go fishing again,” Josh said to John. “That was one of the things I remember most from when I was here before.”
    John beamed, which meant that it was Nick’s turn to look guilty. Nick had tried to work up some enthusiasm for fishing, but without success. He was happy to cook anything John brought home and was equally happy to eat it, but the process of catching it was, in his opinion, boring, messy, and usually involved more cold seawater than he liked. John’s pleasure at the idea of a companion was evident.
    “Aye, that we can. I’ve a new boat now, bigger than the old one. I take tourists out on it sometimes to go deep-sea fishing. And there’s this loch I know; we could camp out there overnight and get our lines out at dawn, when the trout are just rising. I’ll show you how to tie your own flies, too.” He patted Josh’s shoulder. “We’ll make a fisherman out of you by the time you go home. Remember that shoal of mackerel we came across when you were last here? On the other side of the island in the bay?”
    “Creeth?” Josh asked.
    John smiled. “Aye, Creeth, that’s the one. The boat was so full of fish I couldn’t see your knees.”
    Josh turned and accepted his coffee, thanking the girl with a smile that made her blink and flush, fluttering her eyelashes. The boy seemed completely unaware of the effect he’d had on her, continuing on with the conversation as they moved away from the counter and let other customers order their drinks. “I want to learn everything. You can show me how to clean the fish, right? And cook them?”
    “Of course,” Nick said. “The kitchen part of it’s more my thing than John’s.” He was no expert -- and had a couple of years-old scars on his hands from knife mishaps to prove it -- but he could clean a fish without too much effort these days, and fry it up, too. He’d even come to terms with a fish stew recipe.
    “I can grill them, but that’s about it,” John agreed as they sat down at an empty table, the surface still gleaming from a recent swipe with a damp cloth. “Nick’s the one who gets adventurous, and if you catch him a good sized salmon or two, we’ll invite some people over to share it with us. I’d like you to meet some of my family; you didn’t really get the chance last time, did you? Just my mother, really.”
    Who had fallen for Josh immediately and fussed over him with an indulgent smile on her face that Nick had never had directed at him . Anne and he got on well enough these days, but they were never going to be close. In her early seventies, she was still an attractive woman, rejuvenated by her second, and very happy, marriage, but her opinion of his and John’s relationship had mellowed as far as acceptance and no further.
    “How is she? And Mr. Baird?” Josh asked politely.
    “They’re both well,” John told him. “
Carson
’s feeling the winters in his bones, but my mother’s as spry as ever. She’s looking forward to seeing you.”
    “She made this amazing dessert,” Josh said, between sips of his coffee. “Soft and spongy and incredibly sweet with…custard, maybe?”
    “Treacle pudding,” John said, nodding. “Aye, she still makes that.”
    “My mom thought I was crazy for liking it.” Josh pushed his hair out of his eyes and leaned back in his chair. “She thought it was too squishy or something.”
    “Some of the traditional Scottish foods can take a little getting used to,” Nick said. He’d gotten used to all the ones he ever expected to within a couple of years, and now there were just a handful of dishes he knew he’d never like no matter how many times he tried them. He’d perfected the art of choking them down to be polite on the rare occasion he was served one of them while a guest at someone else’s table, but he also usually complained about it bitterly to John later, in private.
    “I like trying new things,” Josh said. “As long as they