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Except in the world of professional baseball, he wasn’t It’s a lot easier to hit off a twenty-year-old college kid than a forty-year-old veteran who can throw every kind of strike iinable at ninety-five miles an hour Skip’s numbers dwindled from an acceptable 294 in New Britain to a dismal 198 in Minnesota In the field, balls were hit harder, tookaccuracy, knowing just how to intimidate a rookie so he’d miss his throw or bobble the ball

I wrote upbeat letters, called hiame to try to bolster his spirits I’d talk about the mechanics of the pitcher, the dive that had been this close to being a double play, the unfair call from the second base u Skip into a better mood

When his first season was over, and when I was helping out at the diner while Granddad had his heart valves replaced, Skip announced that he was co back to Maine He’d “reassess” his baseball career, see “what other options” were out there The town fathers decided that we’d show our support for young Skip, local hero A big welcome-home parade Why not? We could use a little boost at this ti winter ahead of us

So Skip’s parents picked hih school band waited, where the cheerleaders stood shivering in their tiny skirts, where dozens of little kids in Little League T-shirts and caps clutched Skip’s rookie card or a baseball they hoped he’d sign Just about everyone in town gathered to welcome home Gideon’s Cove’s most famous citizen

And I waited, too, of course, right in the front of the crowd Skip had been very busy over the past feeeks, and we’d only talked once or twice I had called his parents and offered to go to the airport with them to pick Skip up, but they didn’t return my call

My heart leaped when his parents’ car pulled up to the town green, and we the worshipful began to cheer I couldn’t wait to see hiive him a kiss, blush as the croould no doubt whistle and yell for Skip and his high school sweetheart College was over, I didn’t have a real job yet, was just working in the diner, and now Skip was back Were we too young to get engaged? I thought not

Yes, I kneas rare for high school sweethearts to marry…but it certainly happened Soh school As I scraped the grill or mopped the floors with bleach, took abuse frorease burns on ht of the nice house Skip and I would have Winter Harbor, ned, I’d just travel around with hiht, whether he felt discouraged or triureat baseball wife

So Skip got out of the Lexus And then he turned and gave his hand to someone else He alas courtly, Skip

She was a beautiful, elegant girl?wouess?blood-red knit suit, blond hair in a French twist The h school baseball coach and head of the Little League waited up on the little gazebo, and Skip and his parents and the blond girl went up and took their seats There were four chairs waiting for them, I noted, and that fourth chair was not for me

That was the first time my heart was broken in public

There were probably azebo I didn’t hear the my face, because I stu My parents saw and followed, and it was the , painfulFather Tim’s first Mass in Gideon’s Cove

People ie…Gosh, Skip’s ” And while Skip had done an awful, unkind thing, he was nonetheless a star, and it was understandable, wasn’t it? I hter of a Texas oil baron will have you?

He calledwith Annabelle just happened so fast…I tried to tell you…Things with us inding down anyway…It’s not like ere exclusive”

Silly ht ere

Skip and Annabelle left Gideon’s Cove the next week That saave ed rad school Then s to think about I was a business owner now I had a dog to train A little brother who needed help with homework Lots to do

It ith deep satisfaction that I saw Skip sent back to the AA league after an abys Annabelle later that same year, and they moved to Bar Harbor, to a house on the water purchased, no doubt, with her daddy’s money

Skip is now a salesh-end car company, and when they come back to Gideon’s Cove, which is rare, it’s always in so SUV He never comes to Joe’s Diner, thank God I haven’t spoken to him since he dumped me

So if my love life is a source of amusement to the town, it’s understandable First Skip, now the priest I try to take it well For the most part, I’m very happy with my life I love the diner, and I love my little apartment I love the old folks I feed and I certainly love my family

But so TV or planning the diner’s menu for the week, I pretend I’m married “What do you think? Will people eat butternut squash bisque in this town?” Or, watching the Fan Cauy Do you think he could cheith his ht say “Hoas your day, honey?”

Colonel wags his beautiful tail when he hears inary hubby Soainstour first feeeks together, and he’s been my emotional barometer ever since If he could take on human form, I’d marry him instantly But since that won’t happen, and since Father Ti to leave the priesthood and marry me, I’m a bit helpless when loneliness decides to shove its way so rudely to the front of the line

CHAPTER FOUR

“HELLO, BABY BOY,” I call to my brother I’m at the diner, which Jonah visits daily “How are the traps?”

“Not bad,” he answers “Got any French toast today, Maggot?”

Much tolived in Gideon’s Cove their entire lives, our folks knohat a hard life it is Dad’s a retired teacher, and my mom recently left the hospital, where she was head secretary of the OB/GYN unit In fact, she was the one who introduced Christy and Will

Moo blue collar They therads, which is rare around here, and ree is even e, and Jonah having been given the same chance, Mom and Dad ended up with a diner owner and a lobsterraduated froet her master’s in social work She loved her career with the Department of Children and Families, then became a stay-at-home mom when Violet was born

But last year, Jonah went in on a boat with another guy and has been etting out of bed as early as 3:00 a on how , too?flounder, cod,season finishes, the boats keep running Occasionally, a tourist ant a charter, and Jonah, who is handso the brief Maine su sea life and ainto an even more difficult job

Jonah lives in a little house with two other guys, a place so filthy and infested with nasty socks, moldy leftovers and dirty underwear that Human Services should shut it down It’s no wonder that he comes into the diner every day The fact that I feed him for free is an added allure

“Heard you had a crappy date the other night,” Jonah says as I set his plate down in front of hinores my brother…he never leaves a tip, so she never waits on hi rush, as it were, has subsided, and only a few lobster their lines, come in this late

“Yes, it was kind of bad,” I ad down the counter “Want more coffee?”

“Thanks, sissy” He lets me fill his cup, du of dates, Christy called me yesterday Wants me to keep an eye out for you”

As if summoned, our sister appears in the doorway, pink-cheeked fro appreciatively “It sood in here Can I have some coffee, too, please?”