Promises Read online

  Dan had a heaping plate and a mouthful of food. “What’s this stuff?” he demanded.

  “Caviar,” Stephen told him.

  “I never had it before. It’s great stuff.”

  “You’re a gourmet,” Stephen said. “This is the best ever.”

  “I thought it was gourmand.”

  “No, a gourmand is somebody who eats too much.”

  “I fall into that category too,” Danny said, laughing at himself.

  Then all at once, laughter left him, and he said soberly, “Dad was a gourmet, wasn’t he, Mom?”

  “Yes,” Margaret answered, meeting Stephen’s eyes.

  “Dad knew a lot of things.”

  “Yes, he did.”

  This was hardly an appropriate subject for the occasion. But what could you expect? The boy was only fifteen, and the hurt was still with him.

  I suppose, she thought, it really is like a wound. People say that for the rest of your life, in certain weathers or simply from time to time, it will come back, and you will feel it.

  Under the table Stephen seized her hand and clasped it. His eyes were smiling. Don’t be afraid of anything, they said. I love you and I will be with you always.

  BELVA PLAIN is the internationally acclaimed author of seventeen bestselling novels. She lives in northern New Jersey.