15 - Kathleen
I killed the engine, and stepped off the Chevy. The pier’s parking was full, so I contented myself with Stanley’s reserved spot close to the marina. My cousin had taken the day off to visit his folks at their country house in nearby Sullivan.
I grabbed my blue canvas rucksack and resolutely walked across the parking lot, passing in front of the souvenir shop/tourist trap. The morning air had a bite to it, and I closed my windbreaker, feeling under my fingers pads the pendant Bryan had offered me on our tenth anniversary. Our last one.
The pier extended about half a mile over the sea, with the condemned beach on one side and the marina on the other side. The walkway followed a line of shops and restaurants looking at the beach.
The end of the pier was devoid of shops, the
