Free Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks Page A

understand how Noah must have felt. Can you believe this storm? I’ve got puddles all over my kitchen.”
    Katie motioned over her shoulder. “My leak is in the living room.”
    “Home sweet home, right? Here,” she said, handing over the wine. “Just like I promised. And believe me, I’m going to need it.”
    “Rough day?”
    “Like you couldn’t imagine.”
    “Come on in.”
    “Let me leave my coat out here or you’re going to have two puddles in your living room,” she said, shimmying out of her slicker. “I got soaked in the few seconds I was out there.”
    Jo tossed her coat on the rocker along with the umbrella and followed Katie inside as she led the way to the kitchen.
    Katie immediately set the wine on the counter. As Jo wandered to the table, Katie pulled open the drawer by the refrigerator. From the back of the drawer, she pulled out a rusted Swiss Army knife and readied the opener.
    “This is great. I’m starved. I haven’t eaten all day.”
    “Help yourself. How did it go with the painting?”
    “Well, I got the living room done. But after that, it wasn’t such a good day.”
    “What happened?”
    “I’ll tell you about it later. I need wine first. How about you? What did you do?”
    “Nothing much. Ran to the store, cleaned up, did my laundry.”
    Jo took a seat at the table and reached for a cracker. “In other words, memoir material.”
    Katie laughed as she began to twist the corkscrew. “Oh, yeah. Real exciting.”
    “Do you want me to get that?” Jo asked.
    “I think I’ve got it.”
    “Good.” Jo smirked. “Because I’m the guest, and I expect to be pampered.”
    Katie propped the bottle between her legs and the cork came out with a pop.
    “Seriously, though, thanks for having me over.” Jo sighed. “You have no idea how much I’ve been looking forward to this.”
    “Really?”
    “Don’t do that.”
    “Don’t do what?” Katie asked.
    “Act surprised that I wanted to come over. That I wanted to bond over a bottle of wine. That’s what friends do.” She raised an eyebrow. “Oh, and by the way, before you start wondering whether or not we’re actually friends and how well we know each other, trust me when I say that yes, absolutely. I consider you a friend.” She let that sink in before going on. “Now how about some wine?”
    The storm finally broke in the early evening, and Katie opened the kitchen window. The temperature had dropped and the air felt cool and clean. While pockets of mist rose from the ground, rolling clouds drifted past the moon, bringing light and shadow in equal measures. Leaves turned from silver to black and silver again as they shimmered in the evening breeze.
    Katie drifted dreamily on the wine, the evening breeze, and Jo’s easy laughter. Katie found herself savoring every bite of the buttery crackers and sharp, rich cheese, remembering how hungry she once had been. There was a time when she’d been as thin as a heated strand of blown glass.
    Her thoughts were wandering. She remembered her parents, not the hard times but the good ones, when the demons were sleeping: when her mom made eggs and bacon, the aroma filling the house, and she’d seen her father glide into the kitchen, toward her mother. He would pull aside her hair and kiss the side of her neck, making her giggle. Once, she remembered, her dad had brought them to Gettysburg. He’d taken her hand as they walked around, and she could still recall the rare sensation of strength and gentleness in his grasp. He was tall and broad-shouldered with dark brown hair and there was a navy tattoo on his upper arm. He’d served on a destroyer for four years and had been to Japan, Korea, and Singapore, though he said little else about his experience.
    Her mom was petite with blond hair and had once competed in a beauty pageant, finishing as the second runner-up. She loved flowers, and in the spring she would plant bulbs in ceramic flowerpots she placed in the yard. Tulips and