Read 16 Lighthouse Road for Free Online

they’d once shared.
    Ian was irritated that he had to ring the doorbell to what had recently been his own home. After their separation, he’d had to move on base. Fortunately, his friend Andrew Lackey had allowed Ian to store a few things at his house. He leaned hard against the buzzer now, fighting down his resentment. Releasing the button, he retreated a step and squared his shoulders. He steeled his emotions the way he’d been taught in basic training, unwilling to reveal any of his thoughts or feelings to Cecilia.
    His wife opened the door, frowning when she saw who it was.
    â€œI thought we should come to a decision,” he announced in resolute tones. No matter how many times he told himselfhe shouldn’t feel anything for her, he did. He couldn’t be in the same room with her and forget what it was like when they’d made love or when he’d first felt their baby move inside her. Nor could he forget how it had felt to stand over his daughter’s grave, never having had the opportunity to hold Allison or tell her he loved her.
    Cecilia held open the door. “Okay.”
    The hesitation in her voice was unmistakable.
    Ian followed her into the compact living room and sat on the edge of the sofa. They’d picked it up second-hand at a garage sale shortly after their wedding. Ian had refused to let Cecilia help him move it, since she was already three months pregnant. His stubbornness had resulted in a wrenched back. This old sofa came with a lot of bad memories, just like his short-lived marriage.
    Cecilia sat across from him, her hands folded, her face unrevealing.
    â€œI have to tell you the judge’s decision was kind of a shock,” he said, opening the discussion.
    â€œMy attorney said we could appeal it.”
    â€œOh, sure,” Ian muttered, his anger flaring. “And rack up another five or six hundred dollars’ worth of legal fees. I don’t have that kind of money to burn and neither do you.”
    â€œYou don’t know the state of my finances,” Cecilia snapped.
    This was the way every discussion started with them. At first they were courteous, almost too polite, but within minutes they were arguing and everything exploded in his face. They seemed to reach that level of irrational anger so quickly these days, or at least since Allison Marie’s birth—and death. Ian sighed, feeling a sense of hopelessness. With the way things were between them now, it was hard to believe they’d ever slept together.
    Ian diverted his thoughts from their once healthy and energetic love life. In bed they’d found little to disagree about, but that was before…
    â€œWe could always do as my attorney suggested.”
    â€œAnd what’s that?” Ian had no intention of taking Allan Harris’s advice. The other man represented his wife’s interests, not his.
    â€œAllan recommended we do what the judge said and take our disagreement to the Dispute Resolution Center.”
    Ian remembered Judge Lockhart making some comment about that, and he remembered his own reaction at the time. “What exactly is that supposed to do?” he asked, trying to sound reasonable and conciliatory.
    â€œWell, I can’t say for certain, but I think we’d each present our sides to an impartial third party.”
    â€œWhat will that cost?”
    â€œDoes everything boil down to money with you?” Cecilia demanded.
    â€œAs a matter of fact, yes.” This divorce had already set him back plenty. He wasn’t the one who’d wanted it in the first place, he told himself stubbornly. Sure, after Allison died, they’d had a few arguments but he’d never expected it to lead to this.
    Cecilia had never understood what it’d been like for him, although he’d tried to explain countless times. He hadn’t received her “family gram” until the end of the tour. His commanding officer had withheld the