The Ocean Between Us by Susan Wiggs

was the hell of having a job like his—he missed crucial moments in their lives. And even the periods of deepest contentment never lasted. But maybe, he conceded, the job made them sweeter, made him appreciate them more. Grace used to tell him so all the time, but she hadn’t mentioned it lately.
     
    After dinner, the kids got ready to go out. Steve could hear Brian and Emma upstairs arguing. The two of them shared the Bronco II, and if their plans for the evening didn’t happen to coincide, they sank into one of their legendary disputes. He wondered why, after all these years, they still bothered. It was a bit like shadowboxing.
    The twins were so alike, blond and athletic, with identical blue eyes. They had the sort of looks older women fussed over in grocery stores. When they were little, Grace used to push them around in the “double wide,” a dual stroller she took everywhere. By the time Katie came along, that stroller had a lot of miles on it. Katie occupied a slinglike compartment in the rear of the contraption. She was such a quiet, unobtrusive little soul. One time—Grace swore it was only once—she had actually set her diaper bag on top of the baby, having forgotten until a little kitten mew of distress alerted her.
    The expected squabble subsided without intervention, and Steve let out the breath he’d been holding. The twins had entered a phase of their relationship in which they were starting to like each other on a selective basis. Perhaps as the concept of leaving home became ever more real to them, they decided to explore the deep and mysterious heart of their twinship. Whatever it was, Steve would not complain. Especially since Katie, his awkward colt of a daughter, seemed to be experimenting with her own brand of rebellion here and there.
    At the moment, Katie was stretched out on the sofa, reading a book. Her long, skinny legs—Olive Oyl legs, she lamented—were draped over the backrest, her head hanging off the side at an impossible angle. She read with deep concentration, seeming to inhale the story through her eyes. Steve walked over and mussed her hair playfully, earning a we-are-not-amused glare. He bentdown to see what she was reading. “ Beneath the Wheel by Hermann Hesse. The feel-good book of the year.”
    “At least it makes my life seem less depressing.”
    “Since when is your life depressing?”
    “Since Brian and Emma get to go out tonight and they’ve already got tons of friends and not one person even cares if I exist—”
    The phone rang. “I’ll get it,” she shrieked, flinging aside the book and clearing the coffee table in a single leap.
    “She ought to go out for the track team. I’m thinking hurdles.” Steve’s gaze followed her as she streaked from the room. “What’s this about her depressing life?”
    Grace smiled as she wiped down the dining room table. “Wait five minutes. Her mood will shift.”
    It took less than five minutes. Portable phone in hand, Katie rushed back into the room, bursting with smiles. “I’m going to the movies with Brooke Mather,” she announced. Then she locked eyes with Steve and cleared her throat. “May I go to the movies with Brooke Mather? The eight o’clock show at the Skywarrior?”
    The base cinema was crowded with teens each summer and had been for decades. Steve wondered idly what it would be like to watch the decades slip by in one place.
    “Who’s driving you?” asked Grace.
    “We can ride our bikes.”
    Grace threw the sponge into the sink. “Nice try, kiddo.”
    “We can.”
    “Of course you can. But you’re not going to. You know the score, sweetheart. The base is—”
    “I know. I know. Too crowded with clueless drivers who don’t watch for bikes, especially after dark.”
    “Riddled with revved-up Navy guys who have only one thing on their minds,” Emma chimed in, coming down the stairs.
    “Yeah, Dad,” Katie said, “what’s with all the revved-up Navy guys? Aren’t you senior officers