Promise Cove (A Pelican Pointe Novel Book 1) (196 page)

S
lowly
he
made
h
i
s
w
a
y
past
the
g
at
e
s
and
on
t
o
the
g
roun
d
s.
H
e
g
o
t
off
the
bi
ke
and
w
a
l
k
ed
amo
n
g
the
head
s
t
on
e
s
.
E
t
e
r
na
l
G
arden
s
w
a
s
n
’
t
tha
t
b
i
g
.
I
t
t
oo
k
hi
m
j
u
s
t
a few
minu
t
e
s
t
o
loca
t
e
the
r
ight
sp
ot
.
W
hen
he
sp
o
tt
ed
the marke
r
,
he
dropped
t
o
h
i
s
k
ne
e
s
t
o
read
the
hea
d
s
t
on
e
.

D
a
v
i
d
S
c
o
t
t
P
h
i
ll
i
ps

B
e
l
ove
d
Hu
s
ba
n
d
a
n
d
F
a
t
h
er

D
i
ed
In
Se
r
v
i
ce
t
o
His
C
ount
r
y

N
ick
opened
h
i
s
mouth
t
o
spea
k
,
but
could
n
’t
make the
wor
d
s
come
ou
t
.
T
ea
r
s
f
i
l
led
h
i
s
e
y
e
s.
H
e
reached
out
t
o
t
ouch
the
hea
d
s
t
one
and
for
the
f
i
r
st
time
n
o
ticed
the
f
r
e
sh
f
l
owe
r
s.
L
i
li
e
s.
C
r
im
s
on
s
t
ar
ga
ze
r
s,
J
or
d
an
had
ca
l
led
the
m
.
I
t
did
n
’
t
tak
e
muc
h
im
a
g
ina
t
io
n
t
o
p
i
c
t
ur
e
he
r
i
n
th
i
s
sp
o
t
,
s
i
t
t
i
n
g
w
it
h
H
u
t
t
o
n
.
H
o
w
of
t
en
did
she
come
here?
he wondered,
as
he
sat
do
w
n
on
the
g
ra
s
s
and
r
e
s
t
ed
h
i
s
head
ag
ainst
the
cool
ma
r
bl
e
.

“
I
t
’
s
j
u
st
m
y
body
and
bon
e
s
there,
br
o
.
M
y
s
p
i
r
it
’
s
r
ight here,
alive
and
k
ic
k
i
n
g
.
”

N
ic
k
’
s
head
s
n
apped
u
p
.
H
e
s
wor
e
.
“
J
e
s
u
s.
W
ould
y
ou
s
t
o
p
d
o
i
n
g
that?”

“
Y
ou
should
be
u
s
ed
t
o
me
by
no
w
.
”

“
W
e
l
l,
I
’
m
n
ot
.
S
o
,
c
ut
it
ou
t
.
”

“
O
k
a
y
.
B
u
t
on
e
o
f
th
e
s
e
d
a
y
s
y
ou
’
r
e
gonn
a
w
ann
a
t
a
l
k
.
U
nt
i
l
then
…
”

“Wait…”

B
ut
it
w
as
t
oo
l
at
e
Sc
o
t
t
w
as
gon
e
.
N
ick
s
ighed
and
l
aid h
i
s
head
back
do
w
n
on
the
cool
ma
r
bl
e
.

Back at The
Cove, Jordan’s bedroom looked like a cyclone had hit it. Clothes were thrown over the bed, on the floor, and her closet looked just as bad. She’d gone through her entire wardrobe to try to find just the right thing to wear. She knew it was silly, but she couldn’t help herself. She wanted to look good tonight. After thirty minutes, she finally settled on a floral print sundress. She might have to squeeze to get into it but it’d be worth it. When Hutton crawled out from under a pile of clothes halfway between the bed and the closet, Jordan asked, “Which earrings should I wear, the pearl drops or the gold hoops?”

Hutton answered with a long string of babble. “You’re right the sundress looks better with the hoops. Hoops it is.

Okay. Now we pick up this mess and get you fixed up. We want to look good tonight, baby girl.”

Even before the
SUV reached the highway to Santa Cruz, Jordan noticed how quiet Nick had been since he’d gotten back from town. Her imagination kicked into overdrive as she tried to figure out what had happened there to make him so sullen. Anything was possible. He’d left the house in a good mood and now it didn’t take a genius to figure out that the life in his eyes looked drained as if it had never existed. Determined to get to the root of the problem, Jordan asked jovially, “Did you enjoy surfing with Tom?”