Promise Cove (A Pelican Pointe Novel Book 1) (28 page)

W
in
c
i
n
g
slightly
at
the
qu
e
s
t
ion,
n
o
t
w
anti
n
g
t
o
lie
t
o
her a
n
y more
than
he
had
t
o
,
he
wondered
how
he
might
an
s
we
r
.
F
or
s
e
ve
r
al
lo
n
g
s
econ
d
s,
he
sat
there
con
t
emp
l
a
ti
n
g
h
i
s r
e
spon
s
e
.
F
ina
l
l
y
,
he
p
icked
up
h
i
s
iced
t
ea
and
s
ettled
on
a
pa
r
t
i
a
l
ve
r
s
io
n
o
f
th
e
t
r
ut
h.
“
Y
o
u
migh
t
s
a
y
I
’
v
e
ha
d
a
rough
couple
of
months.
I
needed
t
o
get
a
w
a
y
f
rom
L
.
A
.
for
a
wh
i
l
e
.
Abou
t
a
wee
k
a
g
o
,
I
g
o
t
o
n
m
y
bi
k
e
an
d
di
d
j
u
s
t
tha
t
.
I
ended u
p
i
n
P
e
lica
n
P
o
in
te
.
”
H
e
migh
t
h
a
v
e
ta
ke
n
h
i
s
ti
m
e
ma
k
i
n
g the
jou
r
ney
here,
comi
n
g
t
o
s
ee
th
i
s
woman,
but
now
that they were sha
r
i
n
g a meal, he could
n
’t remember w
h
y h
e
’
d been
s
o
apprehen
s
iv
e
.

“
I
g
u
es
s
th
e
s
e
d
a
y
s
there
are
a
l
o
t
of
people
g
o
i
n
g
through rough
tim
e
s
.
”

Th
ough
ts
o
f
th
e
l
a
s
t
y
ea
r
whirle
d
throug
h
h
i
s
head
.
“
Y
ou coul
d
s
a
y
tha
t
.
”

B
u
t
a
l
l
a
t
onc
e
sh
e
caugh
t
wha
t
h
e
’
d
sai
d
an
d
w
an
t
e
d
t
o
k
no
w
,
“
Y
ou
’
ve
only
been
gone
f
rom
L
.A
.
a
week?
Y
ou
were loo
k
i
n
g
for
wor
k
,
r
ight?”

L
i
k
e
a
ma
n
hoardi
n
g
a
s
e
c
r
e
t
,
h
e
g
u
i
l
ti
l
y
cha
n
ge
d
the su
b
je
c
t.
“
W
her
e
d
o
y
o
u
ge
t
y
ou
r
c
u
i
s
ine
?
T
h
i
s
bee
f
d
i
s
h
i
s e
x
ce
l
len
t.
I
did
n
’
t
s
e
e
a
n
y
p
l
ac
e
i
n
t
o
wn
tha
t
of
f
e
r
s
th
is
k
i
nd
o
f
food
.
”

A
s
m
i
le
tran
s
fo
r
med
her
fac
e
.
“
Beef
bour
g
ui
g
non.
Y
ou think
it
’
s
r
e
s
t
au
r
ant
quali
t
y?
I
’
m
f
l
at
t
ered
.
I
w
as
wo
r
r
ie
d
m
y
c
ulina
r
y
s
k
il
l
s
were
a
t
ad
on
the
weak
s
ide
for
a
B
&
B
.
F
or the
past
few
months
I
’
ve
been
e
xpe
r
imenti
n
g
w
ith
re
c
ip
e
s, t
r
y
i
n
g
t
o
broaden
m
y
menu,
shore
up
m
y
s
k
il
l
s
s
o
t
o
spea
k
.
”
E
y
ei
n
g
hi
m
w
it
h
a
s
t
ead
y
ga
ze
,
sh
e
added
,
“
Y
o
u
migh
t
make
a
good
t
e
st
su
b
je
c
t
.
U
p
t
o
no
w
,
it
’
s
j
u
st
been
H
ut
t
on,
and
sh
e
’
s
g
o
i
n
g
throug
h
he
r
p
ic
k
y
-
ea
t
e
r
s
ta
g
e
.
”

The
p
ic
k
y
ea
t
er
dropped
an
o
ther
pea
on
the
f
l
oo
r
.

N
ick
had
n
e
ver
k
no
w
n
a
woman
who
l
i
ked
t
o
cook
or
for
tha
t
mat
t
e
r
l
i
ke
d
t
o
g
o
nea
r
a
k
i
t
c
he
n
o
r
w
as
con
t
en
t
t
o
s
t
a
y hom
e
.
The
u
sual
women
on
h
i
s
ra
d
ar
lived
a
high
-
o
c
t
ane
k
ind of
ex
i
s
t
ence,
much
l
i
ke
him,
he
l
l-bent
on
the
fast
track
up
the
co
r
p
o
r
a
t
e
l
adde
r
t
o
finan
c
i
a
l
s
e
c
u
r
i
t
y
as
fast
as
they
could
get ther
e
.
They
did
n
’t
cook
a
n
y
thi
n
g
that
could
n
’t
be
slid
in
t
o
a mi
c
ro
w
a
ve,
and
lived
p
r
ima
r
i
ly
on
delive
r
y
or
ta
k
e
-
ou
t
.
A
nd l
i
ke
him,
h
a
v
i
n
g
k
i
d
s
w
a
s
n
’t
e
ven
on
the
a
gen
d
a.
A
s
he
s
t
uck an
o
ther
b
i
t
e
of
t
ender
meat
in
h
i
s
mouth,
he
de
c
ided
th
i
s od
y
s
s
ey
might
h
a
ve
a
few
added
benef
it
s
af
t
er
a
l
l,
li
k
e
hom
e
cooked
mea
l
s.
“
I
f
e
ve
r
y
meal
t
as
t
e
s
as
good
as
th
i
s,
I
’
m
happy
t
o
be
y
our
t
e
st
su
b
je
c
t
.
”