Promise Cove (A Pelican Pointe Novel Book 1) (31 page)

A
nd now he
w
as
t
a
l
k
i
n
g
t
o himself.
I
n
the midst of it
all, by
comi
n
g
here,
he
had
a
n
a
g
g
i
n
g
feeli
n
g
h
e
’
d
just
made
the si
t
u
a
t
io
n
a
he
ll
u
v
a
l
o
t
wo
r
s
e
.
W
ha
t
woul
d
Sc
o
t
t
s
a
y
i
f
h
e
t
o
ld
him
he
w
as
attra
c
t
ed
t
o
his
w
ife?
R
idiculous,
he
thought. Sco
t
t
w
as
dead.
A
nd
had
been
for
t
en
months.

N
ic
k
g
l
ance
d
u
p
a
t
th
e
s
t
a
r
s
ag
ai
n
an
d
t
r
ie
d
t
o
mak
e
out
the b
r
ill
i
ant
t
w
inkli
n
g light
of
the b
r
igh
t
e
st
s
t
a
r
.
V
enus, he de
c
ided.
The
night
s
k
y
shimmered
back
at
him.
H
e
could
n
’t remember
the
l
ast
time
h
e
’
d
ta
ken
the
time
t
o
just
ga
ze
up and
enjoy
that
v
ie
w
.
I
n
s
omn
i
a
aside,
there
w
as
nothi
n
g
like
w
at
chi
n
g
the
night
s
k
y
for
falli
n
g
s
t
a
r
s.
H
e
’
d
forg
o
tt
en
how
t
o
do
that
in
L.
A
.

A
s
a
bo
y
,
h
e
’
d
spent
hou
r
s
loo
k
ing
through
h
i
s
tel
e
s
c
ope
t
r
y
i
ng
to
locate
e
ve
r
y
thing
f
rom
the
M
il
k
y
W
a
y
to the
Little
D
i
pper
to
C
a
ss
i
opei
a
.
F
un
n
y
,
he
had
n
’
t
thought
o
f
that
in
a
g
e
s
.
B
ut
fo
r
the
past
three
yea
r
s
h
i
s
lif
e
had
n
’t exa
c
tl
y
been
h
i
s
o
wn
.
L
eaning
on
the
ra
i
l
in
g
,
he
looked
a
c
r
os
s
the
cou
r
t
y
ard
at
the
main
ho
u
s
e.

Sc
o
t
t
w
as
nowhere
in
sigh
t
.

S
hrouded
in
d
ar
k
ness
even
he
could
t
ell
the
rambli
n
g old
V
i
c
t
o
r
i
an
looked
as
if
it
needed
a
comple
t
e
overhaul.
A sudden
idea
hit
him.
W
h
at
k
ind
of
fool
would
be
thin
k
i
n
g
a
b
ou
t
get
t
i
n
g
t
o
wor
k
r
i
gh
t
a
b
ou
t
now
?
A
nd
wha
t
would
J
or
d
an
s
a
y?

A
couple
of
hou
r
s
l
at
e
r
,
roller
in
hand,
N
ick
g
l
anced
at h
i
s
w
at
ch
and
y
a
wned.
F
our-
t
wen
t
y
.
S
t
andi
n
g
on
the
l
adder h
e
’
d
found
in
the
g
a
r
a
ge,
he
spread
ano
t
her
round
of
B
a
nana
C
ream
paint
on
the
li
v
i
n
g
room
w
a
ll.
H
e
looked
around
the room.
Once
h
e
’
d
thrown
down
drop
cloths
t
o
cover
the
up
r
igh
t
p
i
an
o
,
th
e
s
o
f
a
an
d
lov
es
e
a
t
,
h
e
ha
d
pret
t
y
much
been
good
t
o
g
o
.
A
nd
it
did
n
’t
ta
ke
much
thought
t
o
s
l
ap
p
i
n
g on
pain
t
.

B
ut
the
mindless
t
ask
s
oon
g
a
ve
w
a
y
t
o
exhaustion
from
l
ack
of
slee
p
.
W
hen
he
decided
t
o
t
a
ke
a
break
he
simply climbed
down
off
the
l
adder
and
sat
down
on
the
floo
r
.
S
tre
t
chi
n
g out his lo
n
g le
g
s, he leaned his head up
a
g
ainst an unpain
t
ed
po
r
tion
of
the
w
a
ll
and
cl
o
s
ed
his
e
y
es.
I
t
did
n
’t
t
a
ke
lo
n
g
for
him
t
o
drop
off
in
t
o
a
deep
slumbe
r
.