Promise Cove (A Pelican Pointe Novel Book 1) (47 page)

A
s
the
only
grocer
in
t
own
M
u
r
p
h
y
p
r
ided
him
s
elf
on
k
no
w
i
n
g
what
i
n
ven
t
o
r
y
he
needed
t
o
s
t
ock
t
o
keep
h
i
s cus
t
ome
r
s
happ
y
.
F
or the ve
g
ans in
t
own, he ke
p
t a line
of or
g
anic
and
healt
h
y
foo
d
s.
F
or
the
b
o
ttled
w
at
er
d
r
inke
r
s, all they needed to do
w
as make their f
a
vo
r
i
t
e brand
k
nown and h
e
’
d
s
ee
t
o
it
they
g
o
t
i
t
.
H
e
had
fr
e
sh
produce
delivered
four tim
e
s
a
week
ma
k
i
n
g
sure
h
i
s
s
t
ore
r
i
v
a
led
a
n
y
of
the
markets in
S
an
F
ran
s
everal
hou
r
s
t
o
the
no
r
th.
H
e
k
new
down
t
o the
cus
t
omer
which
non
-
e
s
s
ent
i
a
l
i
t
ems
they
bought
on
a frequent
bas
i
s
and
made
sure
not
t
o
r
un
sho
r
t.
H
e
ran
t
wo checkout
s
t
an
d
s,
and
w
ith
five
re
g
u
l
ar
pa
r
t-time
r
s,
M
u
r
p
h
y
’
s
M
arket
w
as
the
third
-
l
arg
e
st
emplo
y
er
in
t
own
behind
the bank
and
F
er
g
u
s
o
n
’
s
H
ard
w
ar
e
.

W
ith
h
i
s
s
t
ore
such
an
in
t
egr
a
l
pa
r
t
of
the
t
own
and
the fa
c
t
that
he
w
as
m
a
y
o
r
,
it
w
as
a
safe
bet
that
nothi
n
g
much happened
in
P
elican
P
o
in
t
e
w
ithout
M
u
r
p
h
y
k
no
w
i
n
g
a
bout it—in
de
t
ail.
Th
i
s
mo
r
ni
n
g
he
w
at
ched
a
y
ou
n
g
woman
in
her early
t
wenti
e
s
named
Lilly
Seybold,
at
least
he
thought
that
w
as
her
name,
do
her
groce
r
y
shop
p
i
n
g
,
or
t
r
y
t
o
.
Lilly
had only
been
in
t
own
s
ince
C
h
r
i
stmas
and
ren
t
ed
a
r
undown, old trailer on Derek
S
t
o
v
all
’
s
l
and on the outs
k
i
r
ts of
t
own
w
ith her
t
wo
y
ou
n
g
k
ids, a
boy
a
bout eigh
t
een months and
the
g
irl,
barely
thre
e years old
.

Li
v
i
n
g
on
a
ssi
s
t
ance
from
the
coun
t
y
,
Lilly
did
n
’t
h
a
ve much
mone
y
.
On
a
tight
budget
she
usu
a
lly
shopped
clu
t
chi
n
g
a
f
i
st
f
ul
of
coupons
alo
n
g
w
ith
a
well-wo
r
n,
hand
calcu
l
a
t
o
r
,
which
allowed
her
t
o
k
now
t
o
the
pen
n
y
how
much
the bill would
be
before the
cashier
t
o
ta
led it
u
p
.
C
ar
l
a
V
ar
g
as, the
coun
t
y
s
o
c
i
al
worker,
w
as
in
the
proc
es
s
of
hel
p
i
n
g
Lilly get
a
divorce
from
her
husband,
who
w
as
s
e
r
v
i
n
g
time
in s
t
a
t
e
p
r
is
on
for
a
l
aund
r
y
l
i
st
of
charg
e
s,
the
least
of
which were
se
veral
d
r
unk
and
d
is
orderly
in
c
idents,
a
poli
t
e
w
a
y
of s
a
y
i
n
g
he
had
bea
t
en
the
li
v
i
n
g
cr
a
p
out
of
Lilly
on
more
than one
occasion.
I
t
s
eems
Lilly
had
finally
found
the
cour
a
ge
t
o file
charg
e
s
and the
police
had
s
een
fit
t
o
lock
him u
p
.
B
ut accordi
n
g
t
o
C
ar
l
a
’
s
repo
r
ts,
there
were
n
’t
a
lot
of
employment oppo
r
t
uniti
e
s in
P
elican
P
o
in
t
e for Lill
y
.
S
he and her
t
wo
y
ou
n
g
children,
K
yra
and
J
oe
y
,
were
h
a
v
i
n
g
a
t
ough
time ma
k
i
n
g
ends
mee
t
,
hence
the
ass
i
s
t
ance
from
the
coun
t
y
.

Th
i
s
morni
n
g
the
s
t
ore
w
as
bu
s
y
.
M
u
r
p
h
y
w
a
t
ched
Lilly make
her
w
a
y
t
o
the
other
open
checkout
and
then
ne
r
vously e
y
e
the
s
canner
as
it
ra
n
g
up
her
me
a
ger
groce
r
i
e
s,
a
gene
r
ic ca
r
t
on
of
d
i
ape
r
s,
a
g
a
llon
of
mil
k
,
peanut
but
t
e
r
,
and
a
d
a
y-old
loaf
of
bread.
W
hen
the
clerk
g
a
ve
her
the
amoun
t
,
Lilly pulled
a
t
on
of
lo
os
e
cha
n
ge
from
her
r
a
gged
pu
r
s
e,
barely comi
n
g
up
w
ith
the
t
welve
dol
l
a
r
s
and
fif
t
y-
s
i
x
cents
t
o
cover the
bill.

Af
t
er
p
a
y
i
n
g
,
she
led
the
k
ids
out
the
front
door
t
o
a beat-up
old
F
ord.

W
at
chi
n
g them g
o
,
M
u
r
p
h
y made a men
t
al no
t
e
t
o ask
C
ar
l
a
if
Lilly
had
enough
money
comi
n
g
in
each
month
t
o cover
her
bil
l
s.
I
t
w
as
barely
the
middle
of
F
eb
r
ua
r
y
.
B
ut
w
ith
rent
due
on
the
f
i
r
s
t
,
the
y
ou
n
g
m
o
ther
might
not
h
a
ve
enoug
h
lef
t
over
t
o
buy
food.

A
s
he
t
urned
t
o
r
i
n
g
up
another
cus
t
ome
r
,
he
spo
tt
ed
J
or
d
an
s
t
andi
n
g
in
the
produce
s
e
c
tion.
H
i
s
thoughts
t
urned
t
o
her
si
t
uation,
a
dif
f
erent
k
ind
of
har
d
ship
entirel
y
,
but
still a
har
d
shi
p
,
h
e
de
c
ided
.
T
h
a
t
ha
d
hi
m
wonde
r
i
n
g
ho
w
thi
n
gs were
g
o
i
n
g
be
t
ween
her
and
N
ick
H
ar
r
i
s.
H
e
could
n
’t
help but
think
who
e
ver
said
life
w
as
dull
in
a
small
t
own
ob
v
iously had
never
lived
in
on
e
.
T
urni
n
g
h
i
s
at
t
ention
back
t
o
r
unni
n
g re
gi
s
t
er
number
one,
he
be
g
an
s
canni
n
g
M
y
r
tle
P
ettibon
e
’
s
t
wen
t
y
cans
of
cat
food.