Promise Cove (A Pelican Pointe Novel Book 1) (74 page)

A
t
that
momen
t
,
he
g
l
anced
out
the
w
indow
and
w
a
t
ched as
the
newcomer
climbed
out
of
an
S
U
V
and
saun
t
ered
in
t
o
F
er
g
u
s
o
n
’
s. Good, he
though
t
.
L
et
him do
a
l
l the
bac
k
-brea
k
i
n
g
work
in
v
ain.
H
e
p
l
anned
on
kee
p
i
n
g
a
cl
o
s
e
e
y
e
on
the
s
i
t
uation.
H
e
really
hoped
H
a
r
r
i
s
w
a
s
n
’t
putti
n
g
in
t
oo
much of
an
ef
f
ort
t
o
f
i
x
up
that
dum
p
.
I
t
w
as
a
w
as
t
e
of
time
and mone
y
.
I
f
K
ent
S
p
r
i
n
ger
had
h
i
s
w
a
y
that
ramshackle
old hou
s
e
had
a
short
lif
e
span.

Completely oblivious to
what was going on across the street at the diner Nick went about his business, picking up the supplies he needed and ordering the materials to patch the roof. Thirty minutes later, in a good mood, he walked through the double doors of Ferguson’s stepping outside into the warm afternoon sunshine, almost giddy at the prospect of a job well done. He couldn’t believe the progress they had made in such a short amount of time. Every day the house looked a little bit better. He had almost started to believe they’d make the deadline.

H
e
came
t
o
an
a
b
r
upt
halt
when
h
i
s
ga
ze
l
anded
on
a
boy of
a
bout
t
en,
who
sat
on
the
s
ide
w
a
l
k
a
few
feet
a
w
a
y
g
uardi
n
g
a
cardboard
box.
C
u
r
io
u
s,
N
ick
went
over
t
o
where
the boy
sat
and
s
quat
t
ed
do
w
n
in
f
ront
of
him,
chec
k
i
n
g
out
the con
t
ents
in
s
ide
the
box.

“
W
ha
t
h
a
v
e
y
o
u
g
o
t
there?”

The
boy
f
i
x
ed
him
a
good
pou
t
.
“
P
up
p
i
e
s.
T
h
ey
can
le
a
ve their
m
o
ther
no
w
.
M
y
mom
s
a
y
s
I
g
o
t
t
o
find
them
a
new p
l
ace
t
o
liv
e
.
”

N
ic
k
peere
d
in
to
th
e
bo
x
.
S
i
x
livel
y
,
w
iggl
y
ba
l
ls
o
f
f
u
r
,
thei
r
bree
d
unreco
g
niz
a
ble
,
looke
d
bac
k
a
t
hi
m
w
it
h
b
i
g
b
l
ac
k
s
oul
f
u
l
e
y
e
s
the
y
had
n
’
t
y
e
t
g
ro
w
n
in
t
o
.
H
e
s
e
t
do
w
n
th
e
sac
k
h
e
hel
d
an
d
fo
cu
s
e
d
o
n
th
e
pup
p
i
e
s
.
“
W
ha
t
k
i
nd
are they
?”

The
boy
sh
r
ugged.
“
D
o
n
’t
k
now
exa
c
tl
y
.
Little
b
it
of
e
ve
r
y
thi
n
g
I
g
u
e
s
s.
G
o
t
one
that
’
s
brown
and
whi
t
e,
on
e
’
s
s
olid
brown,
one
has
a
l
l
k
in
d
s
of
colo
r
s
.
”

“
W
hich
one
do
y
ou
recommend?”

T
u
r
ni
n
g
sharp
e
y
e
s
on
the
man,
the
boy
thought
he reco
g
nized
a
no
v
ic
e
.
“
Y
ou
k
now
a
n
y
thi
n
g
a
bout
do
g
s, m
i
s
t
er?”

“
N
o
t
reall
y
.
Ma
ybe
y
ou
can
g
ive
me
a
few
p
o
in
t
e
r
s
.
”

A
s
the
boy
be
g
an
h
i
s
b
e
st
p
i
t
ch,
N
ick
r
ubbed
h
i
s
j
a
w
, wonderi
n
g
what
J
or
d
a
n
’
s
rea
c
tion
would
b
e
.
W
ithout
putti
n
g much
more
thought
in
t
o
it
though,
he
de
c
ided
on
the
mul
t
icolored
one
and
headed
t
o
the
S
U
V
.