Promise Cove (A Pelican Pointe Novel Book 1) (36 page)

“
S
hit
.
”
N
ick
forced
himself
t
o
focus
on
the
t
w
o
-
l
ane road
w
a
y
.
“
Y
ou
are
n
’t
her
e
.
”

“
Of
cou
r
s
e,
I
’
m
her
e
.
W
h
y
would
n
’t
I
be
here,
the
p
l
ace where
I
w
as
the
happi
e
st?
I
’
m
all
around
here,
eve
r
y
where here
a
c
t
uall
y
,
espec
i
ally
The
C
ove,
t
o
help
y
ou
adjus
t
,
N
ic
k
.
J
or
d
an
needs hel
p
.
A
nd whether
y
ou
w
ant
t
o accept it or no
t
,
y
ou
’
re
it
.
”

“
I
’
m
not
a
contra
c
t
or
or
a
ca
r
pen
t
e
r
.
S
he
needs
b
o
th. The
hou
s
e
i
s
no
w
here
near
ready
for
p
a
y
i
n
g
g
u
e
sts.
E
ven
if both
of
us
worked
t
welve
hou
r
s
a
d
a
y
for
the
next
t
en
wee
k
s,
it
’
s
gonn
a
b
e
cu
t
t
i
n
g
i
t
cl
o
s
e
.
”

“
J
u
s
t
d
o
y
ou
r
b
e
s
t
.
T
h
at
’
s
a
l
l
I
as
k
,
N
ic
k
.
Y
o
u
prom
i
s
e
d
m
e
.
”

A
s
N
ick
hit
the
c
i
t
y
limits,
he
poin
t
ed
ou
t
,
“
Y
ou’ve
sure
g
o
t
t
e
n
a
l
o
t
o
f
m
i
l
e
s
ou
t
o
f
tha
t
,
t
o
o
.
L
oo
k
,
ins
ta
l
li
n
g
plum
b
i
n
g
f
i
x
t
ures
i
s
n
’t
m
y
fo
r
te
.
I
could
offer
t
o
hire
hel
p
,
b
r
i
n
g
in
a professional,
but
how
would
I
exp
l
ain
that
t
o
J
or
d
an
.
”

“
Y
ou’ll
f
i
g
ure
it
ou
t
,
N
ic
k
.
”

N
ick
spo
tt
ed
F
er
g
u
s
o
n
’
s
on
the
same
s
ide
of
the
street and pulled in
t
o a slot
t
ed spac
e
.
H
e cut the e
n
g
ine and looked over at the pas
s
e
n
ger
s
eat. Sco
t
t
w
as gon
e
.
N
ick puf
f
ed out a
sha
k
y
breat
h.
Ma
yb
e
slee
p
dep
r
i
v
a
t
io
n
ca
u
s
e
d
ha
l
lu
c
ina
t
ions.
Ma
ybe
he
needed
t
o
look
that
up
on
the
In
t
ernet.
H
e
continued
t
o
s
it
there
and
rack
his
brain
for
inspiration.
Ma
ybe
he should
simply
head
back
t
o
L
.A
.
I
t
w
as,
af
t
er
all,
the
ea
s
y
w
a
y
ou
t
an
d
woul
d
mak
e
mor
e
s
en
se
tha
n
th
is
cr
az
y
ide
a
e
ver
had.
B
ut
if
he
did
tha
t
,
he
k
new
he
prob
a
bly
would
n
’t
be
a
ble
t
o
sleep
a
g
ain
in
this
lifetim
e
.
A
nd
if
he
w
a
l
k
ed
a
w
a
y
now
k
n
o
w
i
n
g
wha
t
J
or
d
a
n
w
as
g
o
i
n
g
throug
h
alone
,
h
e
w
as
sure
Sco
t
t
might
never
s
t
op
hara
ss
i
n
g
him.

N
o
doubt
a
bout
i
t
,
he
felt
trapped
be
t
ween
a
promi
s
e that
had
n
’t
meant
a
n
y
thi
n
g
and
his
g
uil
t
y
conscienc
e
.
H
e cr
a
wled from
behind
the
wheel
of the
S
U
V
,
mut
t
e
r
i
n
g
s
om
e
thi
n
g
that
s
ounded
like,
“
T
h
an
k
s
Sco
t
t.
I
’
m
s
t
uck
here
and
s
omethi
n
g
t
el
l
s
me
y
ou
’
re
lo
v
i
n
g
eve
r
y
minu
t
e
of
it
.
”

F
eeli
n
g
p
i
s
s
ed
off
at
the
whole
s
it
u
ation,
he
w
a
l
k
ed through
the
double
doo
r
s
of
F
er
g
u
s
o
n
’
s
w
ith
an
atti
t
ud
e
. Loo
k
i
n
g
around
the
s
t
ore
he
sp
o
tt
ed
the
hard
w
are
s
e
c
tion and
dug
through
the
shelv
e
s
until
he
found
se
veral
bo
x
e
s
of nuts
and
bolts
he
thought
he
could
u
s
e
.

H
e
then
followed
the
signs
for
cus
t
omer
pic
k
up
t
o
the back
coun
t
e
r
,
only
t
o
find
he
had
t
o
w
ait
his
t
urn
behind five
other
peopl
e
.
There
w
as
one
lone
man
behind
the
coun
t
er
t
r
y
i
n
g
t
o
t
a
ke
care
of
eve
r
y
on
e
—and
at
a
s
n
ail
’
s
pace
no l
es
s.
B
ut
he
got
in
line
behind
a
little
old
l
ady
w
ith
blue
hai
r
, who
as
it
t
urned
ou
t
,
w
as
n
’t
pic
k
i
n
g
up
a
n
y
thi
n
g
at
all,
but r
a
ther
w
an
t
ed
sp
r
i
n
g
p
l
anti
n
g
ti
p
s
on
what
k
inds
of
perenn
i
a
l
s
th
r
ived
best
in
this
zon
e
.
Af
t
er
s
t
andi
n
g
behind
her
for
t
en
minu
t
es,
N
ick
suspec
t
ed
she
w
an
t
ed
nothi
n
g
more
than
t
o
h
a
ve
s
omeone
l
i
s
t
en
while
she
ber
a
t
ed
her
l
a
z
y
,
good-for-nothi
n
g e
x
cu
s
e for a
s
on-in-
l
a
w
.