Searching for Sea Glass: BEST-SELLING AUTHOR (Sea Glass Secrets Book 1) (24 page)

The pale girl in the bed showed no sign she heard him. “I’m so sorry, Sunny. If I could call it all back, I would. I’d start all over with you. I’d take you out on dates. I’d bring you flowers. I’d make sure you never doubted how much I love you. Or how amazing I think you are. I’d wait until we were married to sleep with you. I’d buy a roomful of baby furniture and set up our nursery the day you told me you were carrying my baby. And I’d go to every doctor’s appointment with you to check on the baby’s progress. That’s the way it should have been. That’s what you deserve. The fairy tale ending. The happily-ever-after. If I could trade places with you in that bed right now, I’d gladly do it, if you could just live. Can you try, love? Can you just try to live? Please,” he begged her.

The machines whirred and beeped. The blood pressure cuff on her arm hummed to life every few seconds. A slow parade of salty tears crawled down the man’s face.

Sunny knew she was in the hospital. She remembered the EMTs hauling her off the beach. And she remembered the wild ride to the emergency room with the sirens blaring. After that, details were sort of sketchy. She felt very weak. And her mouth was dry. Her eyes hurt a little when she tried to open them. She knew her baby was safe. She could feel the pressure weighing down on her abdomen. Those were the things she knew. The things that made sense.

JD McIntyre crouched over the bed with love for her written across his stark face was clearly a hallucination. She must be dying. She could think of no other reason she’d be in the middle of such a wonderful fantasy. She decided to enjoy it.

“Hey,” she said. She frowned when the word came out as no more than a whisper of sound. “Hey.” She tried again. She must have been louder because the fantasy JD’s head shot up.

“Sunny? Are you awake, love?” His voice sounded so sad. And his cheeks were wet, which was truly weird.

The girl tried to nod, but it hurt too much so she just smiled. “Hey,” she said again.

“Hey yourself.” He got as close as he could so he could hear her. “I love you,” he said. It was the most important thing he needed to tell her.

“I love you too,” she whispered back. Sunny was delirious, or so she thought. But it was a very fine delirium. This would probably be the only time she’d ever hear JD say he loved her. It was enough, even if it wasn’t real.

“You want to get married?” As proposals went, it was pretty horrible. But JD didn’t care. He just wanted Sunny Murphy any way he could have her, for as long as she’d let him. Forever sounded just about right.

“Sure,” she answered and smiled before she fell back into the darkness.

Sea Glass Towers

Penthouse Floor

“Sunny are you sure you want to wear this?” Trinity dressed in her boho, tie-dyed bridesmaid sun dress held up the string of chunky sea glass. “It doesn’t really go with your gown. I mean really, who wears a homemade necklace with an old-fashioned vintage wedding gown from Goodwill? That seems kind of obscene, even to me.”

“I love it. I’m wearing it. Billy found the last piece down on the beach this morning. It’s perfect,” Sunny said as she fastened it around her neck. “And the gown did not come from a thrift store. It was Maude Evelyn’s grandmother’s. Does she have Lily?”

“Yeah, she’s sitting on your side of the beach pavilion in the bride’s mother’s seat with the baby. Lily is a living doll in that long smocked christening gown JD had flown in from Paris. Billy just escorted them both down the aisle. He looks so cute in his little tux,” Trinity said as she handed Sunny her unconventional bouquet. It had the usual bridal lace, and ribbon. But Sunny had made the bouquet out of multi-colored sea glass instead of flowers.

“Did Sam get here?” Sunny asked as she swept the long white train of her wedding dress over one arm. The surgery she’d needed to deliver her precious daughter Lily hadn’t marred Sunny’s figure. She was still just as slim as before, if a little curvier in certain places. Three months ago, she’d been dying. Now she was getting married to the love of her life. Maybe she
was
Cinderella after all.

“Yeah, if he’s the one who looks like some kind of yummy, reprobate surfer dude.”

“That’s him,” Sunny said with a great deal of satisfaction. “Have you seen Consuelo?”

“Is she a little fat Mexican lady?”

“Yeah,” Sunny answered and smiled fondly.

“She’s here, wearing a Chanel suit I’d kill for. She said your husband insisted she have it. She’s sitting on JD’s side of the pavilion in the groom’s mother’s seat. Trey escorted her down the aisle a few minutes ago.”

And that was as it should be. JD had banished Helene to her home in Aruba. Leanne was already married to a man three times her age. He may be old, but he was also almost as rich as the McIntyres. It was a match made in Heaven. Sam had taken over a great deal of the day-to-day running of McIntyre Industries. He complained about it a lot, but Sunny was convinced he secretly loved his new responsibilities. JD insisted they live here on the top floor of Sea Glass Towers, once they were married. Sunny agreed, after he told her he was having the whole floor gutted and rebuilt to their specifications. It would not be the same place he’d brought Leanne to five years ago. Sunny appreciated his sensitivity. And she loved the view and the fact that they’d have lots of space for the kids. It was far bigger than her little house. And Sunny liked being close to her café. She had no intentions of ever closing her business. In fact, she had just started a new tradition at Sea Glass Café, the Shrimp and Grits Sunday Brunch, using Maude Evelyn’s recipe. So far it was a great success.

“You’re stunning.” Trinity asked as she looked at her friend. “You’re right. Somehow it all goes together perfectly.”

The snowy-colored gown clung to Sunny’s lithe frame. It was fitted to the waist, then it dropped to the floor in foamy delicate layers of chiffon. The train, she currently had looped over her arm, was detachable from the skirt. She wore her hair long in natural waves. She’d chosen to forego a veil. She gave her friend a misty smile.

“I still wish you hadn’t returned that honking big diamond engagement ring JD gave you. It would have looked great with your wedding dress,” Trinity commented.

“It was nice. But I was able to pay all my medical bills, put a new roof on Maude Evelyn’s house,
and
buy a new car with the money I got when I returned it.”

“You do know JD was going to pay for all that anyway, right? The same way he paid for the Gulf Coast Ballet’s satellite campus here in Sea Glass Point. Just so you could take their master classes.”

“Maybe he was,” Sunny nodded. “But I’m an independent woman. I like to pay my own way.”

“You’re about to be the wife of a Texas billionaire.”

“Yeah,” she sighed. “I guess I’ll get used to that one day.”

A knock on the door made them both turn. Trinity opened it. Harry stood on the other side. He looked very uncomfortable in his tuxedo.

“You ready?” he barked at Sunny like a drill sergeant. He was going to stand in the place of her father and give her away.

“I am,” she grinned as she reached up to straighten his black bow tie.

“Hang on.” He tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow.

They all walked towards the private elevator. Trinity turned to Sunny.

“I’ve just got one question?” she said.

“What?” Sunny replied as she watched the little lights above the sliding door that indicated the elevator’s progress. Only two more floors and she’d be on her way down to JD.

“Who’s the homeless chick with JD’s surfer dude brother?”

Easy and so comforting! Don't skimp on the cheese in the grits. And feel free to add more bacon!

Yield:
4 servings

Prep Time:
10 minutes

Cook Time:
20 minutes

Total Time:
30 minutes

for the shrimp-
5 slices hickory smoked bacon, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lb. peeled & deveined shrimp {small size; 51-60 ct.}
salt & pepper, to taste

for the grits-
5 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups grits {not quick cooking!}
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups grated medium cheddar cheese
1/4 cup grated real parmesan cheese
salt & pepper, to taste

parsley for garnish, if desired

Start by cooking the grits- bring chicken broth to rolling boil in large pot. Whisk in grits, salt and pepper and reduce heat to medium and cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While the grits are cooking, preheat a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté bacon and onions together until bacon starts to crisp and onions have browned, 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, shrimp, salt and pepper. Stir another 3 minutes until shrimp are bright pink and thoroughly cooked. Remove from heat.

Finish grits by melting in butter and cheeses. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Spoon grits into bowl and top with shrimp mixture. Top with parsley. Serve immediately.

**Make sure to find the freshest shrimp you can find. Nothing would ruin this dish quicker than fishy smelling shrimp!

1. Who was your favourite character and why?
   
2. Who was the character you disliked the most and why?
   
3. Did you personally relate to any situation in this novel?
   
4. What one word describes that situation?
   
5. How did the characters change during the course of this story?
   
6. Who would you cast, if this book was made into a movie?
   
7. What was the pivotal moment in this novel?
   
8. Was the ending satisfying to you?
   
9. Would you want to read the next book in this series?
   

Teal Wingate is the pen name of a multi-published, award-winning, best-selling author. She lives with her husband on a beautiful bay not unlike the one in
Searching for Sea Glass
. She believes in drinking porch wine while watching the sun set over the water, double hammocks suitable for long naps, flip flops in every color, heartfelt laughter that occasionally results in unladylike snorts [not a good look, but one that tickles both her grown children], and writing passionate happily-ever-afters. She’s been a busy public school teacher, a mediocre opera singer, a toe nail painting dog groomer, a bad caterer, and now it seems a grateful writer. She counts her blessings every single day. Teal has been published in many genres- newspapers, magazines, blogs, books, and even screenwriting. Along with her writing awards, one of her scripts was produced into a pilot that won a coveted Silver Telly for excellence in cable broadcasting. Another was made into a full length movie. One of her recent novels won 4
th
place in an international
Best Book Covers of 2014
competition. Several of her books have been Amazon bestsellers in their categories over the past year.

She is humbled and amazed by the continued generosity, loyalty, & encouragement of her readers!

Sea Glass Lost

Sea Glass Found

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Thanks so Much!

Teal