Promise Cove (A Pelican Pointe Novel Book 1) (114 page)

“
O
k
a
y
.
They
t
a
l
k
ed
behind
m
y
bac
k
.
B
ut
now
they
’
re openly
s
nicke
r
i
n
g
and
l
aughi
n
g
at
m
e
.
Y
ou
should
h
a
ve
s
een them
at
F
er
g
u
s
o
n
’
s
and
at
M
u
r
p
h
y
’
s.
I
t
’
s…
humil
i
ati
n
g
.
”

“S
o
y
ou
’
d
r
athe
r
h
a
v
e
m
e
j
u
s
t
s
t
an
d
ther
e
an
d
le
t
them
s
a
y
thi
n
g
s
a
b
ou
t
y
o
u
tha
t
are
n
’
t
t
r
u
e
.
T
h
a
t
woul
d
h
a
ve bee
n
bet
t
er?”

“T
hey
prob
a
bly
thought
t
hat
t
wo
d
a
y
s
af
t
er
y
ou
g
o
t
her
e
.
I
t
’
s
a
s
ma
l
l
t
o
w
n
w
ith
s
ma
l
l
-
minded
peopl
e
.
I
ca
n
’t
control
wha
t
the
y
thin
k
a
b
ou
t
me
,
o
r
y
o
u
fo
r
tha
t
mat
t
e
r
.
”

“
W
hat
’
s
w
ro
n
g
w
ith
the
people
in
th
i
s
t
o
w
n?
W
h
y
do they
treat
y
ou
l
i
ke
a
leper?”

J
or
d
an
blew
out
a
breath,
and
sat
down
on the
bed
they
’
d j
u
st
brought
in
f
rom
the
g
ar
a
ge
t
wo
d
a
y
s
earlie
r
.
S
he
hu
n
g her
head
as
if
sh
e
’
d
j
u
st
l
o
st
a
l
l
momen
t
um.
“
H
on
e
stly
I
do
n
’t
k
no
w
,
but
Sc
o
t
t
loved
th
i
s
p
l
ace,
loved
the
idea
of
mo
v
i
n
g back
her
e
.
I
’
m
not
sure
w
h
y
.
Beca
u
s
e
once
we
g
o
t
here,
they trea
t
ed
us
l
i
ke
out
s
ide
r
s,
b
o
th
of
us,
even
though
Sc
o
t
t
g
rew up
here
and
k
no
w
s
pra
c
tica
l
ly
e
ve
r
y
one
in
t
o
w
n.
Sc
o
t
t
kept
t
e
l
li
n
g
me
they
’
d
w
a
r
m
up
t
o
us,
t
o
me,
e
ven
t
ua
l
l
y
.
”
H
er shoulde
r
s
slumped
and
she
ran
a
hand
through
her
hai
r
.
“
B
ut then
he
left
for
I
raq,
left
me
out
here
alone,
preg
n
an
t
,
w
ithout
a
f
r
iend
in
t
o
w
n
.
”
I
t
s
ounded
s
o
pathetic,
she
though
t
,
as she
met
N
ic
k
’
s
s
t
o
r
m
y
e
y
e
s.

“
Y
o
u
ha
d
H
u
t
t
o
n
her
e
alone?”

S
he
shook
her
head
and
looked
down,
ne
r
vo
u
sl
y
,
p
l
a
y
i
n
g
w
ith
the
st
r
i
n
g
on
her
hoodi
e
.
“
I
went
t
o
S
an
F
ranc
is
co
for her
b
i
r
th
t
o
be
w
ith
m
y
fam
i
l
y
.
E
ven
though
it
w
as
C
h
r
i
stmastime,
I
think
that
u
ps
et
the
do
c
t
or
in
t
o
w
n.
I
g
u
es
s
he thought
I
’
d
s
nubbed
him
in
s
ome
w
a
y
by
g
o
i
n
g
out
of
t
o
w
n
t
o
delive
r
.
A
no
t
her
mark
a
g
ainst
m
e
.
B
ut
I
could
n
’t
help
i
t
. I
w
an
t
ed
t
o
be
w
ith
m
y
fam
i
l
y
.
I
felt
s
o
alone
here,
N
ic
k
.
I
s
t
ay
e
d
w
it
h
m
y
paren
ts
un
t
i
l
H
u
t
t
o
n
w
as
thre
e
wee
k
s
old.
B
ut
then
we
had
t
o
come
back
her
e
.
A
nd
God,
once
I
g
o
t bac
k
,
I
’
ve
n
e
ver
felt
s
o
…
m
i
s
er
a
bl
e
.
E
ve
r
y
time
I
went
in
t
o
P
elican
P
o
in
t
e,
they
were
s
t
andoff
i
s
h
.
The
lo
n
ger
it
went
on the
wo
r
s
e
it
g
ot
.
Then
af
t
e
r
I
g
o
t
wor
d
that
—
S
c
o
t
t
ha
d
died,
they
were
do
w
n
r
ight
h
o
s
ti
l
e
.
”