Promise Cove (A Pelican Pointe Novel Book 1) (164 page)

On board Wade’s
twenty-foot fishing trawler, Haunted Lady, it took Nick four hours to catch an undersized, scrawny perch. The fish reminded him why he’d never had the patience for the sport, if you could call it that.

A
s
the
boat
rocked
and
s
w
a
y
ed
N
ic
k
,
M
u
r
p
h
y
and
W
ade leaned
back
in
deck
chai
r
s
w
ith
their
f
i
shi
n
g
lin
e
s
thro
w
n over
the
ra
i
li
n
g
and
d
a
ng
li
n
g
in
the
w
at
e
r
,
ta
k
i
n
g
in
the
sun
n
y
d
a
y
.
N
ic
k
had
n
’
t
f
i
shed
s
ince
summer
camp
when
h
e
’
d
been
t
welv
e
.
Somethi
n
g
a
bout
the
memo
r
y
w
as
a
l
o
t
more
f
un than
the
a
c
t
ual
e
ven
t
.
B
ut
he
did
n
’t
d
are
share
th
i
s
s
entiment
w
ith
M
u
r
p
h
y
and
W
ade.
Although
y
ea
r
s
olde
r
,
the
t
wo
men were
a
k
ic
k
.
They
had
spent
the
d
a
y
ta
k
i
n
g
t
u
r
ns
rehashi
n
g old
s
t
o
r
i
e
s
a
bout
the
early
s
muggle
r
s
in
the
area,
the
on
e
s
J
or
d
an
had
mentioned.
A
nd
when
W
ade
s
t
a
r
t
ed
en
t
e
r
t
aini
n
g
them
w
ith
local
gh
o
st
s
t
o
r
i
e
s
a
bout
the
area,
p
ir
at
e
s
and
s
m
uggle
r
s
al
i
k
e
,
i
t
prom
p
t
e
d
N
ic
k
t
o
as
k
,
“
Y
o
u
rea
l
ly
beli
e
ve
in
gh
o
sts,
W
ade?”

“
I
d
o
.
I
n
fa
c
t
,
I
had
one
s
ome
y
ea
r
s
back
that
would
n
’t le
a
ve
me
the
hell
alon
e
.
”

N
ick
cocked
a
d
i
sbeli
e
v
i
n
g
brow
at
W
ade
and
found him
s
elf
genuinely
fa
s
c
ina
t
ed
at
the
pr
o
spe
c
t
that
s
omeone e
ls
e
had
s
een
a
gh
o
s
t
.
“
A
t
the
time,
had
y
ou
e
xpe
r
ienced,
y
ou
k
n
o
w
,
a
n
y
ty
p
e
o
f
t
r
aum
a
tha
t
migh
t
h
a
v
e
brough
t
i
t
on?”
N
ick
asked,
t
r
y
i
n
g
t
o
s
ound
noncha
l
an
t
.

“
T
rauma?
N
o
,
no
trauma
,
”
W
ade
an
s
wered.

N
ick
prodded
f
u
r
the
r
.
“So
what
did
y
ou
do?
H
o
w
’
d
y
ou handle
it?”

“
W
e
l
l
no
w
,
I
’
l
l
t
e
l
l
y
ou.
M
o
st
gh
o
sts
li
n
ger
around, bug
g
i
n
g
the
he
l
l
out
of
people
beca
u
s
e
they
h
a
ve
unf
i
n
i
shed
b
u
s
in
e
s
s.
Once
they
fi
n
i
s
h
wha
t
e
ve
r
i
t
i
s
kee
p
i
n
g
them
ea
r
th
bound,
they
u
sua
l
ly
move
o
n
. I
w
as
a
no
v
ice
when it
happene
d
t
o
me
,
ke
p
t
kee
p
i
n
g
m
e
u
p
a
t
nigh
t
ma
k
i
n
g
the
ligh
t
s
go
on
and
off,
ma
k
i
n
g
thi
n
g
s
mov
e
around
,
y
o
u
k
n
o
w
, real
che
e
s
y
s
t
uf
f
.
A
n
yw
a
y
,
I
put
up
w
ith
it
for
se
ve
r
al
months before
I
con
t
a
c
t
ed
a
spe
c
i
a
l
i
st
out
of
S
a
v
annah
who
mak
e
s
a career
out
of
the
pa
r
ano
r
mal.
W
h
y
do
y
ou
ask?”

“
J
or
d
a
n
sai
d
y
o
u
brough
t
y
ou
r
ele
c
troni
c
g
i
z
m
o
s
ou
t
t
o The
C
ove
and
g
o
t
a
hi
t
.
”