Promise Cove (A Pelican Pointe Novel Book 1) (53 page)

Before she ever sat down,
J
or
d
an
t
u
gged open the box of
coo
k
i
e
s
and
looked
in
t
o
the
childre
n
’
s
w
ide
e
y
e
s
at
the
pr
o
spe
c
t
o
f
get
t
i
n
g
a
trea
t.
S
he
wondere
d
ho
w
lo
n
g
i
t
had
been
since
the
s
e
k
ids
had
had
a
n
y
k
ind
of
extra
in
their
liv
e
s at
all.
S
he
plopped
down
on
the
gra
s
s
w
ith
H
ut
t
on
on
her
la
p and s
t
a
r
t
ed doli
n
g out juice bo
x
e
s and coo
k
i
e
s.
A
ll the while
wonde
r
i
n
g
how
t
o
broach
what
she
w
an
t
ed
t
o
s
a
y
.
J
or
d
an
felt
like
she
unde
r
s
t
ood
Lilly
’
s
relu
c
t
anc
e
.
Af
t
e
r
a
l
l,
she
did
n
’t
h
a
ve
a
n
y
f
r
ien
d
s
in
t
own
either
and
ce
r
t
ainly
not a
n
y
w
ith
children.
S
he
w
as
ce
r
t
ain
Lilly
did
n
’t
eithe
r
.
I
f
she
w
as wro
n
g
a
bout
that then sh
e
’
d le
a
ve
it
t
o Lilly
t
o
s
et her
st
r
aigh
t
.
H
u
t
t
o
n
ha
d
n
o
ch
i
ldre
n
he
r
o
wn
a
g
e
t
o
p
l
a
y
w
ith
and
Lilly
’
s
k
ids
looked
like
good
pr
o
spe
c
ts.
“
I
’
m
fairly
new
in
t
own,
Lill
y
.
I
’ve
only
been
here
a
couple
of
y
ea
r
s
.
”
S
he
did
n
’t mention
how
rough
th
os
e
y
ea
r
s
had
been.
“
I
live
out
near The
C
ov
e
.
”

Lilly
’
s
e
y
es bugged.
“
I
’ve
s
een
that
big
old
hou
s
e
before from
the
road.
Y
ou
live
there?”

J
or
d
an
nodded.
“
Do
y
ou
live
nearby?”

“
T
railer
a
bout
a
mile
out
of
t
own
the
other
w
a
y
.
I
lived there
once
w
ith
m
y
mother
a
lo
n
g
time
a
go
before
she
died.
W
hen
m
y
husband…lef
t
,
m
y
s
t
epfather
said
I
could
come back
here
and
s
t
a
y
in
a
trailer
he
has
on
his
prope
r
t
y
until we
got
up
on
our
feet.
I
mean
it
’
s
not
fre
e
.
I
h
a
ve
t
o
p
a
y
rent and
all, but it
’
s a roof over
our heads
.
”
F
or
s
ome reason Lilly felt
like
she
needed
t
o
t
ell
this
woman
the
rest.
“
I
t
’
s
k
ind
of
a dum
p
.
B
ut
we
came
back
here
af
t
e
r
…
m
y
husband,
m
y
s
oon
t
o
be
e
x
-husband
i
s
in
p
r
is
on
.
”
S
he
spoke
the
words
as
if
J
or
d
an
might
w
ant
t
o
rethink
her
choice
of
f
r
iends.

A
nd
just
as
need
y
,
J
or
d
an
t
old
her
f
l
atl
y
,
“
M
y
husband died
.
”

“
Oh
.
”
T
h
at
threw
Lill
y
.
“
I
’
m
s
o
s
or
r
y
.
”

“
M
e
t
o
o
.
A
n
y
w
a
y
,
I
w
as
thin
k
i
n
g
tha
t
m
a
yb
e
y
o
u
an
d
I could
get
the
k
ids
t
ogethe
r
,
like
a
p
l
a
y
d
a
te
.
I
’ve
been
bu
s
y
w
ith
the
hou
s
e,
and
H
ut
t
on
has
no
one
but
me
t
o
p
l
a
y
w
ith.
I
t
could
n
’t
hu
r
t
if
the
k
ids
got
t
ogether
at
least
once
a
week
t
o
keep
each
other
compa
n
y
.
”
S
he
did
n
’t
add
that
the
get-
t
ogether
might
mean
sh
e
’
d
h
a
ve
s
omeone
t
o
t
a
lk
t
o
as
well.