Promise Cove (A Pelican Pointe Novel Book 1) (60 page)

W
hen
she
noticed
he
had
n
’t
said
a
word
s
ince
comi
n
g in,
but
s
t
ood
ins
t
ead
s
t
a
r
i
n
g
at he
r
, she s
t
opped
d
anci
n
g and
instinctively
reached
up
t
o
slide
her
hand
alo
n
g
his
j
a
w
.
“
W
hat
’
s
wro
n
g?
A
re
y
ou
o
k
a
y?”

“
I
’
m
f
in
e.
I
j
u
s
t
s
a
w
y
o
u
d
an
c
i
ng
and
…
”
H
e
could
n
’t
f
in
i
s
h
.
I
ns
t
ead
,
h
e
s
t
il
le
d
th
e
han
d
t
ouchi
ng
h
i
s
fac
e
.
On
impu
l
s
e
,
h
e
whirle
d
he
r
aroun
d
a
s
i
f
the
y
wer
e
o
n
the
d
anc
e
f
loo
r
.
“
Y
ou
’
r
e
happ
y
.
”

“
I
am
.
”
W
hen
he
d
anced
her
over
t
o
the
ref
r
igera
t
or
t
o
dig
out
a
beer
and
let
her
g
o
,
she
announced,
“
D
inne
r
’
s alm
o
st
read
y
.
”

M
a
k
i
n
g
himself
at
home,
he
t
w
i
s
t
ed
off
the
cap
and
t
urned
the
bottle
up
for
a
lo
n
g
d
r
in
k
.
“
I
’
m
s
t
a
r
v
i
n
g
wha
t
ever
w
e
’
r
e
h
a
v
i
n
g
sm
e
l
l
s
g
rea
t
.
”

A
ll
at
once,
from
her
p
os
ition
on
the
fl
oo
r
,
H
u
t
t
o
n
pi
ped
u
p
,
repeati
n
g
h
i
s
wor
d
s,
or
t
r
ied
t
o
.
“
’
mel
l
s
g
ate
.
”

Ha
v
i
n
g
never
been
around
a
b
a
by
before,
N
ick
slowly
t
urned
from
the
f
r
idge
t
o
s
t
are
at
the
child
on
the
f
l
oo
r
.
S
t
artled
t
o
hear
H
ut
t
on
ta
l
k
i
n
g
,
repeati
n
g
the
ve
r
y
thi
n
g
h
e
’
d
just ut
t
ered,
or
at
least
her
ve
r
sion,
he
moved
cl
o
s
e
r
.
“
D
id
y
ou
hea
r
that?
”
F
a
s
c
ina
t
ed
,
h
e
fin
i
shed
the
w
a
lk
around
the
coun
t
er
t
o
get
a
bet
t
er
loo
k
.

A
lthoug
h
J
or
d
a
n
ha
d
t
urn
e
d
he
r
at
t
en
t
io
n
t
o
throw
i
n
g
a
sa
l
ad
t
ogethe
r
,
h
i
s
r
a
pt
manner
had
her
s
t
ud
y
i
n
g
him, amu
s
ed
at
the
as
t
on
i
shed
look
on
h
i
s
fac
e
.
“
S
h
e
’
s
at
that
s
ta
ge where
she
t
r
i
e
s
t
o
repeat
eve
r
y
thi
n
g
she
hea
r
s.
A
nd
what
y
ou smell
i
s
p
l
ain
old
meatloaf
.
”

T
o
t
e
st
out the
theo
r
y
that sh
e
’
d
repeat what
she
heard,
N
ick
s
et
h
i
s
beer
down
on
the
coun
t
er
and
picked
up
an
apple from
the
bowl.
S
itti
n
g
on
h
i
s
hee
l
s
in
front
of
H
ut
t
on,
he
held out
the
apple
as
an
enticemen
t
.
“
Sa
y
apple,
H
ut
t
on?
H
er
e
’
s
a
n
appl
e
fo
r
H
u
t
t
o
n
.
”

H
u
t
t
on
,
fi
n
ger
t
o
her
mouth,
had
a
look
on
her
face
that clearly
said
she
did
n
’t
pe
r
form
on
demand.
B
ut
af
t
er
a
lot more
ur
g
i
n
g
and
much
prompti
n
g
,
she
fi
na
l
l
y
leane
d
her
little
face
cl
o
s
er
t
o
h
i
s
and
w
ith
a
s
h
y
g
r
in
said,
“
A
bbl
e
.
”