Promise Cove (A Pelican Pointe Novel Book 1) (89 page)

B
ut
I
raq
had
come
alo
n
g
and
put
a
se
r
io
u
s
dent
in
those p
l
ans.

J
or
d
an
remembered
how
cl
o
se
Sc
o
t
t
had
been
t
o
the men
in
his
uni
t
.
So
loo
k
i
n
g
at
N
ick
no
w
,
t
old
her
eve
r
ythi
n
g she
needed
t
o
k
now
a
bout the
two men
she con
s
idered
her fi
r
s
t
rea
l
g
uest
s
.
N
ic
k
ha
d
mad
e
on
e
phon
e
ca
l
l
an
d
g
o
t
t
e
n
an
elect
r
ic
i
an,
a
f
r
iend
t
o
show
up
for
hi
m
.
I
t
sounded
e
xactly l
i
ke
somethi
n
g
Sc
o
t
t
would
h
a
ve
done
for
someon
e
.

J
or
d
a
n
g
a
v
e
N
ic
k
a
s
h
y
s
m
i
l
e.
“
Y
o
u
rea
ll
y
l
i
k
e
m
y
coo
k
i
n
g?”

“
W
e
j
u
st
sca
r
fed
down
a
whole
quiche
in
one
s
itti
n
g
,
y
ou
h
a
v
e
t
o
ask?”

“
A
girl
l
i
k
e
s
a
little
v
a
li
d
a
tion
e
ve
r
y
now
and
then
.
”

A
s
he
t
u
r
ned
t
o
head
out
the
door
t
o
ca
t
ch
up
w
ith
Ben, he
looked
back
at
her
and
said
solemnl
y
,
“
A
n
ytime,
J
or
d
an.
I
’
m
r
ight
her
e
.
”

Before
she
could
repl
y
,
he
cl
o
sed
the
door
le
a
v
i
n
g
her s
t
andi
n
g
there
w
ith
her
mouth
ope
n
.

At supper that
night, Nick bit into the lasagna. “Oh. This. Is. Fantastic. Woman, you could easily open a restaurant serving food like this. Taste this, Ben.” He forked up another bite and closed his eyes.

Ben
dug
in
ea
r
n
e
stly
t
o
h
i
s
own
p
l
a
te
.
“
M
mmm.
I
l
i
ke
I
t
al
i
an
but
th
i
s
is
the
b
e
st
l
as
a
g
n
a
I
’
ve
e
ver
ea
t
en.
Uh,
y
ou
might not
w
ant
t
o
mention
that
little
tid
b
it
t
o
S
he
r
yl
though
.
”
H
e
l
aughed
but
h
i
s
pleasure
w
as
obvious.
H
e
continued
eati
n
g before
fi
na
l
l
y
t
e
l
l
i
n
g
he
r
,
“
Y
ou
’
r
e
a
c
u
lina
r
y
geni
u
s
,
J
or
d
a
n
.
”

S
he
looked
around
the
dini
n
g
room
ta
bl
e
.
Once
a
g
ain, her
d
augh
t
er
had
n
’t b
o
thered
w
ith a
spoon.
S
he had red sauce
a
l
l
over
her
face
and
in
her
hai
r
.
T
h
e
two
men
were obviously
enjoyi
n
g
their
meal.
H
er
s
p
i
r
its
lif
t
ed.
A
t
tim
e
s
l
i
ke th
i
s,
she
thought
e
ve
r
ythi
n
g
might
be
ok
a
y
af
t
e
r
a
l
l.

Af
t
e
r
get
t
i
n
g
H
u
t
t
o
n
do
wn
fo
r
th
e
nigh
t
,
sh
e
wen
t
in
t
o the
k
i
t
chen
t
o
make
he
r
self
a
c
up
of
t
ea.
A
s
she
ran
the
w
a
t
er
t
o
f
il
l
the
kettle,
she
heard
the
thud
of
a
baske
t
ba
l
l
hitti
n
g the
concre
t
e,
before
hitti
n
g
the
r
im
and
bounci
n
g
off,
and
the
n
mal
e
v
o
ic
e
s
.
S
ur
e
enoug
h,
when
she
g
l
anced
out
the
k
it
c
hen
w
i
ndow
she
s
a
w
them.
W
ith
only
the
out
s
ide
g
a
r
a
ge light
t
o
il
lumina
t
e
the area in the
middle of the
d
r
ive
w
a
y she s
a
w
two
g
rown,
s
weaty
men
g
o
i
n
g
at
it
in
a
f
i
erce
g
ame
of on
e-
on-on
e
.
S
he
lis
t
ened
t
o
the
g
r
unts
and
good-
n
a
t
ured
r
ib
b
i
n
g
that
accompanied
the
battle,
and
then
w
a
t
ched
as Ben
elbowed
N
ick
for
position.
N
ic
k
,
the
t
a
l
ler
one,
blocked Be
n
’
s
sho
t
,
caught
the
rebound,
spun
and
put
it
up
for
tw
o
.
J
or
d
an
w
a
t
ched
in
fas
c
ination
as
th
e
se
mus
c
u
l
ar
men
r
e
sembled
two
power
fo
r
w
ar
d
s
sho
v
i
n
g
and
pushi
n
g
each
other and
y
et
p
l
ay
ed
the
g
ame
w
ith
as
much
enthu
s
i
a
s
m
as
two twelv
e
-
y
ear-old
boys
might
before
their
mothe
r
s
ca
l
led them
in
s
ide
t
o
get
ready
for
bed.