Summer at Seaside Cove Read Online Free PDF

bearing a plaque proclaiming Sunset Delight. The muted sounds of laughter and music greeted her, growing louder as she neared the rear of the houses. The scent of grilling meat filled her head and she pressed her hand to her stomach. God, did that smell good. And damn, she suddenly realized she was hungry. Good thing she’d packed some snacks, although a hamburger sounded like heaven, especially since for the past week, after her life had gone down the crapper, the bulk of her nutrition had come in the form of brownies, Doritos, her two favorite guys Ben and Jerry, and an absolute shitload of peanut M&M’s. Was there an M&M rehab? Probably she needed to look into that.
    When she reached the rear of the houses, she saw that each had a party in progress. Both yards, as well as the huge wraparound decks, were filled with kids and adults. Starfish’s yard had a built-in pool, where a raucous game of water volleyball was taking place. At least a dozen adults and several kids smiled and waved at her, greetings she returned. Shouts of “Mom—watch this!” and “Throw the Frisbee here, Grandpa!” tugged her lips into a wistful smile. A lump of emotion lodged in her throat as memories of childhood summer days spent with her mom and dad and Laurel flashed through her mind.
    An image of her handsome, smiling father rose behind Jamie’s eyes, and for several seconds it felt as if her chest caved in. In spite of the three years since the heart attack had ripped him away, there were times, like now, seeing a dad swinging his little girl up in his arms, the child squealing with delight, when the pain simply seized her, stealing her breath.
    She forced her gaze from the father-daughter pair and continued. The pathway turned from sandy path to weathered boardwalk as she approached the rise of vegetation-covered dunes that she knew from the Internet site provided a natural barrier between the ocean side of the island and the marsh side. The sounds of the parties faded, replaced by the low swooshing hum of the ocean. She came over the rise and caught her breath at the endless stretch of dark blue water.
    â€œWow. Just . . . wow,” she whispered. This is why she’d come here. For the peace and soul-healing serenity she’d always felt when looking at the ocean. It was the first place she’d gone after her father’s funeral—just a one-day escape to Long Island—but staring at the endless stretch of water, listening to waves crashing, had somehow helped her, soothed her.
    She hadn’t been to the ocean since that day. Life and work had consumed her time, gotten in the way of allowing her the solitude her soul sometimes craved. When she’d decided to get away from New York, to recharge her badly depleted spirit and reevaluate her life, there hadn’t been any question of where she’d go. The beach. Thus began her Internet search for a summer rental—not easy to come by in late June, and damn near impossible since price was a factor. Anywhere on Long Island or the Jersey Shore had been financially out of the question. She’d finally, after hours of Internet searching, happened upon Seaside Cove.
    Based on the bargain price, she’d suspected the accommodations might be a little rustic, but the deal had been too good to pass up. She was desperate to leave New York, and on a budget, beggars couldn’t be choosers. Besides, how bad could any accommodations at the beach be?
    As she’d found out, pretty bad.
    No doubt about it, Paradise Lost definitely wasn’t all she’d hoped for, but as she stared out at the long strands of waves breaking with gentle crashes, the white foamed water rushing up the wet sand trying to dampen the feet of a group of sandpipers that were much too quick, a sense of calm suffused her. She walked down the half dozen steps leading to the beach and slipped off her sandals. She groaned with delight at the sensation of her toes