Page 59 of Sea Glass and Second Chances (Carolina Cove 3)

ChapterEleven

The moment Dara tracked the address of Connor Sennett, everyone wanted to rush to Bald Head Island to retrieve Rayna Jo.

Thankfully, Logan convinced the Babes that a select few should go in order to not pressure her mother into another disappearing act.

So Devon, Dara, Logan, and Adaline now sat shoulder to shoulder on the ferry taking them to Bald Head Island, all of them lost in their own thoughts during the twenty-minute ride from Southport after a forty-minute ferry from Ft. Fisher. Thankfully they’d arrived just as the ferry was loading and managed to get onboard right away.

Devon stared out at the water, once again reminded of how much she’d actually missed this area. Oh, she could go to the Hamptons to the beach or ride a ferry around Staten Island, but it wasn’t the same. It wasn’t this.

The beauty of the south, the sandbars and islands, grasses and shorelines, called to her with the comfort of a child’s lullaby. She knew these sounds, smells, sights—like nothing else.

The drone of the ferry’s engine filled her ears, and she glanced around, noting the passengers ranged in age from young to old and included every social background.

She saw workers with steel-toed boots and coolers holding their lunches. Parents obviously vacationing with luggage and children, as well as some older couples, their lack of bags a good indicator that they lived on the island. There were also a variety of singles, some with golf clubs, some wearing name tags and dressed as though they were about to start a work shift.

Bet we’re the only ones going to retrieve a sixty-three-year-old runaway, she mused.

The ferry sounded the alert they as neared their destination, and Devon tried to brace herself for what she might find when they tracked her mother down.

Had Mama lied? Was she also having an affair? Who was this Connor person?

They departed the ferry and quickly made their way to the golf cart rental. There were very few vehicles on the island, and those were usually construction and emergency vehicles. Those who lived here kept vehicles parked at the marina in Southport. As a whole, the island used golf carts or bikes to get around.

“Got it. Let’s go,” Logan said, having secured a golf cart for six.

They piled in with Adaline sitting in the passenger seat beside her son. Devon felt Dara watching her and knew her time was up.

“Are you ever going to say anything?” Dara asked, voice low so as to not be heard by those in front of them.

“What do you want me to say? It wasn’t planned.”

“You slept with him.”

“I did not, not the way that sounds. I literally slept because I was exhausted and wrecked after everything that happened.”

“You must not be too wrecked,” Dara said. “Which makes me wonder—how do you go from sending your boyfriend off to New York to sleeping on Oz?”

She brushed her hair away from her face, but it blew right back again. “I’m not sure.”

“You know he’s still hung up on you.”

“We’re just friends.”

“Dev, seriously?”

“I know, okay?” she said, acknowledging her comment. “He told me, but nothing’s changed.”

“Everything’s changed. Without a job you have no reason to go rushing back to New York now—”

“That doesn’t mean I want to stay in Carolina Cove. And what about Ted?”

“What about him? You marry that guy and you’re asking for a lifetime of trouble.”

“You don’t even know him.”

“I know enough. Besides, for someone who showed up a week ago looking sick from stress, a week here has you looking better despite the horrific circumstances. Doesn’t that tell you something?”

“Yeah, I need to tan more,” she said, refusing to throw in the towel.

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