Page 15 of Chance

As he walked the beach, it was fun to see the tourists finishing up their beach days and enjoying summer. What would it be like to visit South Port with a family? How different would his life be if he’d married Kelly? Would they live here, or in Cross Creek? How many kids would they have?

No. He couldn’t be thinking like that.

Unrest filled him. Something was amiss with her. Was she feeling better after the food poisoning? Why had she and Brian ended things? He itched to text her, but it didn’t feel right.

He got to the public park outside of town and approached a couple of food trucks. Tacos sounded good. He hadn’t realized until now that he’d gone the whole day without eating. Hopefully this wasn’t the food truck that had gotten her sick.

Chance sat at a park bench and ate the tacos, watching the sun go down. It stayed light out, since it was summer and the sun didn’t set until much later. Peace settled over everything. He liked nightfall, although as a cop in a small town, night tended to be when the problems started.

He wanted to call in and check on his family, but they would be eating supper right now. He opted to call Cheyenne. Since she was in college, her schedule was erratic.

It went straight to voicemail, and then he got a text.

What’s going on, bro? I have a late class tonight. Remember I’m doing summer classes?

He texted her back. That’s right. Just wanted to check in. Hope you’re doing well. Love you.

Cheyenne was, of course, the darling of the family. Not only was she the youngest, but she was also the only girl. Their father had passed away when she was only in high school. At first, he’d been resentful that Porter had been the one assigned to be her guardian, but as he’d watched him take over and live up to being a father figure in her life, he’d seen that it was a good decision.

Chance and his brothers would always take care of her. If she ever needed any of them, they would be there for her, just like they’d be there for each other.

He stood and threw the trash away, then went back to the beach. He didn’t want Kelly to think he was stalking her, but he wanted to get a look at the place she was living at.

As he went farther down, the sun drew closer to the horizon. When he approached her place, he passed by a lot of beach area before reaching a little fence bordering an overgrown yard. The house was older, and the lights were on. The windows were open, and he smiled as he heard a Neil Diamond song, “Sweet Caroline.”

Then he was frozen to the spot as he saw Kelly sitting at a potter’s wheel. She was completely immersed in whatever she was creating. The wheel was spinning, and her hands were in the clay. He didn’t know what she was creating. He had never seen her do this. It must’ve been something she learned at college. Gosh, she was beautiful. She was wearing a tank top, and her blond hair was up on her head with a turquoise scarf wrapped around it. Her large loop earrings gave her a Romanian vibe.

She was glowing, just like she would whenever they were doing anything creative as kids. It was part of the reason he’d fallen for her. They had been in a play together in high school, and as they’d spent hours in the lead roles in Oklahoma. She had been beautiful and bossy and totally in command of their scenes.

Attraction burned through him, along with admiration for her and her creative ability.

For a brief moment, she stopped and reached up to wipe her head, using her wrist that didn’t have clay on it. He stepped behind a bush, not wanting her to look up and see him. His heart raced. He should go, but after a minute, he moved back so he could see her. She was once again fully immersed in her project.

Chance wasn’t sure how long he watched her, but it was way past sundown when he strode back along the beach toward the Stone family inn. The moon was out, and the waves seemed to pulse through him even though he wasn’t in the water.

All he could see in his mind was the woman he had loved for most of his life.

Chapter 10

Kelly woke early the next morning and spent an hour or two unpacking boxes and getting her things settled. She had rented this beach house with an option to purchase. The owner had told her she had twelve months to decide; then she would have to either buy it or leave.

The more she puttered around the place, the more she liked it. It wasn’t big, as it was more of a cottage, but it did have two bedrooms and two bathrooms. Nothing was modern—it was more remodeled and had a seventies feel, which she didn’t mind. It was part of the reason she’d played “Sweet Caroline” last night along with some other Neil Diamond songs.

A wave of nausea hit her while she was picking up a box. She paused and sucked in a long breath. They’d verified at the clinic last night that she was pregnant, about fourteen weeks. Which was crazy because she could swear she’d only missed one period. But the doctor had assured her the tests were pretty accurate these days. He had been careful about not asking her too many questions, but she had told him that it was just her, no father.

It felt strange to even think about that word. Father. She’d been so young when her parents had died, and she barely remembered her father. Of course, she had some pictures and some of his things packed away in another box, but she wished she had her own memories of him. Her grandmother had told her stories about him over the years. He’d loved Neil Diamond.

She moved into the kitchen and got a drink of water, then ate a few crackers. That helped her feel a little better, at least physically.

What was she going to do?

She wouldn’t even think about telling Brian. She felt so stupid for falling for him, for getting trapped in that cycle of violence. Of course, she’d read about domestic violence, but she’d thought it was for stupid people. How had it happened to her? She was a strong woman. She’d left her small town and gotten an education in Europe. She’d worked at the finest galleries. Yet she had found herself making up lies about being clumsy and falling into a door.

She suspected her last gallery owner had known. Oftentimes he would say things about the laws and how people couldn’t hurt each other.

Ashamed of herself, she moved to the window and gazed out at the ocean, ignoring the boxes that still needed to be unpacked. Brian didn’t know where she was. Again, she reminded herself that she was completely off all social media. Plus, she’d always been the one in charge of the finances, and he never had access to her money. At least there was that.

Too bad, at the edge of her thoughts, she could still hear him. He’d say things like, I love you so much that I’ll kill you if you ever leave me. That’s how much I love you. When he’d first said stuff like that, she’d thought he was joking. The longer she’d been with him, the more intense he’d become.

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