Page 26 of Seaside Cowboy's Second Chance

The whisper of the ocean... A faint scent of peppermint tea... It wasn’t her apartment.

Her childhood home. Her grandmother’s sea cottage. Offering many familiar and calming scents and sounds. But one that wasn’t.

The low growl. Breeze, warning about something. Skylar’s heart skipped a beat. Was someone outside?

Alarmed, she slipped out of bed where her preteen self had decorated the frame with seashells. Her bare feet drowned in the soft carpet, and she didn’t bother to look for slippers. The moon must’ve emerged from behind the clouds because moonlight filtered through the closed curtains together with the lantern light.

The silhouette of the golden retriever froze near the window. Breeze cocked her head on high alert, and her posture sent a dart of worry through Skylar.

“What’s wrong? Did you hear something? Or... somebody?” She whispered as if Breeze could understand her.

Maybe she could because Breeze turned her head and barked. Another warning. A shiver traveled down Skylar’s spine, despite the room’s warmth. She crouched toward the window. “What did you hear?”

Should she get her gun? It was small and fit in her hand well, and she hoped she’d never have to fire it. But after the threat fifteen years ago, it had become a necessity.

Shouldn’t it all be in the past by now, though? She plastered herself near the window and lifted the curtain a fraction to look outside.

A shadow shifted near the fence and vanished fast. Skylar flinched. A cloud shrouded the moon, and without more moonlight, she couldn’t see anything beyond a black hoodie in the dim lantern light. Besides, it happened too fast.

Breeze edged closer but didn’t bark anymore. No more growling, either.

Afraid to breathe, Skylar stared at the white sand for several more minutes. Her beloved ocean appeared dark and menacing, threatening her with mysteries like the one she never should’ve seen. A shiver traveled down her spine, but she didn’t move. Then Breeze stretched on the carpet as if nothing had happened.

The threat, if there was a threat, had passed.

Or did this place wake up her paranoia?

She needed to check on her grandmother. Skylar forced herself to move now and tiptoed out of her childhood room still covered in her drawings and watercolors, wincing at the cold tile, then to her grandmother’s bedroom, the only other bedroom in the house.

She moved quietly in case Grandma was asleep as low snoring coming from the bedroom suggested. Skylar peeked into the room decorated with doilies and embroidered tablecloths on the dresser and nightstand. Yup, Grandma was asleep indeed.

Relieved, Skylar turned around and stumbled onto Breeze in the hall. She held in a gasp somehow, then steadied herself while holding onto the dog.

Did she scare herself for nothing? Or had she brought danger to her grandmother’s place?

Getting cold, she rubbed her palms over her forearms, her silk pajamas smooth under her skin but no protection from cold or fear. The words of the threat she’d received after leaving her small town were imprinted in her brain forever.

Or could danger still wait for her here?

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