The Stone Family Heart - Taylor Hart Page 0,3

wouldn’t dwell on the past. Wasn’t that what her counselor had been telling her not to do, rehash things she couldn’t change?

Like Jeff. His addictions. His abuse.

She moved to the window. There was still enough sun that she could get a swim in, even with the clouds in the sky. Then she could hop in the pool and have a soak in the hot tub. Boom.

She quickly changed, then grabbed a towel and rushed back down to the first floor, eager to hit the beach.

She kicked off her flip-flops and dropped her towel, and she couldn’t help but hurry to the shoreline. She didn’t stop to check the temperature. No, she did what she and her brothers had done every summer when they’d first arrived in South Port: she ran as fast as she could, and then she dove into the water, fully immersing herself. The taste of the salt touched her tongue and she smiled under the water before emerging with laughter. It was the perfect temperature, and she felt younger than she’d felt in years.

The sun was setting, and there was a strange hue to the sky, a telltale sign of an approaching storm. Nobody was in sight. Yes, she loved being alone on the beach. She’d always loved it. Feeling silly, she quickly did a backflip in the water, surfaced, then did a front flip. That was another thing she used to do when she would first get to the beach.

Just like a mermaid, her mother used to say.

The waves were calm, but the sway of the water still gently pushed her back and forth as she stood. Dang, why had she waited this long to come back to South Port?

She stayed in the water, staring up at the sky for a long time. She thought about that picture of the old beach gang. She’d nearly forgotten the younger version of herself. She’d forgotten how much that girl laughed and how full of mischief she’d been. And flirtatious. Ha. Trey had been constantly telling her to take it down a notch with Tim. Like he could talk—he and Ava had been inseparable.

Before she knew it, her cheeks were actually hurting from smiling for so long. It was a sad state of affairs if her face hurt from smiling and she noticed it.

For old times’ sake, she did another backflip and then front flip. She laughed again at her silliness, and then she trudged out of the ocean, wishing for days long past.

As she bent to pick up the towel, she heard the voice of someone she really hadn’t expected to hear tonight.

“Is that you, Kens?”

Chapter 2

Tim Tucker, small-town South Port sheriff, had recently become the owner of the dive at the end of the beach. He’d bought it from his uncle. He figured he could restore it, do some kind of number like Trey and Ava had done. Not for purposes to own an inn, of course. No, just for the purpose of having something on the beach. Something that was his. Something that was home.

His uncle Henry walked through the front door, not bothering to knock. “So you’re still working, even though technically you’re on vacation.” Henry was the man who’d raised Tim.

Tim paused from the finishing touches he was putting on the paint job he’d done in the kitchen. “You know what they say: ‘there’s no rest for the wicked.’” He grinned at the older man.

“And the righteous don’t need any.” His uncle, who was also the town pastor, grinned back and held up a Tupperware. “Aunt Lily thought you might be hungry.”

Tim put down his paintbrush and reached for the Tupperware, hoping it was what he thought it might be. He ripped off the lid and inhaled the smell of her famous chicken noodle soup. “Dang, it smells so good.”

His uncle reached into his pocket and pulled out a spoon.

Tim laughed and took it, hesitating briefly, then bowed his head. Praying had been ingrained in him since he was a boy. Well, since he’d come to live with Henry and Lily at age six.

His uncle bowed his head as well.

Tim muttered a brief prayer and then dug in, relishing the taste of the homemade soup. “Hmm,” he hummed. “She’s the best cook in two counties.”

His uncle inspected the work in the kitchen, reaching out to tap the cupboards. “I like this color blue.”

“Me, too.”

“The white backsplash looks pretty nifty against that blue color,” his uncle said. He stopped in front of the new refrigerator