“You have a point, I guess. Give me your phone. I’m going to try to reach Mary.”
But a few minutes—and one vague voice mail—later, they were no closer to finding that book’s owner than they had been that morning.
Twelve
Aflashbacktransports the reader back in time to a pivotal moment in a character’s life to help the reader better understand his present-day situation.
—Romance Writing 101
The heat was just one of the things distracting Sam from his work today. He shoveled out the last bit of pea gravel into the flower bed and spread it out. When he was finished he swiped his arm across his forehead. The temperature was in the midnineties today with not a cloud in the sky, and Mrs.Blevins’s yard didn’t have a single shade tree. He’d love to whip off his shirt and take advantage of the coastal breeze, but his dad drew the line at stripping in customers’ yards. Go figure.
He pulled off his gloves and checked his watch. Almost quitting time. Just had to get one more bed done. He gulped the lemonade Mrs.Blevins had brought him. What was Sadie up to this afternoon? Had she managed to reach Mary?
Two days ago after their first unsuccessful phone call, Sadie had the idea of calling Mary’s boyfriend instead. They just needed his number. But a phone call to Mr. Graves had proved unsuccessful, and Sadie had been unable to locate his information online.
Sam checked his phone—he and Sadie had exchanged numbers—but she hadn’t reached out to him.
Tag, however, had sent him a text forty-five minutes ago.Hey, buddy. Just checking in with you. Mowed Mr.Graves’s yard and he said you’d stopped by. Hope you’re doing all right.
Sam frowned at the message, pocketed his phone, and got back to work with the wheelbarrow, shovel, and mound of pea gravel. He and his cousin were certainly back on speaking terms. After all, they lived in the same town, worked at the same business, and were related to the same people.
And it had been more than a year since that fateful day.
The memory surged into Sam’s mind like a rogue wave. It was the kind of day a man didn’t easily forget. He’d finished work early and decided to call it a day. He’d been dragging all afternoon—caught some virus, he suspected. But it was Friday and there was some beach party Amanda wanted to attend—a friend of hers on the island. He’d rather stay home, order in food, and watch a movie. But relationships required compromise. They’d both been busy lately and hadn’t seen much of each other.
Since he knew it would be a late night and he had to work in the morning, he headed home for a quick nap. On the way he dropped his truck at Louie’s Garage, just down the street from his apartment. Louie would change his brake pads, and Sam would pick it up in the morning. Amanda was picking him upat seven tonight. She preferred to drive her Mercedes rather than his work truck since it apparently smelled like sweat and grass.
Yeah, she was a little prissy, but she had a good heart. She’d worked hard to make something of herself. Had put herself through college and was now a paralegal at a prominent law firm in town. They’d met when she hired Ford Landscaping and Lawn Care to maintain the pristine lawn outside their new building.
He’d been thunderstruck at first sight of her—tall and thin with a sheath of black hair that sparkled like onyx and begged to be touched. She flirted with him and was quite adept at it. He was mesmerized by her sultry green eyes and the sensuous way she moved. Would she see a blue-collar worker as beneath her?
Apparently not. When he asked her out the next week, she said yes without hesitation.
Over the next several months he discovered that the woman beneath the sultry exterior was tough as nails. She’d had a rough upbringing, had been raised by her grandmother, and had clawed her way up through hard work and determination. She volunteered at the local nursing home where, he soon learned, she had all those old men wrapped around her little finger. The women liked her, too, especially when she gave them manicures and pedicures.
He walked home that day, smiling at thoughts of her. They’d been dating more than a year and things had gotten serious. On a whim last week he’d done a little searching online for engagement rings. They’d talked about the future and seemed to want the same things: meaningful careers, a marriage, a couple of kids. Maybe he’d give it a few more months and propose. Her upcoming birthday would be the perfect opportunity.
By the time he arrived at Tag’s and his apartment, his nose was stuffed up and his head throbbed. Definitely coming down with something.
He turned up the air-conditioning, took a quick shower, and dropped on his bed.
When he woke up, the lighting in his room was different. The sun was low in the sky. He’d slept later than he intended and hadn’t set his alarm since he never napped more than twenty minutes.
He sat up in bed, his head spinning, and checked his watch. He still had thirty minutes before Amanda arrived. Time to get some Advil into his system. Maybe a decongestant. He didn’t want to cancel the date. He hadn’t seen her in almost a week, and she’d been looking forward to this party.
He hauled himself out of bed, and the rush of air-conditioning felt so good. Maybe he had a fever. Oh well, the Advil would take care of that too.
He left his room and padded down the hall. The TV was on—sports, from the sound of it, so he expected to find Tag on the sofa.
What he hadn’t expected to find was Amanda, wrapped up like a burrito in his cousin’s arms. Engaged in a lip-lock.
He was hallucinating. He tried to blink away the image. Wavered on his feet. His pulse pounded in his temples.Throb, throb, throb.But the image remained. It was real. Tag and Amanda.
A red cloud rose inside him. “What the...”
The couple sprang apart.
Amanda covered her mouth—the same mouth that had just been plastered to his cousin’s.
