Return to Eagle Cove by M. L. Buchman

Author:M. L. Buchman [Buchman, M. L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Buchman Bookworks, Inc.

By the first hundred yards along the beach they were pushing the pace enough that no spare breath remained for conversation which was fine with Jessica.

When they reached the docks at the two-mile mark and moved up onto the streets, she picked up the pace another notch. Her long legs could run most guys into the ground, but Greg not only kept up, but began pushing her. Up Beach Way, she saw his shoes and socks still on the porch of The Puffin Diner, looking as if their owner had been teleported out without his footwear.

What the heck, Slater? Was that really what she’d said about such a fine meal?

No, that’s what she’d said about a man with a boyhood crush on her. Well, she’d only be here for one week, then she’d be safely gone. They couldn’t cause too much trouble in such a short time.

They ran out to where the town tapered down into the single road. At the final intersection before it headed up into the Coast Range she turned them onto Gull Way. It looped along the backside of Eagle Cove, making the longest possible running route.

In high school, it had been a straight 10K: Aunt Gina’s down the beach, through the heart of the town, up and down the short hard hills of Gull Way, cut back along Shearwater Lane and out LBB Lane. She’d usually started the loop at the high school on Shearwater, but had run it from Aunt Gina’s often enough that it was like coming home to run the loop.

Out on Shearwater, Greg slowed and waved at someone.

Jessica waved out of habit, but almost stumbled as she took in the image. It was a double-wide manufactured home, just where she’d pictured Greg, Dawn, and a passel of kids. But the home was clearly well tended with a cheery paint job and colorful hollyhocks. In front of a large add-on garage were parked a newer minivan and a beater pickup. But what made her stumble was that Vincent, Dawn, and the twins were all working together in the garage workshop on a beautiful-looking bookcase. Not at all the sort of place she’d pictured them ending up. It looked…cozy.

She started paying more attention to the town they ran through. Growing up here, it had all turned into the blur of “home.” Being gone, that memory had turned into rundown and sad. There were still those types; “white trash” places piled with mossed-over trailers, salvaged materials that would never be used, and lopsided picnic tables. But there were also the crisp lawns that marked retired military and the toy-strewn yards of new toddlers.

She almost commented on it to Greg, but then they hit the top of LBB Lane and now he kicked it up a gear.

Two miles to go, he was clearly trying to run her into the ground. Well, that wasn’t going to happen. Not to Jessica Baxter. Especially not on her home turf.

“Elmer,” she gasped out, finding it easier than she’d like to sound completely winded.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.