Summer with the Single Dad by Whitley Cox

Author:Whitley Cox [WHITLEY COX]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Whitley Cox
Published: 2024-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

She didn’t meet him for a run Saturday morning.

He even went so far as to knock on her bedroom door, but she didn’t answer.

Her shoes were still in the foyer though. So she wasn’t pulling her earlier shit where she left for a run earlier. Unless she was and just set her alarm for three in the morning.

Something happened at the funfair yesterday that triggered Justine in a way Bennett couldn’t figure out.

She froze when Barnacle choked and then when Bennett called “bullshit” on her response and probed further, she shut down completely and vanished.

He wanted to chase after her, but he had his kids there and still needed to complete his volunteer shift. He heard through the grapevine that she drove Keturah Katz home. So that gave him some level of comfort that she wasn’t entirely alone. Keturah was a wily old bird who could coax a confession out of anybody.

He even thought about going to Keturah’s house and asking what Justine said, but he thought better of it. People told Keturah things, but she rarely told anybody anything. She had her ear to the ground about all the goings-on on the island, but she wasn’t one to gossip. She was known as The Island Ear. She knew everything and everyone, was a phenomenal listener, and could also be trusted to keep a secret and take it to her grave. And if Keturah didn’t know something, chances are Hugh Tapper—the local potter—did. Between those two, nothing happened on the island without them knowing. Unlike Jolene Dandy, who was known as The Island Mouth. The woman barely knew how to take a breath, let alone listen, unless it was to hear more gossip. And often that gossip held more hyperbole than fact.

Saturday morning, Bennett found himself alone at the kitchen counter after his run, sipping coffee and scowling. What the hell was going on with Justine?

She was so hot and cold.

When she was hot, holy hell was she hot. She was someone he could see himself falling for—if he wasn’t already—and starting a life with. Which was an outrageous idea, considering it’d been a week since her arrival. But when she was cold, it was like an atmospheric river followed her around, raining down despair and grief in golf-ball-sized hail pellets. And sometimes, it felt like he could end up scorched and frostbitten within the same hour based on how quickly she shifted.

He sipped his coffee, relishing the quiet, but also worried about it. It was officially the first day of summer vacation, and Emme and Aya vowed last night that they were going to sleep in.

He tuned into the sounds of the house, willing Justine to make a noise in her room—which was his room. But he heard nothing. Nothing besides Aya’s soft snoring, since she liked to sleep with her door slightly open.

His phone pinged with a work email, and he opened it.

Hello.

We are very interested in renting your restaurant for our wedding and reception. We would also like cabin five as a place to get ready for the wedding and for the wedding night.

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