As the Tide Comes In by Cindy Woodsmall & Erin Woodsmall

Author:Cindy Woodsmall & Erin Woodsmall
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2018-08-21T22:01:41+00:00

20

Luella pulled the last of the meat off the cooked chicken as Julep stirred the roux for the chicken potpie. Dell had her hands in biscuit dough, because piecrust just wasn’t nearly as good on top as buttermilk biscuits. Sue Beth was cutting fresh, steamy corn off the cob.

Elliott was the only one at Julep’s so far. Hadley and the children hadn’t yet returned from the water park, and Gavin had gone to find Tara. Surely everyone would be here by the time supper was ready. It wasn’t Tara’s last evening. Tomorrow night was, but not all of them could get together tomorrow night.

Luella spread the meat into a large baking dish and washed her hands. The tension in the house tonight wasn’t much better than last night. Tara didn’t want to return home just yet, and apparently she and Elliott had argued about it again today.

Clearly Tara had grit, lots of it. How else had she pulled herself together at eighteen and raised two amazing young men? But that hardheaded determination was misguided right now as she balked at her friends.

Luella meandered onto the back porch. With her palms against the porch railing, she leaned in and admired the immaculate yard that Julep kept. Birds chirped and swooped down to the bird feeder. The house was on a raised foundation to prevent flooding during a storm, and it made for a really nice view of Julep’s and Sapphira’s backyards. This land where Julep’s house sat was once Sapphira’s property, but she gave the small lot to Julep and Mitch to build a home on before Gavin was born.

The porch door burst open and banged against the side of the wooden house, making Luella jump.

“Gavin just called me.” Julep waved her cell in the air. “I’m sketchy on details, but Tara took off, insisting Gavin stay behind. He followed her at a distance, and last he saw her, she was getting on his old bike, the one from Sapphira’s shed. We’re going to tail her discreetly.” Julep hurried down the porch steps. “Elliott will wait here in case she returns.”

“You think the four of us can be discreet about anything?” Luella followed Julep with Sue Beth and Dell right behind them.

“Well, we’re going to try.” Julep strode into the shed. “He doesn’t want her on her own just yet. I think he’s afraid she’ll relapse and forget where she is. We should be able to catch up to her on our bikes.”

Luella winced, thinking of the bikes, but she followed Julep anyway. Last summer in an attempt to help Sue Beth and Julep start exercising, the four had decided to bike together once a week. They each purchased a bicycle to be stored in Julep’s shed since her neighborhood was a good area for cycling. Part of their mistake was they bought old, heavy bikes, like they had during childhood, and none of them had a gearshift. If they’d purchased new, lightweight bikes, biking would have been easier.

Every ride was disastrous.

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