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A Slice of Summer [A Moonlit Romance Beach Duet Book 3] [MultiFormat]
eBook by Laura Hamby & Mary Claymore
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eBook Category: Romance
eBook Description: *Star Kissed* by Laura Hamby: Helena Read wants more than a Miss Dairy Farm '95 crown in life. She forsakes Nebraska for Sunrise Beach, Delaware, where a fortuneteller's insight leaves her scoffing in disbelief. That is, until she meets her new room mate, Hugh Franklyn. Hugh just might be able to prove that love can be star kissed. *Moon Struck* by Mary Claymore: Courtney Monroe's only expectation for the summer was helping her grandparents fix up their new fixer-upper. What she didn't count on was hitting a giant dog, meeting a sexy veterinarian, and hearing a Tarot reader predict wedding bells and babies. Poppy-Cock! Wedding bells and babies?
eBook Publisher: Moonlit Romance/Moon Glimmer/Moonlit Madness
Fictionwise Release Date: July 2007
This eBook is part of the following series:
Available eBook Formats [MultiFormat - What's this?]: Adobe Acrobat (PDF) [460 KB], eReader (PDB) [126 KB], Palm Doc (PDB) [116 KB], Rocket/REB1100 (RB) [106 KB], Microsoft Reader (LIT) [139 KB] - PocketPC 1.0+ Compatible, Franklin eBookMan (FUB) [169 KB], hiebook (KML) [289 KB], Sony Reader (LRF) [188 KB], iSilo (PDB) [96 KB], Mobipocket (PRC) [120 KB], Kindle Compatible (MOBI) [161 KB], OEBFF Format (IMP) [164 KB]
Words: 34659
Reading time: 99-138 min.
Microsoft Reader (LIT) Format: Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud ENABLED
Adobe Acrobat (PDF) Format: Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud DISABLED
All Other formats: Printing DISABLED, Read-aloud DISABLED
 
CHAPTER ONEMadame Olwyna stood at the entrance to her heavy canvas tent. The sturdy oatmeal colored material whispered in the ocean breeze, proclaiming secrets from the depths to any listener adept at hearing such things. She nodded. The breeze settled, and once again everything on the boardwalk was calm. The music from the game arcades just a couple blocks down drifted over the crashing sound of the waves hitting sand. The babble of hundreds of people walking, swimming, shopping and playing added to the usual everyday-ness of late afternoon at the Beach Boardwalk. Most people gave Madame Olwyna a wide berth, often casting her looks of fright and disbelief. Some radiated a smug amusement, which always brought a smile to her face. Those types usually found a ticket plastered to their windshields, due to the meter having run out while they'd frolicked on the beach. There, in the distance, a mere speck to most eyes, Madame Olwyna saw her. She moved at a steady rate, weaving in and around others who weren't progressing at her pace. Head down, hands shoved in pockets, Madame's quarry moved like she was running away. Madame Olwyna lifted the flap that served as the door to her round tent. She tied it back; an open invitation to the woman who approached. Sure, at least one hundred people still separated them, but a mere quarter of them would actually pass the Pyschic's Tent and none of them would enter. She kept her back to the doorway purposefully--she couldn't resist indulging her whim for dramatics. "Come in. Don't be shy. I don't bite." "I don't know why I even stopped. I don't believe in what you do." "Helena Annette Read, all you need is an open mind. Have a seat." Madame Olwyna gestured with a languid hand towards the soft, inviting sofa. A Victorian piece, known often as a fainting couch, the psychic liked the look of it. Liked the resonance the piece emitted. It calmed the most skeptical of her patrons. It would work on the defiant young woman who sat on it with a loud thunk. Helena's mouth went dry, and a heat crept over her as she realized the fortune teller had called her by name. Her full name. "You going to tell me I have to face my past before I can face my future? Some sort of mumbo jumbo like that?" Madame smiled. "No. I'm going to tell you to leave your past there where it belongs. In the past. There's nothing for you back there. All you need is ahead of you, if you're open-minded." "What am I looking for?" Chills went down Helena's spine. This weirdness was much too much for her to credit. "You'll know when you see him." Helena rose to her feet. "Oh no. No hims. No hers, either. No significant others of any form. I'm done with relationships, real or imagined. Done. Done, done, done, done, done." "Your life will remain out of kilter until you open your heart to accept love, Helena," Madame Olwyna said. She ran her be-ringed hands over the crystal ball that sat plumb in the middle of the small, round table. Wisps of heavy gray mist swirled in the ball, reacting to Helena's mood. "So it is. So shall it be." "Should I just leave my five dollars on the couch?" Time to go. Five minutes ago would've been a great departure time. "Keep your money, dear. You can pay me next time you seek me out." "I didn't seek you out this time, and I wouldn't seek you out again." The challenge in the younger woman's voice didn't irritate Madame at all, or faze her for even a tiny second. She knew Helena would be back. They all came back. "One final word, before you go," Madame Olwyna called. Helena stopped at the entrance, but didn't turn around. "Yes?" "Surfboards." * * * *Helena shook her head while silently calling herself an idiot ten ways to Sunday. Okay, so she had no really good explanation for why she went inside the psychic's tent. "You did not feel a tug. Nope. You were not reeled in like a fish," she muttered to herself. "And your life is in perfectly good kilter." She paused in front of the beach gift shop where she worked, dreading to go inside. The manager was younger than she was, by at least five years, and the rest of the employees appeared to be just weaned from the boob not two days ago. Helena took a deep breath and entered the store. The hip hop music blaring on the overhead speakers assaulted her ears, making her cringe. She hated this place. Manager Tiffie met her just inside the door. "Oh, there you are. Look, it's like nothing personal, 'Lena. The owners decided we're like totally overstaffed, and that I have to like, yanno, fire three employees. I'm sorry. Here's your check. Have a great day!" Helena heaved a tremendous sigh as she looked at her paycheck. Great. Just enough to cover her half of the rent. Food just became optional. With nowhere else to go and nothing else to do, Helena hit the boardwalk jogging. Perhaps one of the beach-side restaurants needed more wait-staff. She could always dream. Dreams. Dreams had brought her here to the Atlantic coast from her land-locked home in central Nebraska where there was nothing more to look at than field after endless field of corn. Dreams invaded her sleep, telling her there had to be more to life than rising at the butt crack of dawn to milk grumpy cows, slop the pigs and gather eggs. Her parents told her it was a phase she was going through. That worked back when she was sixteen. Back then, she'd been content to be crowned Miss Dairy Farm '95. Thrilled even. She slowed to a walk as she neared the old house where she'd rented the basement apartment. Yeah, she'd agreed to have a roommate to split the cost with her, was even looking forward to meeting this as yet unknown personality. The driveway angled down towards her front door. It was so steep it was impossible to park a vehicle there. That didn't bother her in the least. She preferred it this way. Voices drifted out from the window she'd left open to catch the sea breeze. Male voices. Heart thudding in her chest, Helena used the tip of her index finger to poke the door. It was unlatched and swung noiselessly inward. "Hello?" She scrubbed sweaty palms against the plaid shorts she wore. "Do you make a practice of entering other people's homes without knocking?" Helena bristled at the arrogantly phrased question. "Not when it's my house I'm entering, and you're the trespasser." Okay. So maybe her life was out of kilter, as the psychic had suggested. A very good probability at this point, she decided as she stepped around the surfboard that stood angled against the wall.
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