Passionate Tides by J.N Johnson Page A

conversation. “…so we wondered if you wanted to go and check on it for us? You could stay as long as you like. It’s really pretty there this time of the year.”
    Shaking her head to clear the fog, she admitted to her friend that she wasn’t fully listening. “I’m sorry Tiffany my mind was wandering, what did you say again?”
    “Our house on Topsail Beach, we need someone to go and check on it after the storm rolled in the other night. Our renter called and said there was some minor damage and James has made arrangements for the repairs, but we would feel better if someone we knew was there to watch over everything. This could be a good chance for you to get out of that house and stop thinking of the jerk that broke your heart.”
    Paisley had to laugh at that. Tiffany never had liked Vince and always told her that she could have done better. Now it was hard to argue with her friends’ logic. Vince and Tiff had fought like cats and dogs every time they were around each other. The animosity between them had driven a wedge between Paisley and Tiff, causing them to grow apart, but she would have never survived these last few months without her friendship. “I’m not sure I should leave right now, what if…”
    Tiffany interrupted her with a huff. “Don’t say his name to me! This could be the vacation you need. Get away from that house, with all of its bad memories. Leave his sorry ass in the lurch, waiting on you for once. He can deal with the closing of the house and the bills that he and his hooker ran up. It’s time you do something for you.  Go sit on the deck, drink margaritas, and watch hunky, tanned, half naked men work. You never know, you may just find Mr. Right or at least Mr. Right Now.”
    Paisley laughed again at Tiffany’s rant and conceded that her friend just might be right. “When are they supposed to start working?”
    * * *
    The seven hour drive from West Virginia to the beach house had given Paisley too much time for her mind to wander. Most of the drive was spent thinking of all the things she should have done to save her marriage, how she could have kept Vince happy.
    She had never considered herself to be ugly. She had the red hair and freckles of her Irish heritage, and standing at five foot four, her body held the curves of the average woman, but that wasn’t something that bothered her. No, she liked her curves. Being stick thin, unable to hold up a strapless dress and having a bony ass wasn’t her idea of beauty. She wasn’t stupid either. She had two degrees and was working on getting her first book published. The problem with writing romance novels is that you need inspiration to make the words flow onto the pages and right now she was lacking any romantic inspiration. Maybe she should try her hand at murder mysteries?
    Driving down the long stretch of 210, she could see the high rise bridge that connected the main land from the island. As her car started the long drive up, she looked over the edge at the peaceful sound. She could see hundreds of  tracks left on the sandbars from the little ghost crabs that scampered around looking for food and the birds that wanted to make them lunch. The water looked so calm, but she knew the dangers of the sound and always kept any eye open for gators hiding in the tall grasses.
    When she reached the highest point, she could see the ocean crest over the dunes. The white sand looked like home and when she passed the ever present Shrimp Lady, who sold her daily catch from the back of her red truck, it brought a smile to her face. She knew that this trip had to be the promise of good things to come because she had had her fair share of bad times to last a lifetime.
    Things always seemed to move slower at the beach. The people here appeared more laid back, leaving their worries for another day. She hoped that this trip would help her forget all of the troubles that her ex-husband had caused her.
    Turning onto Ocean Drive, she headed to the