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When they’d finished the last of that tasty pink nectar, out of nowhere one of the women who’d set up earlier appeared with a fresh batch Taryn thought she’d make an inquiry

"Can you tell ht?" She explained to Cole, "I want to take soht shots"

"A full lasses "Either stretch is free from outcrops There are more turtle nests down that way" She slanted her head toward their right "You "

Taryn sat straighter "Really?"

She’d seen a turtle nest hatching on YouTube The sand had bubbled then a circle overfloith tiny flippers and shells pushing themselves out into the world A nest was supposed to contain fro fah on the beach and youdown the carafe "But don’t use a torch or flashlight That confuses hatchlings" Swinging back her heavy fall of brunette hair, she again gestured down the beach "You’ll see the nests The children mark them off"

Cole seeht see some hatch?"

"Feround, and that section is popular" After the woman had replaced used plates for clean, she ended, "Don’t forget a blanket Sea breezes can be cool at night"

As the woman headed off, Taryn sized Cole up "So you like turtles, huh?"

"Tate’s grade is signed up in soraet lucky and snap some close-up shots he can take to class" She pushed back her chair "Think I et her ideas on other spots to check out while we’re here"

"You’ll find ot to his feet, too, and stretched those les above his head, Taryn pressed her lips together then said it anyway He looked so striking yet relaxed So unlike his usual blustering self

"Maybe you shouldn’t take a real vacation It ood, you’d never want to coe perers brushed hers as he passed "Dreaot blankets"

Cole glanced over fro, half-asleep Taryn stood a few feet away on the verandah, a stack of blankets in her ar himself, he rocked out of the hammock onto his feet

"Was that an invitation?" he asked

"You said you liked turtles"

"I said Tate liked them" But, seriously, who didn’t like turtles? Hehappens?"

"But so in the confident curve of her grin and - in that pink cotton slip of a dress - her other curves, too, he had to agree Soht happen, and not just on the turtle front But did he really want to put them both in that situationalone on a secluded beach for an undefined as to boot?

Taking the blankets, Cole supposed the ansas an unconditional yes

A fewdown the beach with a full ht sky

"That woh visitors like us," she said "They have a joint council and apparently invest the revenue wisely"

"Maybe they should spend so up that welcon"

"Oh, Cole, it’s all part of the charm If you’ve stayed at one five-star, you’ve stayed at theet that taxi ride"

He winced "Neither will my shoulder"

They cah stakes were erected and red tape wound around the wood Protected areas for turtle nests

Cole surveyed the surrounds - gently sloping dunes, soft sand, idyllic view He laid out one of the blankets "Looks like this is our base"

The blanket-covered dune made for one very comfortable backrest Reclined side by side, he cast the other blanket over Taryn’s bare legs That wo, but Taryn ht think it cool

After several e clattering behind them, he asked, "What do you think would be their favorite time to break out? Don’t babies usually coht her soft laugh and carried it away "Can you i for the right moment? And so many of them" She frowned "Do you think mother turtles ever wonder how their babies rinned to assure her "No, I don’t"

Her gaze dropped and grew distant, then she said, "I wonder how Muffin and her big belly are holding up"

In the htful, he wanted to reach over and squeeze her hand for support, even if her concern was only over a cat

"She’ll be okay" Re a hoot families picked out for the litter?"

"Are you interested?" She gave a playful sht Real men don’t own cats"