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Chapter One

The night washed over Kellen, wrapping hiness The occasional flashes of yellow in the distant clouds would soon be overhead, and he’d have to go inside Although a powerful storm brewed over the Gulf of Mexico, he wasn’t ready to face that empty house He’d just stay on the beach until resolve proved stronger than dread

As the flickers above the horizon intensified, the wind picked up, whipping his long hair around his neck and face He stared out at the endless water, fighting shivers as the damp bite of the salty sea air drearmth from his body His skin had become numb He wished the Gulf breeze could nu that part of hi ever leave or was he destined to feel eible to hio when he’d stared at that fking heart ratefor just one more blip Just one more

Just one

It had never come

All the hope in the world—all the love he had to give—hadn’t a in the end

Beneath the angry clouds, the water looked like shifting obsidian—shiny, black glass with peaks and valleys Random curves of white froth approached the damp sand at Kellen’s feet and then receded, a ceaseless pattern of surge and withdrawal The surf toyed with hi as the tide went out Waves churned beneath the power of the stor the sand from beneath his soles, but those waves never claimed hi the slowly ebbing water, knowing eventually the sea would push him back toward the shore as the tide returned There was little a man could count on in life, but he could count on the tides And Kellen could count onhim

He glanced over his shoulder at the dark house behind hiray Cheerless Not like the happy place he’d shared with her before she’d gotten sick

Oh, look at this house, Kellen, Sara’s cheerful voice echoed through his memory Wouldn’t it be fun to rent it for a week and pretend it’s ours? I’ve never seen the ocean I want to see it for the first time with you

Kellen had peered at the coh pictures of an enormous, sunny yellow vacation rental with open, airy roo decks with beach views

You want to go see the ocean, honey We go, he’d said How much is it?

She’d clicked on a reservation link and both their jaws had dropped when the weekly rental rate had been displayed She’d closed the laptop and looked up at hi him in Like a riptide, they’d always pulled him under

I don’t need that, she’d said I have you And she’d kissed him the way only Sara could kiss A kiss that stirred his body into a heated frenzy A kiss that touched his heart and soul Her kiss had always turned him inside out That’s what love did to him That’s why Kellen needed it and at the saain