Chapter 1 - Joan
I wiggled my toes in the hot sand of my favorite beach and wished I could stay. If ever I needed a break, this was it. The renta ...

Chapter 2 - Joan
I stopped at the stairway. I steeled myself with a deep breath before reaching for the handrail and taking the first step up. I ...

Chapter 3 - Price
Gulls were laughing and the sun was on her face as she lay on my deck surrounded by tiki torches burning citronella to keep the ...

Chapter 4 - Price
Rover ran into the surf to retrieve the ragged tennis ball I threw as he jogged down the beach toward the dunes. The dog shook t ...

Chapter 5 - Joan
My tongue was tied. I couldn’t think of a solitary comeback to his inuendo. I had stopped to admire the imaginative window ...

Chapter 6 - Price
I was going over before construction began on my eighth rental. My plan was to own the twenty houses surrounding the one I lived ...

Chapter 7 - Joan
I stood stock still wondering what had just happened. I had convinced myself I wasn’t interested in this man, but when he ...

Chapter 8 - Price
I hurried to make my appointment with Susan. I had my eyes on a rental property that had just come on the market and was to meet ...

Chapter 9 - Joan
I wanted to scream, but I had practiced controlling my emotions for many years and couldn’t make myself let anger take ove ...

Chapter 10 - Price
Several guests lingered longer than I’d hoped, but I tried to be polite. When I put the alcohol away, the last of the hang ...

Chapter 11 - Joan
I read my book as children screamed and played in the surf. Some teenagers were building a sandcastle that looked like a work of ...