CASTLE
IN THE SAND by Jeannie Moon
Kick off
your shoes, stick your toes in the sand and indulge yourself in a sweet second
chance romance on the island of Mimosa Key. Nick DeMarco is back in
Barefoot Bay and is hoping for Lila Novak's forgiveness. Little does he know,
he'll get a whole lot more than that. Fans of Roxanne St. Claire’s Barefoot Bay
will love meeting new visitors and residents of Mimosa Key in this Kindle
Worlds Barefoot Bay romance by Jeannie Moon.
Release Date: 08/23/16
Publisher: Kindle Worlds
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Format:
Digital
Nick
DeMarco was a covert operative who breezed in and out of the lives of the
people he cared about often without warning. This included his sister Josie’s
best friend, Lila Novak.
Nick and
Lila had a torrid affair the last time he dropped into Barefoot Bay, and now
that he’s back, possibly for the long haul, he hopes she’ll forgive him for
disappearing without a word.
Lila
loves her life as a teacher at Mimosa High School, but her affair with Nick has
thrown her a curveball she never expected. Carrying his baby, she’s faced with
the loss of her job unless she agrees to do the last thing she wants to do –
marry him.
Jeannie Moon has always been a romantic. When she's not spinning tales of her own, Jeannie works as a school librarian, thankful she has a job that allows her to immerse herself in books. Married to her high school sweetheart, Jeannie has three kids, three lovable dogs, and resides on Long Island, NY. If she's more than ten miles away from salt water for any longer than a week, she gets twitchy.
Excerpt
here were few things that ticked off Lila Novak more
than busybodies. And when said busybodies were making her life difficult, that
really chapped her ass.
She sat at the district office, having been summoned
from Mimosa High School by the superintendent of schools, and while she waited
she saw a parade of people enter the conference room. Her principal, the vice
principal, the personnel director, and her department chair were all part of
the group that was going to see her. This wasn’t good.
Nothing like kicking a girl when she was down.
Her department chair, Mary Chavez, poked her head out
and motioned to Lila. “We’re ready for you. Don’t let them upset you, and don’t
lose your temper.”
Mary was a sweet woman, a joy to work for. Because of
her, the math department at Mimosa was a fun place to be. Her colleagues were friendly,
and unlike some departments, they all liked each other. However, Mary knew Lila
could have a smart mouth, and this wasn’t the time for wit. Even if some people
deserved her wit shoved up their butts.
The superintendent sat at the far end of the table,
and the other administrators flanked him left and right. This wasn’t going to
be easy.
Lila stood at the other end of the large oval table.
Alone.
“Lila, have a seat,” the big guy said.
“Thank you,” she replied. That was a load of shit. She
had no reason to thank them.
“So,” he began. “We hear you’ve gotten yourself in a
bad spot.”
This was really making him uncomfortable, and based on
the scowls from a few others in the room, she was in more than a bad spot.
“Sir, I am pregnant, yes.” Lila took a deep breath
before continuing. “I’ve tried to keep it private, but that’s hard to do in
such a…close knit community.” It’s full of nosy women with nothing else
to do, is what she wanted to say. But Lila held her tongue, knowing that
sassing the superintendent and his minions wouldn’t help her cause. “While I’m
sure it might make some people uncomfortable, it isn’t something I want to talk
about.”
“Unfortunately, that’s not an option,” the personnel
director broke in. She was new to the district, and Lila didn’t catch her first
name, but her last name was Smith. “You have to talk about it. There is a
clause in your contract regarding morality…”
Bile stuck in her throat. Sweet baby jeebus. A
morality clause. It was the 21st century, wasn’t it? “I don’t understand.”
“We hold our teachers in very high regard,” the woman
drawled. “And we’ve gotten a number of complaints about the situation. Parents
are extremely upset about having an unwed, pregnant teacher in
front of the classroom.”
A knot formed in Lila’s chest. Crushing breathlessness
made her audibly suck in air, but she didn’t cry. No, she wouldn’t give this
pit of vipers the satisfaction, but there was no hiding how this was affecting
her.
No one seemed to care that she was in distress. They
were all sitting very still, apparently awaiting Lila’s response.
“I see y’all staring at me, but I don’t know what you
want me to say.”
“We thought you could offer some clarification, or
explanation, so we can better understand how this all came about,” the nameless
personnel director shot at her.
“Ma’am, if you want an explanation for my pregnancy,
may I suggest you speak to a health teacher.” Yep. She just snapped at someone
who held her fate in her hands.
“There’s no need to get snippy, young lady.”
“I’m sorry, but I believe there is.” Lila wasn’t going
to be intimidated. “This is a private matter.”
“Who is the baby’s father?” Ms. Smith blurted out.
BOOM. There it was. That’s what they were driving at.
There had been an ugly rumor about her and the father of one of her students.
He’d made some unwanted advances in a bar. It didn’t matter that Lila had told
him to buzz off; people had talked.
“I haven’t told the baby’s father yet, and I’m not
comfortable telling you before I tell him.”
“Lila,” her chair began, “taking a hard line here
isn’t going to help.”
“I’m sorry, but he’s overseas on assignment.” That was
all Lila could come up with, and it might or might not have been true. She
didn’t know where Nick DeMarco was. She hadn’t heard from him in months.
“That’s all I can say.”
When she said he was overseas, everyone came to
attention.
“Is he in the service of our country?” the
superintendent asked.
Lila nodded. She didn’t know what Nick was doing, but
he did work for the government. “I think I should tell him first, don’t you?”
“Lila, I don’t like this any more than you do, but
something must be done. I have parents calling for your job.”
“Well, sir, with all due respect, you can tell them
this is none of their business. I’m sure you’re aware that I am a very good
teacher. My students are engaged and do very well.”
“I am. Your reputation in the classroom is excellent,
but regardless of how accepting society has become of single parents, our
teachers are held to a different standard. Parents are very upset.”
“Am I being dismissed?” There was no use in beating
around the bush. If the decision had already been made, the time would be
better spent polishing her resumé.
“I don’t want to do that, but I am in a difficult
position.”
Of course. His contract was up for renewal. The last
thing he needed was a bunch of parents complaining that he wasn’t responsive.
If they started calling for his head, who knew how the board of education would
respond? Lila didn’t know what she was expected to do. The baby was already in
the picture.
“I guess you’ll let me know if I have a job, then?”
She started to get up from the chair when her
department chair came to her defense. “Lila is one of our best teachers. Surely
there’s a way for this to work out.”
Silence settled over the room, because no one seemed
to have any answers. They were looking everywhere but at each other. Glancing
off into space or keeping their eyes trained at the table. Except for Ms.
Smith, who was staring at Lila. Now she didn’t know if she should leave or
stay.
“Lila?” Her principal, Joe Alex, broke the quiet. “How
is the clean-up from the fire going?”
That got everyone’s attention. Being a pity case
wasn’t her first choice, but Lila would take it. She couldn’t be without a job.
Especially not now.
The superintendent’s face dropped. He wasn’t a bad
person, but he was a puppet. Now his conscience was getting to him. Lila just
hoped it worked in her favor. “I’ll be in touch,” he said flatly. Then he stood
and left the room, leaving Lila in the same place as she’d been before, without
any answers.
“Motherfucker, that hurts.” Over the course of his
career, Nick had been shot, stabbed, beaten, and thrown off the roof of the
building. But the searing pain from the injection into his injured shoulder was
like nothing he’d ever felt. Of course, he’d been unconscious after the
stabbing, and the shooting, and during the beating he managed to throw a few
punches himself. Getting thrown off a building? Not something he would
recommend.
But he’d recovered from every injury. He’d come back
to duty stronger than ever, almost like he had to prove himself. Rumor was some
people wondered if he was even human. Nick had to laugh at that. Of course he
was human, he just took his work seriously. There were a lot of bad people out
in the world, and it was Nick’s job to make sure they didn’t hurt anyone.
This time, however, his shoulder had been almost
completely ripped out of the socket. The damage had been repaired as much as it
could be, but for the first time in his career, Nick didn’t know if he was
going to be able to do his job like he had before.
There had been mutterings about a desk job. A fucking
desk job. He couldn’t see himself settling into a regular routine, making
assignments, even if it did carry a promotion. He was an adrenaline junkie,
pure and simple, and if he wasn’t out in the field chasing bad guys, he didn’t
know what he was going to do.
“So will the cortisone fix what ails me?”
The doctor shrugged. It was another resident, another
no-name who didn’t know anything about him. To the guy in the scrubs, Nick was
just another case. He didn’t understand that Nick’s life as he knew it was on
the line.
“Dr. O’Neill will be in in a minute. He has more
details about your next step.” Without another word, the drone doc left the
room. At least he would get to talk to the guy who did the surgery. Maybe he
would finally give Nick a straight answer.
His cell phone beeped, and he glanced at the screen.
His sister. The text was short. Are you alive?
Nick smiled. Josie, as always, got to the point. This
time, he answered. Sent back a simple: yes. But that was all she was gonna get
for now.
He was still figuring out how he felt about her
relationship with Tony. Never in his life had he suspected his best friend and
his sister had been having an affair. Now, Josie was going to be a queen. An
honest to God, crown-wearing, scepter-wielding queen. Okay, maybe that was too
dramatic. But she would have a crown. His little sister would have a crown.
Nick lay back on the table, knees bent, arm folded
over his eyes. Jesus. What if he couldn’t go back in the field? He’d never
thought about life after fieldwork, but now it was the only thing on his mind.
He tried to focus on something good, something
positive, and immediately Lila Novak’s face flashed in his memory. Talk about
secrets. The four days he’d spent in bed with Josie’s best friend had been just
what he needed. The woman was a contradiction; on one hand she was full of piss
and vinegar, but on the other she was beautiful, smart, sweet, and the sex had
been a friggin’ miracle. Nick thought about her a lot, probably too much.
Still, he wanted to see her. He figured whatever the
doctor said, he’d head to Florida for some R&R. His grandparents’ house was
empty, and while he was there he was sure he could get Lila to see him. As long
as she wasn’t too pissed off. He’d left without saying goodbye, and in his
experience women really hated that.
He expected Lila was no different.
The door burst open and Dr. O’Neill entered the space.
A big man, career Army, Nick peeked out from under his arm and the doctor
tossed a wry grin in his direction.
“Hiding, Colonel?”
Colonel. He wasn’t used to being called by his rank.
“Just trying to figure out what kind of bullshit you’ll be feeding me about my
shoulder.”
“No bullshit,” the doctor said. “Truth only. Your
shoulder was a hot mess. I was able to do some repair on the ligaments and
tendons, but at this point it’s not stable. I can’t recommend you be allowed to
go back to fieldwork at this time.”
“So, I’m going to be a desk jockey? I can’t do that.
I’ll go crazy.” Nick’s fear of desk work was what drove him to volunteer for a
special covert ops unit. He went where he was needed, working sometimes for the
CIA, the NSA, or different branches of the military. When people asked what he
did, he said he was a “security consultant”. It wasn’t a lie.
“You can stay in the Corps,” the doctor reassured him.
“There are plenty of things a man with your knowledge and talents can do.
You’re just not going to be swinging from trees or jumping off buildings
anymore.”
“Should I retire? I mean, if I can’t do the work…”
“I didn’t say never, but not now. There’s a lot you
can still do. Hell, with all your experience, you’ll be running the Joint
Chiefs inside of six months. But you aren’t indestructible. You may recover
enough to get back to the insanity you call a job, but I don’t recommend it.”
That particular statement made him think—and the
conclusion wasn’t good. Lately, every injury meant a tougher recovery. He knew
he was getting older, but his body was finally telling him what that meant.
“Shit.”
The doctor took a seat across from him. “Nick, I’ve
treated your last two orthopedic injuries. Your missions are more dangerous
because that’s the way of the world right now, but even you have limits; you’re
almost forty.”
“Thanks for the reminder.” Forty was still a couple of
years away, but one thing Nick couldn’t deny was that he was feeling it.
Nick wasn’t a quitter, but he also wasn’t stupid. He
knew when there was no point in arguing. He placed his feet solidly on the
floor, stood, and extended his hand to O’Neill. “Thanks, Doc. I appreciate it.”
Shaking his hand, the older man wore an expression
that told Nick he wasn’t the first to possibly have his career cut short and he
wouldn’t be the last. But it still sucked.
Leaving the exam room, he took the stairs five flights
down. He didn’t talk to anyone; it was raining, but he didn’t hail a cab,
hoping the walk would clear his head. Finally, soaked to the bone, Nick jumped
on the Metro. He was sure he looked sketchy, but he didn’t care. It would keep
people away. He got off in Foggy Bottom, walked past the White House and down
the mall, ending up on the steps of The Capitol. A security guard gave him the
eye, suspicious. As he should be.
Nick was a dangerous man.
He was lighter—leaner—than he’d been before the
injury. Not surprising, and probably a good thing.
It was pouring now, reminding him of an op that had
dropped his team in the middle of a South American jungle.
God, what he wouldn’t give to be back there again.
Looking up, he felt like the heavens were taunting
him.
He had to get out of town. He had a couple of options.
He could head to an island and decompress in a tiki hut over a lagoon in Fiji.
He had a friend with a chalet in the Alps. It was beautiful and secluded, but
there would be no skiing or climbing.
The last idea was the one that really appealed to him.
Barefoot Bay. He’d head to his grandparents’ house in Florida to regroup and
figure out what to do next.
Sure, people knew him, but most of them wouldn’t ask
questions, and the tiny coastal island of Mimosa Key was about as far away from
work as he could possibly get. Sure, there might be nosy neighbors, but no one
would be shooting at him.
And he’d try to see Lila. If she was still speaking to
him.
Yeah, no doubt about it. Thoughts of Lila alone made
Florida a very good idea.
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