Sound of the Tide by Emily Bold Read Free Book Online Page A

grin on his face, he said, “Jenna told me that an incident took place a few days ago on account o f . . . some paint.”
    I buried my face in my hands. Dear Lord, an incident ? Was that really how she had described my going completely off the rails and having a meltdown? I nodded, deeply ashamed of myself, and decided not to ask what the two of them thought about that.
    Kevin nudged me amicably.
    “Well, we’re here today to close that chapter. Jenna says your living room is in dire need of a coat of paint.”
    Jenna whipped out a color fan deck from the hardware store, on which she had already marked a couple of hues.
    “Pick a new one,” she said, pushing the fan deck my way. “And remember, green apple is totally in right now.”
    That wasn’t hard to see because both her tight top and her fingernails were that bright, crisp shade of green. For the house on the beach, on the other hand, I couldn’t imagine a less suitable color than green apple.
    I didn’t want to make her mad, and so I pretended to consider it as one of the options.
    “How about sand?” Kevin suggested.
    That was a bit more like it. I was sick of bright, vibrant colors ever since the debacle with red, and I actually felt drawn to the more muted tones.
    “Jeez, Piper, you don’t want to turn the beach house—our party shack, remember?—into a nursing home, do you?”
    “I’m having a child, Jenna. It’s not going to be a party shack, it’ll be our home . So, I will need to like the color scheme even when I’m sober.”
    Again, Kevin laughed, and there was that dimple again. I pointed at two very similar-looking beige hues.
    “Sand or eggshell? What do you think?”
    Kevin pointed at the warmer one of the two and nodded, while Jenna shook her head in protest.
    “Piper,” she begged, tapping with her perfect fingernails at the green apple color chip, but I had made my decision.
    “All right, so eggshell it is. What’s the next step, you guys? Are you going to magically paint my walls?”
    Jenna nodded vehemently, grinning from ear to ear.
    “For the record, I’m putting in a protest vote as far as the color is concerned. But yes, Smokey and I will do the painting. You will take care of your heating system, because Marcus has got the contractor coming. In an hour!”
    She emptied her cup and pushed it away. “The two of us will pick up the paint and come join you later. What do you want for lunch?”
    I felt a little overwhelmed, and Kevin jumped in. “We’ll bring it.”
    “Pizza or Thai?” Jenna asked.
    “Piper prefers pizza,” he said immediately and got up from his chair. “See you later, then. As for you, Miss America, get a move on before the hardware store has only green apple left!”
    With that, he grabbed his jacket and pulled Jenna with him out the door—leaving me behind by myself, completely dumbfounded. It seemed that my friends had decided to end my period of depression. Well, at least they’d tried.
    I put the coffee cups in the sink and tried to mentally prepare myself to drive up to the house. It really couldn’t be any worse than burying myself for an entire week inside Daniel’s sanctuary, surrounded by all his things. And perhaps I would breathe a little easier in the soothing air of the sea.

E WAN
    November
    B rrr , it really was freezing inside the house. I contemplated getting back in the car and staying there with the motor running to wait for the contractor, who, according to Marcus, should have been here fifteen minutes ago. But then the doorbell rang. Finally!
    I hurried to open the door.
    “Hi! I’ve been waiting for you.”
    The cold wind that rushed in blew my hair into my face, and I quickly brushed it out of my eyes. With clear vision at last, I swallowed hard. The guy who came in was a heating system professional, for sure, because I could feel heat all over my body.
    Holy shit, he was handsome!
    He was tall and dark blond, with cornflower-blue eyes and a prominent chin. His teeth