Kisses After Dark Read Online Free Page A

presenting their wedding gift to Owen and Laura. They were going to do it at brunch, and Adele was excited to see how they reacted. She and Russ had talked it over and agreed it was the perfect gift for the happy couple.
    Sipping her coffee, Adele breathed in the fragrant sea air and let the sun shine warm upon her face. The back deck of the Sand & Surf Hotel was, without a doubt in her mind, the most beautiful spot on the face of the earth.
    On the beach below, Adele noticed her granddaughter Katie walking along the shoreline and was forced to relive the horror she’d witnessed the day before when Katie had nearly drowned after being caught in a riptide. Adele had seen the whole thing unfold from her perch on the deck. Before she could move to call for help, Shane had been there to save the day.
    Watching both young people go down together had been one of the most heart-stopping moments of her life. Again, they’d rallied while she’d remained frozen with fear and panic—a reaction she wasn’t proud of with hindsight. The thought of that kind of tragedy befalling Owen and Laura on their wedding day, not to mention the rest of their family, reduced Adele to tears all over again.
    Watching Katie walk on the beach, her blonde hair billowing in the summer breeze, Adele recalled the way Shane had carried her onto the beach, breathed life into her lungs and then held her while she sobbed in the aftermath of the frightening incident.
    Adele didn’t know Shane all that well, but Laura had shared some of what he’d been through with his ex-wife. She’d watched him during the wedding and had been impressed with his obvious devotion to Laura and his nephew, Holden, who’d spent most of the wedding snuggled up to his Uncle Shane.
    He was quiet and reserved compared to his far more boisterous McCarthy cousins. Shane sat back and took it all in, participating, but not leading the charge. Although, in that animated group, it was a challenge to get a word in edgewise. He was handsome as could be with sun-streaked hair and a dark tan from working outside during the summer.
    Adele had also tuned in to the way he watched Katie during the wedding. He’d probably be surprised that anyone had noticed, as he’d been so subtle about it. But every time she looked at him, he was looking at Katie. As far as she knew, Katie had never had a boyfriend. According to her twin, Julia, Katie had never been on a date. Adele didn’t need a PhD in psychology to deduce it was because of her violent upbringing. At some point, Katie must’ve decided it was easier to avoid men altogether than to encounter someone like her father.
    Although Adele wasn’t one to meddle in the lives of her precious grandchildren, seeing Owen happy and settled with Laura had her wanting that for the others, too. While Shane certainly had his own scars on his soul, perhaps the two of them would be good for each other. Adele tapped her finger against her lip as she contemplated the possibility of them as a couple.
    In light of what he’d been through with his wife, Adele wasn’t entirely convinced he’d be good for her Katie. But she planned to keep an eye on them for what remained of the weekend, and she also planned to talk to Russ about the possibility of moving home. It was time.

Chapter 3
    Katie walked along the shoreline with her feet in the water, trying to ignore the panic that tugged at her when she thought about being nearly swept out to sea. She’d always loved this beach and swimming in the surf and couldn’t imagine never doing it again.
    When she and her siblings had been kids, they’d spent their summers here with their grandparents, which had been the only respite they’d gotten from their violent, unpredictable father. The thought of being afraid of this beach was inconceivable to Katie. It was her happy place. It was the place she’d gone to in her mind any time the violence erupted at home, which was often. Thinking of this beach and the endless