Finding You (Finding You Series Book 1) Read Free Page B

stairs had broken my fall after he’d casually yet forcefully elbowed me as he’d passed by. Amazingly nothing had broken but the sharp rock jutting out from the garden bed had opened my arm to the bone. Thirty stitches later and permanent nerve damage was forgotten in time. The emotional trauma that hid deep within had cut me like a knife.
    Just let new experiences come into your life, Dakota, and forget about the past! Forget John and all that he did to you. It’s gone. Now is what’s important.
    The hut was roomier on the inside with plenty of cupboard space. A queen-sized bed filled half of the main room with a sitting chair off to one side and a small but efficient looking kitchen over the other side.
    Beautiful, polished mahogany floors glistened as the light poured in through the large windows. At the back of the hut was a separate bathroom. The double shower cubicle was enormous and looked big enough for two people. In fact it startlingly resembled a honeymoon suite. Everything catered to couples. Was this a sign of things to come? A little crack of hope offered itself to me and yet with that came fear. Fear of never being good enough.
    Ramah and Hayden had spared no expense on the exotic decor that furnished the room. Native flowers filled a tall glass vase in the center of a small dining table with two chairs. The sweet, subtle scent moved with me through the hut.
    There was no television, radio, or other civilized conveniences anywhere to be seen, which suited me fine. Writing was going to be my main priority, and judging by the surroundings, there would be plenty of inspiration. My second book was well underway and if things went to plan, I’d finish it before going home.
    I had never planned on becoming a writer. It had fallen into my lap as part of the healing process whilst recovering in hospital. I’d started keeping a journal, filling it with thoughts, anecdotes, hopes, and dreams. Well, as you can imagine with all the chatter going on in my head, there was more than enough to fill a book and so it just kind of morphed out of that. Having a friend that worked in the publishing industry had given me the leg up I’d needed to get a contract and I hadn’t looked back since.
    After unpacking, I put my bikini on.
    The sound of the waves crashing on the shore and the hint of salt water soon drew me back out the door to the pristine beach. There were still a few hours of daylight left so I planned on soaking up some rays on my lily-white skin.
    I let the sand granules fill the gaps between my toes. It felt heavenly. The day was perfect; the clouds all disappeared. The coastal breeze still blew, causing my hair to twirl and swirl around my face every so often as it wafted over my skin like a delicate downy feather.
    Finding a nice spot of sand not too far from my hut, I laid my towel down before walking to the water’s edge to feel the temperature. The tepid ripples gently washed up and over my feet as I stood drinking in the view over the distant horizon. My heels sank down into the sand with the current pulling at my feet as the water receded.
    Looking to the left, in the distance I noticed a group of people huddled together with movie cameras. There looked to be a lot of nothing going on. I squinted against the sun trying to focus a little more until my eyes started watering and I gave up.
    It was too far off to see exactly what they were doing so I shrugged it off.
    Wandering back up to my towel, tiredness grabbed me. It had been a long day. I lay down on my back, allowing my body to absorb the intensity of the sun, letting my thoughts float off to nowhere in particular. Totally relaxed. Without even knowing it I soon drifted into the land of nod, the torment simmering under the surface.
    Then what seemed like only minutes later, I sprang up like a jack-in-the-box for the second time that day.
    “Miss Dakota! Wake up! Goodness gracious, you fell asleep.”
    The frantic tone to the woman’s voice