Page 3 of The Beachside Rental

Just then the man looked up with a friendly smile.“Hi.I’m Nathan Porter.”

“Nice to meet you.I’m Simon, and this is Gus.”

Nathan looked down at Gus.“It’s nice to meet you too.”When the guy’s gaze moved from the dog to the stack of boxes, he said, “Are you new to the island?”

Simon nodded.“We are just getting moved in.”

“In that case, welcome.Bluestar is a great place to live.”

“That’s what I’ve heard.I take it you live here.”

The man nodded.“I live just out of town to the north.My family has been here for generations.How long are you planning to stay?”

It was on the tip of Simon’s tongue to tell him he was staying until he completed his next book, but he refrained.With his novels in print and on the big screen, as well as all of the merchandising, he couldn’t take the chance that the man had heard of him or his work.And the whole reason he was on the island was for anonymity.

“I don’t know for sure.I have a six-month lease so at least that long.”

Nathan nodded.His gaze moved to the stack of boxes.“Are all of those yours?”

“Yes.I was just about to load them, but Gus is not cooperating.”

“Let me give you a hand.”

Together, the two of them loaded the remaining boxes into the golf cart while Gus made a point of supervising.He liked to do a lot of that.

Simon turned to his second friend on the island.His thoughts briefly conjured up his beautiful neighbor, but he would not classify her as a friend.In fact, he was pretty certain that if looks could kill, he’d be nothing more than a burn mark on the porch of his rental unit.

Pushing thoughts of the woman aside, he held his hand out to Nathan.“Well, it’s been good meeting you.And I appreciate the help.”

Nathan had a firm grip, as though he did a lot of manual labor.“Good to meet you too.”Once he pulled away, he went on to pet Gus...again.“It was good to meet you too.”

“You’re our first friend on the island,” Simon said.

The man reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet.He retrieved a business card and handed it to him.“That has my number.Give me a call sometime.I can show you around the island, or we can just hang out.”

“Thanks.I’ll do that.We should get going.I have a bunch of boxes stacked on the porch, and I need to move them before my neighbor gets home.”When Nathan arched a brow, Simon went on to say.“I’m in a duplex, and we share a porch.She wasn’t happy that some of my boxes were slightly over the imaginary line on the porch.”

Nathan let out a little laugh.“I understand.Well, good luck with the neighbor.”

“Thanks.I’m going to need it.”He got Gus into the cart, and then he sat down.

Once Nathan walked away, Simon took a moment to glance at the business card.It read:Bluestar Christmas Tree Farm.

Interesting.

“Well, Gus, it looks like we just made a couple of friends on the island.”Simon started the cart and turned for home.

He reminded himself that he wasn’t there to make friends.He was on Bluestar Island to get his work done.If only the words would come to him.

He’d spent the past five months staring at a blank page.That was when his agent suggested a change of scenery—someplace Simon had never been before—someplace away from the unwanted memories.

Chapter Two

Thedaywasdone.

Even though it was going on nine o’clock, there was still a little bit of daylight.Jenna loved this time of the year.The days seemed to go on forever.

When she pulled up in front of her duplex, there was a soft glow of lights from the unit next to hers.Without any porch lights on, she wasn’t able to make out in the shadows if the boxes were still there.