by TJ Hamilton
I sit on our secluded beach for a bit longer and draw the last of my Pina Colada through the straw, while the sun quickly slips down into the Mediterranean Sea. We’re the only ones on this part of the island, and the beach is all ours.
I hold my nose into the air and catch a whiff of Nick’s cooking back at the house. I still can’t believe he’s alive. Nick tells me that they gave him a drug called tetrodotoxin. It lowered his vital organs to a point where he appeared dead. That, along with the little blue pill from the medic. Nick now tells me to never trust medics from the agency. That was some strong hallucinogenic. He won’t tell me whether he did it to protect me, or whether it was the agency’s decision to make sure I followed through with my role. There are still so many unanswered questions but all I really care about is that he’s alive, and that I’m back with my one true love. I never want to be anywhere else. I just want to be with Nick for the rest of my days.
I look towards the rustling in the saltbush behind me, and hear a tiny meow. I creep closer and squint to try and see what it is. A matted little black kitten staggers out from the shrub and shakes itself off.
“Hello, little one. Where have you come from?” I bend down and scoop it into my arms.
I look up and down the beach, but there’s no one around. The kitten’s bright blue eyes look up at me and he rubs himself against my chest. His purr is strong and I giggle.
“Dinner’s ready, beautiful,” Nick calls out. “I’ve almost perfected this paella now.”
I look up and see him, shirtless and standing at the edge of our patio, and I can’t help but grin wildly.
“Nick! Look what I just found. We have a new friend.” I race up to the house and look down at my little baby within my arms. “What are we going to call you, little one?”
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This story wouldn’t be what it is today without the incredible support of Harlequin Australia. They saw a diamond in the rough and have made it sparkle. I am beyond grateful that they believed in me, and in this story that’s a little left of centre.
To my husband and family. Your constant encouragement is what drives me to keep going. Even when I feel like giving up on myself, you all refuse to allow it. You have let me tap into a passion that I never knew I had, and that tap is never turning off.
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ISBN: 9781760374228
TITLE: Finding Thyme
Revised edition published by Harlequin Mira 2016
Originally published as Making Thyme 2013 and Keeping Thyme 2014
Copyright © 2016 by TJ Hamilton
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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