The Edge of Paradise: Christmas Key Book Three
Page 25
The night is warm and the scent of orange blossoms follows Holly as she putters up Cinnamon Lane with her high-heeled sandals on the seat next to her. The moon is full and bright, and her mind wanders to her upcoming trip. She’s never been to Europe. The idea that the Eiffel Tower and Big Ben are real, and that she’ll see them with her own eyes, feels as foreign to her as Christmas Key must feel to the people seeing it on their television screens for the first time.
Holly’s tires crunch over shells and sand as she turns left into her driveway. The property is illuminated by moonlight. Buckhunter’s cart is already parked next to his house, and Holly pulls up to her own porch and drags the cord away from the wall of her house to plug into her golf cart so that it will charge while she sleeps.
Glancing around her yard, Holly listens to the unseen night animals chattering and chirping to one another. This place is her heaven, her home—no trip abroad will change that. And yet, she still wants to know what’s out there, and to see how things are between her and River when they’re not on Christmas Key. There’s so much change afoot that she can hardly process it all in one go. Instead, she sits on the back of her golf cart under the moon, watching her red toenails catch the light as her feet dangle off the ground. She thinks about Jake being on television, about people who call in to a radio station to request Milli Vanilli, and about chicken marsala and rum drinks.
Finally, when the sounds of the cicadas and the crickets and the beating of dragonfly wings turn into one steady, calming hum in her ears, Holly slides off the back of her cart and walks up the steps of her front porch, sandals dangling from one hand, purse clutched in the other.
She takes one last look at the full moon, then shuts her door behind her and switches off the porch light.
About the Author
Stephanie Taylor is a high-school teacher who loves sushi, "The Golden Girls," Depeche Mode, orchids, and coffee. Together with her teenage daughter she writes the American Dream series—books for young girls about other young girls who move to America. On her own, Stephanie is the author of the Christmas Key books, a romantic comedy series about a fictional island off the coast of Florida.
@redbirdsrabbits
redbirdsrabbits
https://redbirdsandrabbits.com
redbirdsandrabbits@gmail.com
Also by Stephanie Taylor
There’s Always a Catch: Christmas Key Book One
Wild Tropics: Christmas Key Book Two
Jake’s Story: A Christmas Key Novella