Healed: Stone and Pepper

Chapter 1

 Stone

 Stone Hickman knew life was as fickle as a teenage girl. One moment everything was rainbows, unicorns, and chocolate drops falling from the sky. Without warning, unicorns turned into flying monkeys, and rainbows transformed into moody clouds that rained down those slimy canned peas he'd been forced to eat as a kid surviving on subsidized school lunch.

Today was all rainbows and unicorns. Given the number of canned-pea type days he'd had during his thirty years of life, he soaked up the unicorns and rainbows, grateful for each one.

He smiled with contentment as he stepped out of Cliffside Bay's only grocery store with a bag of breakfast items in his arms. Dozens of bins filled with flowers decorated the store's entrance. He breathed in the sweet scent of lilies and roses combined with the briny breeze of the sea. October sun rose over the eastern hills and drenched the town in orange and pink light. The air snapped with crisp fall weather. Red and yellow leaves fluttered from sturdy branches of the oaks that lined the street.

In the quiet stillness of early morning, the sound of waves hitting the shore echoed faintly in the background.

Main Street was deserted. After Labor Day, the Northern California beach town emptied of tourists to resume its normal one-stoplightkind of existence. Residents of Cliffside Bay were not early risers on a Saturday morning. During summer months visitors flocked to town wearing beach attire, carrying umbrellas, picnic baskets, and sandy children. Their long stretch of beach had always attracted beachcombers from San Francisco, but since his brother, Kyle, had opened a luxury resort, visitors from all over the country swarmed their sleepy bedroom community. Between the resort and the newest tourist favorite, Dog's Brewery, the vacationer numbers in Cliffside Bay had exploded. The locals grumbled about traffic and people crowding the sidewalks and shops.

All the way to the bank.

Yes, life was good. Especially for a guy like him. After a dozen years in the Marines, he'd returned to civilian life to fulfill his lifetime dream of becoming a licensed general contractor. He'd moved to Cliffside Bay to be near his siblings, Kyle and Autumn, and had lucked into a full-service constructionpartnership with four men who had quickly become his best friends. Among the five of them they had every step needed to construct or remodel residences and small businesses, from architecture to landscaping to interior design. Someday, he would build his own house on Kyle's property outside of town, but for now he was happily settled in an apartment with the interior design partner of the business, Trey Wattson.

He'd awakened yesterday to the news that Wolf Enterprises had won the bid to build a mansion for Autumn's heiress friend, Sara Ness. They'd survive another fiscal quarter. Hallelujah and amen. This was indeed a blessing, since he and the other Wolves, Rafael, Trey, David, and Nico, had sunk every penny they had into the business.

So, yes, life was good. He had bacon in his grocery bag and blueberries to add to the pancake batter Trey was whipping up in their kitchen. It was Saturday, which meant he could get a good workout in and watch a littlecollege football. He was reading this fantastic thriller recommended to him by Mary Mullen, the local bookstore owner. The woman was like a savant when it came to finding the perfect book for every customer. She was five for five with him. Later, he and the guys might go up for a beer at The Oar. Living right in town had its benefits, including their local haunt within walking distance.

Maybe Pepper would be there.

He sighed, thinking of her long legs and haughty chin and those flashing smoke-gray eyes that turned almost lavender when she looked at him. Usually accompanied by a salty insult thrown his way. She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever laid eyes on, and not that he was proud of it, but he was no stranger to beautiful women. He'd had a few in his days. None like Pepper Griffin, though. No woman in the history of the world could compete with her.