Her Secret Valentine, Part 10

Her Secret Valentine, Part 10

By Margaret Daley

(Click the shoe pic in the side bar to start at the beginning or if you’ve missed an installment, check the list in the sidebar for a direct link.)

Thankful it was a pleasant seventy-five degrees, Nancy took off her shoes. She hated sand in them as she walked along the beach. Taking a few steps toward the water, she slanted a glance over her shoulder at the tall grass between her car and the beach.

She caught sight of Shanna and Garth hiding in the middle of a particular thick patch of sea oats. If she could see them so could her secret admirer—the one they were setting up to catch. So much for a covert stakeout.

Nancy scanned the area, and except for a mother and two young children and an older couple about a hundred yards down the beach, the area was empty. “Shanna, what made you wear red to a stakeout? My secret admirer probably can see you from half a mile away. Get down.”

Shanna giggled. “Sorry about that. Garth is giving me his tan jacket to cover my red blouse.”

How in the world did she get talked into doing this stakeout? At least she got to pick the place. She came to this beach when she needed to think. Without Garth and Shanna distracting her, she needed to decide whether she should try calling Brad in Georgia or wherever he was. Thank goodness for cell phones.

Swinging her three-inch high heels by the straps, Nancy strolled away from the mother with her children and the couple. Another sign this whole secret admirer thing was playing with her mind—whatever possessed her to wear one of her favorite pair of shoes to the beach!

Forget the shoes. Concentrate on your problem. Her curiosity was going to get the best of her.

Who is my secret admirer? Brad? Someone I haven’t thought about? Someone else on the list? There are still a few names.

The sound of a car door slamming close penetrated her mind. She stopped and swung around in time to see a black sedan driving away—from where her yellow Thunderbird had been parked.

Oh, no. Was that her secret admirer? Why wasn’t Shanna and Garth going after the black sedan?

She rushed back toward her two cohorts in this stakeout, gone bad. She parted the tall grass to find Garth kissing Shanna. Nancy cleared her throat. The two lovebirds pulled back from each other, red lipstick all over Garth’s mouth.

“I don’t know if you all care, but I think the secret admirer was here and is now gone.” Nancy pivoted and marched toward her Thunderbird with its top down.

As she tossed her high heels on the passenger’s seat, she spied another gift, a heart shaped crystal bowl filled with cherry Lifesavers.

Bestselling author, Margaret Daley, is multi-published with 94 books. She had written for Harlequin, Abingdon, Kensington, Dell, and Simon and Schuster. She has won multiple awards, including the prestigious Carol Award, Holt Medallion and Inspirational Readers’ Choice Contest.

She has been married for over forty years and has one son and four granddaughters. When she isn’t traveling, she’s writing love stories, often with a suspense thread and corralling her three cats that think they rule her household. To find out more about Margaret visit her website at http://www.margaretdaley.com.