Changing Tides, page 1
Changing Tides
Bayshore Beach, Book 2
Tia Souders
Cherry Valley Press
Copyright © 2021 by Tia Souders
All rights reserved.
No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.
Contents
1. Chapter One
2. Chapter Two
3. Chapter Three
4. Chapter Four
5. Chapter Five
6. Chapter Six
7. Chapter Seven
8. Chapter Eight
9. Chapter Nine
10. Chapter Ten
11. Chapter Eleven
12. Chapter Twelve
13. Chapter Thirteen
14. Chapter Fourteen
15. Chapter Fifteen
16. Chapter Sixteen
17. Chapter Seventeen
18. Chapter Eighteen
19. Chapter Nineteen
20. Chapter Twenty
21. Chapter Twenty-One
22. Chapter Twenty-Two
23. Chapter Twenty-Three
24. Chapter Twenty-Four
25. Chapter Twenty-Five
26. Chapter Twenty-Six
27. Chapter Twenty-Seven
28. Chapter Twenty-Eight
29. Chapter Twenty-Nine
30. Chapter Thirty
31. Safe Harbor
32. Chapter One
33. My VIP Readers
About Author
Chapter One
Soft music spilled through the room while Rachel watched Andi and Ford say goodbye to their last guest. Now that most of the crowd had gone, she sat back and surveyed her surroundings. The Wharf had been the perfect venue for Andi’s engagement party, and the evidence of their celebration was everywhere. White linens covered the tables and chairs. Polished silver gleamed underneath the golden glow emanating from the driftwood chandeliers. Above them, fairy lights covered the entire makeshift reception hall of the restaurant, lending it an ethereal glow. Remnants of cake remained on delicate china. Half-empty glasses of fancy cocktails—Sparkling Yuzu Gimlets and Suze Brambles—were strewn about the room, while the gift table overflowed with brightly wrapped packages.
Despite her lingering jealousy, Rachel’s heart swelled as Andi and Ford approached. She was happy for them, even if Ford’s rejection still stung. What had initially started out as a means to an end—a way to solve her financial problems—grew into more. She had cared for him. Not in the soul-consuming way Andi did, of course, but in her own subtle way. Rachel wasn’t sure she had ever truly been in love, not like in the movies or romance novels or love songs.
The happy couple sunk down into the seats across from her, a bottle of champagne in Andi’s hand, three flutes clutched in the other. “I saved this just for us.” She waved the bottle of Dom in front of her.
“Fancy.”
“You know Ford. He never does anything halfway.” Andi smiled over at her fiancé, the emotion in her expression so raw, Rachel glanced away.
Settling her gaze on the gift table, Rachel said, “I’m sorry I forgot your present. I can’t believe I left it at my place, but I’ll give it to you the next time we hang out.”
She urged the heat in her cheeks to fade at the lie. The truth was, she had no gift. She couldn’t afford one, and though she sensed Andi saw through her dishonesty, she pretended not to, for which Rachel was grateful.
Andi waved her off and slid a champagne glass in her direction. “It’s no big deal. You know we don’t need anything anyway.” She grabbed the champagne bottle, unwrapped the foil, and twisted the cork with a flourish.
The pop reverberated through the empty room as the sparkling wine sloshed from the lip of the bottle as Andi poured three glasses.
Rachel held hers up, remembering only a little more than seven months ago, toasting to Andi’s decision to stay in Bayshore, determined to honor her mother’s last wish and pursue her dreams. And now . . .
Andi had everything—the man, the dream career, the total package—while Rachel was on the verge of losing it all.
Funny how the tide could change in an instant.
Rachel pushed the depressing thoughts away and smiled warmly. After all, today wasn’t about her. “What are we toasting to?” she asked. “The happy couple? Your impending nuptials? That giant rock on your finger?” She snickered as her gaze darted to the yellow diamond the size of a baby’s fist—another display of Ford’s excessiveness.
“How about . . .” Andi bit her lip. “To new beginnings and a new year.”
Rachel nodded. It was a fitting toast, seeing as how it was January first. Although if she was being honest, the forecast for the new year looked pretty grim.
“Okay, to new beginnings,” Rachel echoed, and the three of them—Ford, Andi, and Rachel clinked glasses, then took a sip of the bubbling liquid.
“I wish Cassie were here.” Andi sighed and lowered her glass.
“Yeah, me too.”
“Do you think she’s okay?”
“I don’t know,” Rachel answered honestly. The last she’d seen Cassie was the day she bailed her out of jail. Ever since she’d been like a ghost.
“With Scoops being closed for the winter, we don’t have an excuse to see her all the time,” Andi said. “It’s killing me, not knowing if she’s all right.”
“I can’t believe Ben dropped the charges,” Rachel said, referring to the owner of Peaches, the little café Cassie stole from.
“She got lucky.” Ford nodded, his mouth a flat line.
“I wonder why he did it? Dropped the charges, I mean.” Andi asked.
Rachel averted her gaze. After Andi explained what was going on with Cassie, a lot of things finally made sense—the way she’d slowly stopped hanging out with Rachel over the years, making excuses for why she couldn’t get together, the evasiveness, her seemingly unhealthy attachment to Carl. All of it a cover for what was really going on behind closed doors.
So when Rachel found out the truth, she spoke to Ben personally. She hadn’t revealed Cassie’s situation per se, but she’d done enough eluding to get him to agree to drop the charges. That and Rachel had used the last of the money from her dwindling bank account to compensate for the headache.
“Regardless, I just wish she would let us help her,” Andi continued.
“Yeah . . . Who knew Carl would turn out to be abusive? It just goes to show, you never know.” Kind of like her parents, Rachel mused. Never in a million years would she have thought her father would bankrupt them. Mayor Beaumont was broke, and rumors were swirling all around Bayshore. They had been since summer. Where people once flocked to them, no one wanted to be associated with the Beaumonts anymore. Merely the mention of their name was scandalous, and Rachel quickly learned no one wanted to climb aboard a sinking ship to risk drowning themselves.
“And how are you doing?” Andi asked in a soft tone, as if reading her thoughts.
The warmth of Andi’s hand encapsulated her own. Still, Rachel kept her gaze trained on the parking lot outside. Though Andi’s tone was sympathetic, sympathy was only a stone’s throw away from its cousin pity, and Rachel hated nothing more.
Since she returned to Bayshore after escaping with Ford on his mission to divert the negative media attention from Andi, Rachel had spent a lot of time alone. With the love birds reunited and Cassie on lockdown, there wasn’t anyone else to turn to, which made her situation worse. She couldn’t step foot in a local shop or restaurant without hearing the whispers. Gossip about her family was a wildfire, spreading throughout Bayshore and wiping out everything in its path. What survived of her pride would be smothered in the smoke.
Months before, her father told her he lost most of the family fortune. Though he promised her condo would be fine, she sensed it was only a matter of time before they had to liquidate their assets, which included her home on the sound. Soon, she’d find herself with nothing. Already, calls from creditors filled her voicemail. She couldn’t pay her car bill, her insurance lapsed, and her credit card bills remained untouched for the better part of the year.
Resolved to find a job, she searched everywhere in town, but she was turned down so many times it made her head ache just thinking about it. She knew she needed to support herself, yet she felt helpless to do so. Someone looking for a job was hard-pressed to find one in a small beach town during the dead of winter. It just wasn’t feasible. The tourists and crowds were gone, and so was their money, leaving businesses to rely strongly on the influx of cash during the in-season. Staff downsized. Some businesses even closed their doors until spring. It was the worst possible time to need employment with zero skills and no higher education.
Rachel was about to answer Andi when a pair of familiar taillights glowed under the lamplight outside.
Her stomach sunk.
The lot was nearly empty, so it wasn’t hard to recognize her car as it backed out of her spot.
She shot to her feet, heart pounding in her chest. “My car!”
“Rach—” Andi called after her, but she was already at the door, pulling at the thick metal handle and launching herself into the parking lot with more speed than she thought herself capable.
“Hey,” she screamed.
Brisk, wintry air hit her in the face, stinging her cheeks while she waved her arms franticly, barely making out the dark silhouette sitting in the front seat as he spun the wheel. “That’s my car. Wait!” Her voice rose an
She flung herself at the vehicle as it lurched forward.
The man in the driver’s seat stared at her with wild eyes, glinting with fear, as she pounded her fists on the cold glass window of the passenger door. “You can’t take it! Please. I’ll have no transportation.”
“Sorry, lady,” the guy hollered from inside the safety of the car.
No sooner did the words leave his mouth and her cherry-red Mustang—waxed and gleaming gorgeously under the light of the moon—shot past her out of the parking and onto the road like the place was on fire.
He was gone, and there was nothing she could do to stop him.
Her breath snagged in her lungs, burning from the cold while she watched the taillights fade into the distance.
“Oh my gosh,” Andi called out behind her, hands pressed to her mouth in shock. “Did someone just steal your car?”
Rachel turned, her gaze on the cement by her feet while her cheeks burned with embarrassment.
“I’ll call the police,” Ford said.
Taking in a deep breath for courage, she shook her head and raised her chin just as Ford pulled his phone from his pocket and punched at the screen, then lifted it to his ear.
“Don’t,” Rachel said, surprised at the steadiness in her voice. “It’s not stolen.” At their blank stares, she added, “It’s been repossessed.”
Chapter Two
The word sunk between them like a stone.
Ford dropped his hand, his brow furrowed in confusion as Andi frowned and stepped forward. “I don’t understand,” she said.
Rachel brought her fists up to her head and closed her eyes, trying to wrap her mind around the fact that she no longer had a car.
This couldn’t be her life.
How would she find a job now? She had no transportation. And even if she managed to find something, how would she get to and from work?
Rachel groaned and dropped her fists. “They’ve been hounding me for months. I knew it was only a matter of time . . . Why did I park it here out in the open?” she said, more to herself than Andi. Then she turned her gaze back out to the road as if her car might materialize.
She’d been hiding it the last couple of weeks, sensing it wouldn’t be long before they tried to take it. Of course the moment she dropped her guard, they swooped in—and in front of Andi and Ford, no less.
“Why didn’t you tell me things were that bad?” Andi stepped forward, her eyes soft on her face. “You haven’t so much as mentioned it since . . . since you came back.”
And right there was why Rachel hadn’t told her. Though Andi understood her reasons for leaving with Ford over the summer, Rachel sensed a bit of resentment for the time she’d spent by Ford’s side in LA. Even if they were nothing more than associates—friends at best—there was a slight seed of contention there Rachel knew not to touch for fear it might germinate.
“You had a lot going on with Ford coming back and your contract and publishing deal. And then Ford proposed. There just never seemed to be the right time to unload my problems on you.” Rachel had also been in denial. But instead of saying that, she added, “You were happy. I didn’t want to ruin that.”
“Rach,” Andi reached out and took her hand, “you know I would’ve helped you.”
But she hadn’t wanted Andi’s help. Her pride meant too much to her.
This was her problem. She needed to fix it.
“It doesn’t matter. It’s fine. At least, I’m sure it will be.”
“Let us give you a ride home.” Andi turned to Ford. “Why don’t I pull the car around, and you can get the gifts and load them in the back?”
“Sure thing.” Ford nodded, his dark eyes flickering to Rachel and back before he headed into the restaurant. Once upon a time, before he and Andi got together, Rachel had confided in him, and he’d tried to help her. But those days were gone, and Rachel needed to figure this out for herself.
Ten minutes later, they made their way down Sandy Lane toward Rachel’s condo in Andi’s new BMW. It still smelled like new-car and leather, which only exacerbated her hopelessness.
While Rachel pressed her head against the cool glass in the backseat, Andi chatted with Ford, but it was hard not to notice the way Andi’s gaze periodically flickered to her rearview mirror, watching Rachel in the back. She was worried; Rachel could tell, but thankfully, she had enough sense not to press the issue.
By the time they pulled up outside Rachel’s condo, all she wanted to do was change into a pair of cotton pajamas, sink into her fluffy duvet, and polish off the rest of the mint chip gelato in her freezer while mapping out a plan to save her life from sinking into the abyss.
The car came to a stop, triggering the motion sensor above Rachel’s garage and casting everything in a wash of light.
“Let us walk you up,” Andi said.
“It’s right here.” Rachel waved her off. “I’ll be fine.”
“Okay, but we’ll wait until you get inside, then.”
“Whatever makes you happy.” Rachel plastered on a smile she didn’t feel, then opened the door. “Oh, and congratulations again,” she said warmly, then stepped out into the wintry air and made her way over the loamy soil to her front door.
Reaching into her purse, she retrieved her keys and put them in the lock, but it wouldn’t turn. Frowning, she tried again, but nothing. In fact, the key no longer seemed the right fit.
Stepping back, she blinked up at the door cast in shadows, when she noticed the sign. “Foreclosure” was written in bold script. Below it, read: This property has been seized by Bayshore Bank.
Shock roiled in her veins, and she stumbled back. Her brain went numb as she tried to compute what this meant. Just this afternoon, she was there in her home, getting ready for Andi’s party. She’d only been gone five hours. How could this be?
She dropped her gaze, running through her most recent conversations with her father, searching for any inclination that they were on the verge of foreclosure and found none.
She knew they may have to sell. In fact, she’d asked her father if she should initiate it before their situation got worse, but every time she tried to discuss their financial distress, her father claimed to have the situation under control. He bought them more time. No worries. The condo was safe.
So much for buying time.
Rachel swallowed. It was nine o’clock in the evening on New Year’s Day, and in a matter of minutes, she had no car, no home, and nowhere to go.
Okay, maybe not nowhere. She could always stay at her parent’s place. They had long since been reminding her if things went south, she could live with them.
Or she could stay with Andi. Rachel knew she’d take her in, but that meant turning around and telling her and Ford the truth—that her condo had been seized. The thought was so humiliating, Rachel had half a mind to sleep on the dock down by the sound. She’d take frostbite and hypothermia any day over such a monumental blow to her pride.
A shiver rocked through her at the thought of a night on the beach in this weather.
Maybe not.
“Rach?”
Rachel glanced behind her to where Andi stuck her head out the window, her expression tightened with concern.
Rachel pulled in a deep breath and placed a hand on the cool exterior of the door one last time. It was the only goodbye she’d get. Then she turned and headed back to the waiting car, her head a tangle of questions she didn’t have the answers to.
When she reached the driver’s side door, she steeled herself, clinging to the last vestiges of her dignity like the last dregs of a good drink.
“I can’t go in,” she said, hating the way her voice faltered. “It’s been seized by the bank.”
“Okay.” Though Andi’s voice was calm, her nostrils flared with emotion, and she looked at Rachel like she would a porcelain doll. “You can come to my place, then. Come on.” She motioned to the back of the car and unlocked the doors.
But Rachel hesitated. Accepting her offer felt like taking charity when all she wanted was for things to go back to the way they were. To a time when she hadn’t a care in the world. To a time when life was easy, and everything was at her disposal, and she was the one handing out favors.
