Free Hurricanes in Paradise by Denise Hildreth Page A

words. That’s why we’re trying everything. I’m not sure what my characters may want to eat.”
    “You do that! I just got through reading chapter after chapter and you so had me right there, as if I could step out and touch the man-made shore of Dubai.”
    Laine nodded. “Well, thank you, Winnie.”
    “So you just let the story determine itself?” Riley asked.
    She glanced at Riley. “I let the story take me wherever it wants to go.”
    Winnie wrinkled her nose. “So you don’t have to know how it ends for your publisher to be willing to say he’ll publish it?”
    The chuckle came out as a puff. “I’ve sold thirty million books, Miss Winnie. I don’t even have to tell my publisher what my story is about. As long as he knows I’m somewhere researching for a new book, he’s happy.”
    Winnie laughed. “Of course he is.”
    Derrick and two other servers laid the main courses on the table. But there wasn’t enough room, so they agreed to serve them in two rounds. Winnie looked at the filet in front of her. “I was craving beef.”
    The main courses were half-eaten when Riley finally leaned back in her chair again. She was certain her stomach had never been so full. She was also keenly aware that Laine had barely had to talk. Winnie had carried most of the conversation talking about Laine’s books, giving Laine ample time to down another martini.
    Near the end of the meal, Winnie put her fork down and looked at Tamyra. “You don’t eat meat?”
    “I’m a vegan.”
    “You’re a what?” Winnie leaned across the table, her blue eyes wide. “ Vegetarian , I know. Vegan , I’m clueless. I teach kids who would be grateful for a pack of peanut butter and cheese crackers, and I come from a family who thinks fried foods are a food group. So help me out with vegan .”
    “We try not to consume animal products of any kind.” Her expression didn’t encourage further dialogue.
    Winnie’s furrowed her brow. “Does that include milk?”
    “I try to stay away from dairy whenever I can. But sometimes it sneaks in there. I just try to eat food in its most natural form.”
    Winnie raised her denim-clad arm and pushed at the hidden hanging flesh underneath. “Probably why you look like that and I look like this.”
    For the first time that evening, Tamyra laughed.
    Derrick came and served the desserts, which kept mouths full so that Winnie’s groans of delight were about all that was heard. Until Laine had finished and decided to inquire of Riley next.
    “And what about you, O gracious hostess.” Laine’s words came out slightly sarcastic. “Where did you get the name Riley?”
    Riley exhaled slowly, grateful that was the question she asked. “I got it from our mayor.”
    Winnie’s brow furrowed.
    “Joe Riley. He’s the mayor of Charleston and one of the longest-running mayors in the nation. And he is one of my daddy’s good friends.”
    Riley caught Laine’s raised eyebrows when she said the word daddy . She decided that was enough information.
    “So your ‘daddy’ and the mayor go way back.”
    Apparently Laine wasn’t going to let that be enough. “They graduated from The Citadel together in ’64. Then they both went to law school at the University of South Carolina. One became mayor; the other is one of the longest-serving senators in South Carolina. Daddy thought . . .” Riley paused for a minute. She had never been self-conscious about calling her father Daddy until right now. “Well, he thought I would be a boy. I wasn’t, but he kept Riley anyway.”
    “That is a wonderful story of friendship,” Winnie offered. “My daddy named me too.”
    Riley smiled, grateful someone else had a daddy. Must be a Southern thing. “He did?”
    “Yeah, Mary Poppins came out in 1934, three years before I was born, and one of the main characters was Winifred Banks. My mother always bought my brother and sister a book a week, and one night when my dad was reading to them, he came across old