Free Fortunate Harbor by Emilie Richards

driving the speed limit suddenly started crawling ten miles below it when she saw a cop, sure she was going to be arrested just for sitting behind the steering wheel.
    “So Ken’s sort of a bonus out here? Your own watchdog?” Dana asked.
    “Don’t worry about Kenny clocking your car with his radar gun, or checking to be sure your county sticker’s up to date. He’s not like that. He just makes sure nothing’sgoing on around here that shouldn’t be. Only he’s not going to be around much for a while. He’s going to be training up in Georgia.”
    The others asked about Ken’s training, and Wanda told them what she knew.
    “Don’t let any of this sway you from renting the cottage,” Tracy told Dana. “We don’t have problems out here. I probably just saw a fisherman or something. We watch out for each other. Even without Ken around all the time, you’ll be safe, and I hope happy.”
    The girls came charging back inside, and there was a flurry as they chose which pie they wanted and got milk to go with it. The talk turned to lighter things; then it was time to clean up and leave. The women thanked Janya for the wonderful meal, and divided the leftover pie to take home.
    Wanda figured that even for Happiness Key, this had been a pretty exciting night. Tracy’d had an adventure. Janya had dropped a bombshell about her personal life. She herself had gotten some well-deserved sympathy and maybe even an idea for the future. And Dana had gotten the introduction of a lifetime.
    Nobody could say the woman didn’t know what she was in for if she moved out here.
    “Ready to see the cottage?” Tracy asked Dana and Lizzie, when everybody was ready to go.
    “I want to live here. I don’t care what the house looks like!” Lizzie and Olivia had clearly plotted strategy while they were outside together.
    Dana didn’t look as convinced, but Wanda figured once she finally went inside the house, she would say yes. Even a one-room hut with outdoor plumbing was better than the Driftwood Inn, and the cottage topped that by a mile. Best of all,Lizzie would be safe and happy on Happiness Key. And if she knew anything about Dana, Wanda knew Lizzie’s happiness was right at the top of her list.

chapter five
    Just to be certain Wanda didn’t have a point, Tracy went home Sunday night, turned on her computer and read everything she could find on menopause. At thirty-five, she was sure she was too young to be going through it, but Wanda had gotten under her skin.
    Afterward she felt better. Her periods were irregular but not greatly so. She only had hot flashes when she stepped from air-conditioning into Florida’s violent sunshine. She might occasionally have mood swings, sure, but those were always due to PMS. She slept like a rock at night, still craved sex, and wasn’t losing hair or growing more in places she didn’t want it. Nope, there was nothing physical happening to her, nothing premature. Wanda had been trying to get a response, and she had succeeded.
    Still, she lay awake too long thinking about Friday. She had half expected Marsh to call over the weekend, but her phone had been silent. She was pretty sure she had hurt his feelings. And why wouldn’t they be hurt? She’d been as jumpy as avirgin. He had come for a good meal—okay, the meal had been the least of it. He had come to spend the night, and instead, she had been thinking about CJ, a man who, without remorse, had dropped her into the worst mess of her life.
    Tracy had made a mistake by not telling Marsh what she thought she had seen. At least then they could have talked. She could have admitted she was spooked by her past. Marsh was divorced. He would have understood. Comfort would have turned to something far more interesting.
    On Monday morning she woke even earlier than usual and dressed casually for a day at the rec center. Spring vacation was over. Marsh would be busy getting himself to work and his son to school, but she thought he might spare her