Free The Seacroft: a love story (Paines Creek Beach Book 2) by Aaron Paul Lazar Page B

room with her Kindle. The eReader was a gift from her brother before he passed away, and she treasured it. She read another sweet romance by Morgan Blaze, called Soldier’s Choice , and it just made everything worse for her.
    Now she longed for love. For closeness. For a man who’d cherish her. And yes, she had to admit, for the sensual pleasure this would afford.
    Throughout the morning she’d heard Uvi banging around in her suite down the hall. Throwing things? Cursing? It was very strange. She’d avoided her at all costs most of the day and purposefully not responded to the racket. This was supposed to be her weekend off. Right? Why would she run down to help a woman who already had everything?
    At ten o’clock she heard it again. This time it sounded like broken glass. With a sigh, she swiped off her Kindle and stood up. Sighing, she trudged down the hall and peeked into Uvi’s room.
    “Uvi? What’s wrong? Can I help?”
    Uvi stared at her with red-rimmed eyes. “No. You can’t. It’s my husband. He’s cancelled his trip home. Again.”
    She let out a near scream and threw a pillow onto the floor from her unmade bed. “I hate him. I hate him. I HATE him!”
    Vivian entered the room and perched on the chair near the window. “Can I get you a cup of tea?”
    Uvi sniffed. “That would be nice.”
    Not, “Oh, honey. It’s your day off. I couldn’t possibly intrude.” No, she just expected Viv to jump at her beck and call, no matter what day of the week it was.
    Uvi picked up her phone and jabbed at it irritably. “And I can’t get that damned boy to answer me.”
    “What boy? Do you mean Cody?”
    “Yes. Cody. He’s not answering. Been calling him all day. I want him to get my cars washed.”
    Viv frowned. On Sunday, his day off? The cars in the garage were never driven. Except on the rare occasion that Uvi went out, and that hadn’t happened since Vivian began working for her. “Um, Uvi. It’s the weekend. We both have today off. Remember?”
    Uvi looked up, blinked, and huffed. “Oh. I forgot.”
    “He’s probably at his uncle’s place. He was helping out with his little cousins yesterday.”
    “No. His truck is here. He’s somewhere around here.”
    “Maybe his phone is dead. He might need to charge it.”
    “Maybe. But listen. Before you get my tea, could you run over to his apartment and tell him I need him to call me?”
    Vivian tried not to scowl. Couldn’t she give the guy a few days of freedom? “Okay. I’ll try to find him.”
    She backed out of the room and wandered downstairs. She didn’t really want to see Cody again, not after what had happened in the cave. God, she couldn’t get the image of his body out of her mind. She kept replaying the scene, over and over again.
    She took her phone out once she got to the kitchen and tapped Cody’s number. He picked up on the first ring, but his voice sounded thick and strained.
    “Viv?”
    “Cody? What’s wrong? Uvi’s been trying—”
    “I’m sick. I can hardly walk to the bathroom.”
    Vivian felt a tug of empathy. “Oh no. The same thing the triplets and Libby had?”
    “I think so. I called him and said I won’t be able to help him today. Been throwing up. Can’t keep anything down.”
    “I’m coming over. Is your door unlocked?”
    “Yeah, but you don’t have to—”
    “I’m coming.” She swiped off the phone and gathered some supplies. Clean sheets and towels. Plastic garbage bags for the dirty sheets and towels she envisioned. Herbal tea. Thermometer. Tylenol. A can of chicken noodle soup. Saltines. What else? She looked around the kitchen. Ah, yes. A big bottle of Sprite.
    She threw it all into a large canvas carryall and hurried to the back of the house. Without hesitating, she entered the green door on the first floor and climbed to his apartment on the second floor over the garage that housed the rarely used cars.
    She knocked timidly on the door. “Cody?”
    A mumbled response came from within. She