Under The Boardwalk

by Carla Cassidy

• ISBN13: 9780373470747
• ISBN10: 0373470746
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-07-11
• Publisher: Harlequin

Summary

Puppeteer Nikki Richardson has spent most of her life living on the boardwalk. It's her home, her family, her life...and where her heart was shattered seven years ago. Now the colorful paint is faded, and Nikki is desperate to save the unique and eclectic

Excerpts

Nicolette Young danced the three marionettes across the stage, smiling in satisfaction as she heard the laughter of the audience above the tape-recorded music. The giraffes always brought down the house, which was why Nikki always saved them for the finale. There was something so ridiculous about a trio of giraffes moving in sync to the latest popular rap song, that the audience couldn't help but laugh and clap their hands in appreciation.Nikki looked over the top of the black curtain that hid her from the audience's view. Her gaze moved across the people sitting on the chairs, pleased to see new faces, testimony to the tourist season's having once again arrived.She hoped the boardwalk had a good year. The past two seasons had not been so great. The country was in the middle of a recession and fewer people were taking vacations. Those who did, didn't choose to make Land's End, the boardwalk in Oceanview, New Jersey, one of their stops.She continued to peruse the audience, her hands automatically performing marionette magic.Then she saw him. A dull roaring resounded in her ears. She faltered, the three giraffes on stage doing impromptu nosedives. The audience laughed, assuming it was all part of the act.Nikki immediately recovered, her hands continuing the crazy dance through sheer habit, while her mind went momentarily blank as she stared at the man who was a specter from her past.Why hasn't he aged? she wondered wildly as she gazed at his handsome, sharply defined features. Like the picture of Dorian Gray, Greyson Blakemore looked exactly as he had the last time she'd seen him almost seven years ago.His hair was the same midnight black, although shorter than she remembered. She knew his eyes would be smoldering chunks of charcoal, eyes that had always managed to heat her from within by a single glance.What's he doing here? What could he possibly want? All kinds of questions popped into her mind, whirling around with dizzying speed.So much time had passed, so many memories burned in her brain...good memories, bittersweet ones...and ones that tormented her. She shook herself, surprised to realize that unconsciously she'd managed to end the show by rote. She punched the button that drew the curtain across the front of the stage, vaguely aware of her tape-recorded voice announcing the time of the next performance.She carefully pulled the giraffe marionettes over the top of the backdrop and hung them on the holders where they would be ready for the following show. She was vaguely conscious of the sounds of shuffling feet, youthful chattering as the audience exited the theater.Her mind was curiously numb, her thoughts confused as she straightened each thin wire on each puppet with meticulous care. Had she remembered to lock her front door when she'd left that morning? Maybe it hadn't been him at all, only somebody who resembled Grey. Had she shut off the coffeemaker before leaving the house earlier? Perhaps he had only been a figment of her imagination."Nikki?"The low deep voice came from the audience side of the stage. Nikki closed her eyes, a shiver dancing up her spine. Was it possible that a figment of her imagination had vocal chords?"Nicolette Richards?"Ah yes, it was Greyson, all right. Nobody else had ever been able to say her name in quite the way he did, a way which always stirred something deep within her.Taking a deep breath, she stepped out from behind the stage and faced the man she'd once loved, the man who had betrayed her in the worst possible way."Hello, Grey." She was pleased to hear that her voice sounded cool, well modulated, not reflecting the tumultuous emotions that pressed thickly in her chest at the sight of him."I enjoyed the show. You've always been so wonderfully talented." His voice was equally controlled, no sign that there was any emotional tug at all in seeing her again. She hated him for that.How civil we are, she thought, stari