Cliffhanger (The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries, Book One)

Chapter 1

You can download this book and buy all the books in The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries at Amazon, iBooks, B&N, Kobo, and Smashwords. They're also available at Scribd and Oyster.

Belinda could have turned left to go directly to the house, but she charged straight through the four-way stop. At the top of the road, before it dipped down and curved inland again, she could just make out the ocean between the blades of wheat-like sea grasses bowing toward her. Pure joy swelled in her chest and she pressed down on the accelerator.

Belinda skidded into the beach parking lot and flung open the door, her face hit by the sea breeze still clinging to winter. She jogged toward the water's edge, jumping around on one bare foot, giggling as she nearly collapsed onto the sand wrenching her other shoe off. My, how that white, gravelly stuff was tougher to walk through than she remembered!

Belinda stopped at the water's edge, the sand itself sending chills up her legs. But she had to do it. She had to dip her feet in the water just once. She secured her blonde hair in an elastic, taking a deep breath of salt air - and, ooh yeah, seaweed. Yuck. Belinda stood on the water mark and waited for the next surge. She closed her eyes as it rushed toward her, bunching up and suppressing a squeal as the Atlantic said hello. 

"Hello!" she said back with her arms opened wide, but she dashed back to the safe zone before it could reply.

Shivering and wet and sand covered, Belinda leaned against the craggy rocks creating a natural barrier between the town beach and the rest of it. Belinda gazed out at the horizon, the silhouette of a sailboat moving along it. It had been too long since Kyle sailed. He always shot her down when she suggested it, but she would do her yearly thing and say something anyway. Her feet dried and Belinda finally trudged back to her car, brushing sand off of her feet in the parking lot. Kyle was supposed to leave work early to meet her, so it was time to go home.

She backtracked, cruising along until a familiar house peeked out from a gap in the conical topiary fence. Belinda slowed down, rounding the corner of the driveway, and passed through the open gate and down the brick drive. She parked next to her brother's Jeep and dashed into the house.

"Kyle!" Belinda's voice echoed in the foyer and she headed straight for the open glass door across the hall. She found him lazing in a wood lounger on the back deck with a beer, alt rock blaring out of his earbuds. "Kyle!" Belinda stepped around his legs, arching her eyebrows and waving.

Kyle jumped, ripping the buds out. "Hey, you're early." When his brown eyes lit up, she was practically looking into her own. The one clear sign of their twin-ness from her perspective.

"Actually, I'm late. I detoured to the beach for a minute." Belinda grinned and they bear hugged after he stood up. "Is there anything to eat?" Kyle just offered a lopsided grin. "I'll take that as a no."

"I would have stocked up, but I figured-"

"You figured you would just wait and let me do it."

"No, I was going to say I figured you'd want to get your own stuff."

"And?"

"And that you would get some other things while you were there."

Belinda put her hands on her hips. "Am I going to regret living with you?"

"Probably." Kyle grabbed her shoulders and spun her around. "But look at that view, eh?"

Belinda meandered off the low-lying porch and toward the edge of the property where it dropped off into the sea. It was more protected than other parts of Portside where the houses were right on the open ocean. But the wind and the currents below still tasted wild. Kyle was right. Putting up with him again was worth that view everyday.