Chapter 6 - Salt Air and Silence
Three weeks had passed since I arrived in Newport, Oregon.
In that time, the chaotic, high-stakes world of Manhattan felt like a lifetime ago. My days were measured not by board meetings or gala invitations, but by the rhythmic crashing of the Pacific tides, the smell of roasting coffee from the shop downstairs, and the quiet rustle of old books.
I had taken a part-time job working behind the counter at Gull’s Rest Books & Curios for an eccentric, warm-hearted retired professor named Arthur Pendelton. (Coincidentally sharing a name with my former town car driver, though entirely different in spirit.) Arthur spent his days reading Victorian poetry and brewing foul-smelling herbal tea, and he asked zero questions about my past.
Living above the bookstore gave me the sanctuary I so desperately needed. My belly was beginning to round softly under my oversized sweaters, a gentle, daily reminder that I was never truly alone anymore.
Every evening after closing the shop, I would walk down to the rocky shore, watching the gulls wheeling across the bruised violet sky as the sun dipped beneath the horizon. I felt stronger, clearer, and more at peace than I had in the entirety of my marriage.
May you like
Yet, I knew Daniel wouldn't give up easily. He was a man accustomed to hunting down acquisitions and conquering obstacles. But for the first time in his life, money and corporate leverage were utterly useless.
Little did I know, my husband was currently tearing through the Pacific Northwest like a hurricane.
