“Rainy days and river views fill Beth’s summer as she makes a new start in small town Washington, North Carolina. After the loss of her husband in a tragic accident, simple seems better. It’s time to renovate her life, starting with a future art gallery on the river. Sam, her contractor, has everything under control, but the stress of the construction project and new business is beginning to make her crazy. Nightmares and visions of ghosts become the nightly norm. She doesn’t have time for this. She doesn’t have time for her heart to make room for him.
Tammera Cooper grew up on the Rappahannock River in Virginia watching the riverside community change with the times but remaining the same in spirit. The waterside lifestyle is in her blood and influences her writing every day.
Currently, she lives in Washington, North Carolina writing and sharing the small town’s history with her readers. She is a member of the Pamlico Writers Group, Women’s Fiction Writers Association, and Romance Writers of America.
Excerpt
She paused under the overpass. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something move in the trees. The green slimmed water pooled around the railroad tracks in the distance. She started to take off again and then hesitated. She was sure someone was watching her. She squinted into the sunlight shining through the trees. There she saw a head dart in and out. She stepped off the pavement into the grass to investigate. Her heart raced. She reached down and felt for her phone tucked in the waistband of her running shorts. Her running shoes sank into the muck and the hair on the back of her neck prickled. Just then, she saw a figure in the distance run to the next tree. The trees shaded the swampy area from any sunlight that would have helped her see any details.
“Hello? Is someone there?” She waited for a response. “Do you need help?” She climbed over a fallen tree to continue down a makeshift path. “Hello? I saw you get my attention. I’m here to help if you need some.” The water was getting deeper, and she was afraid she might lose a shoe if she went any further into the swamp. Beth stopped and shook her head. What was she thinking? She turned back toward the tracks to retreat to dry ground.
“No.”
Beth turned so quickly she slipped and lost her footing. The foul-smelling water covered her from head to toe. “Shit. Look what you’ve done.” She slung the water and mud off her arms and hands. When she regained her footing, she searched for another view of the person who was watching her. “Are you still there? What do you want?” she screamed out of frustration. Apparently, someone was playing a prank, and she had fallen for it. “I’m leaving and going home.”
“No.”
Beth felt a gust of wind rush by her, sending a chill over her damp skin. She could see a person standing in the distance in the shadow of a tree. “Do you need to talk to me? I’m coming.” Beth worked her way through the overgrowth trying to use the cypress tree knots as stepping stones to stay as dry as possible. As she closed the distance between her and the big tree, she could make out a feminine figure. She hastened her pace determined her baptism in the swamp muck was not in vain. She rounded the huge tree and found no one there. What the hell?
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