Page 2 of Summer Ride

She didn’t think she would ever shake or outlive that knowledge.

Something deep down inside her wasn’t right.

The only thing that could possibly save her soul was death.

So she spent the next few years slowly killing Mary Ester Boyle. Until finally, one day, she was completely gone.

The person who emerged was someone altogether different. Someone she called Kara Regan.

Chapter One

“Kara, wait up,” someone called out behind her.

Kara glanced over her shoulder and laughed. She pedaled the beach bike a little faster.

“Catch me if you can,” she called back playfully as she leaned forward and willed her legs to go faster.

It had been two weeks since she’d taken a job as a massage therapist at River Camps in the small town of Pelican Point. The camp was a swanky adults-only summer camp on the Emerald Coast of Florida.

She’d moved to the beachy town on a whim. Her car had broken down and she’d bumped into Zoey, one of the camp’s owners, at the local gas station. She’d applied for the job shortly thereafter.

The camp, apparently, had been in business for over thirty years. However, in its current form, the doors had only been open for a year now.

There were more than thirty unique cabins and spread out over a hundred acres that sat on a strait between a large bay and the Gulf of Mexico. The camp had a private and secluded white-sand beach overlooking the crystal-clear teal waters of the Gulf.

There were also three swimming pools, zip lines, boating activities, horseback riding, bikes, volleyball, and other fun daily activities. To top it off, there was a celebrity chef who oversaw every meal for both the guests and employees.

As an employee, Kara could eat in the employee dining room or take sack meals for a fraction of the cost normal meals would have cost her.

Even though she’d only worked there a short time, there had yet to be a dull day. Not only did she love her job, but she absolutely adored the people that she worked with.

She had already made so many new friends, such as Andrea, who was basically her boss, and Julie, who worked at the front desk. Not to mention Zoey, Elle, Hannah, Scarlett, and Aubrey, the five best friends who owned the swanky camp. The Wildflowers, they called themselves.

She could see her new life flourishing here. Just as long as she kept to herself and didn’t allow anyone to get too close.

She knew every one of the camp’s employees by name. But most importantly, she knew every escape route and hiding place on the massive grounds.

She even had two bug-out bags hidden in key places, just in case.

Caution was, after all, key to her survival.

“Gosh,” Andrea said when they both finally stopped at the edge of the beach, “you’re all legs.”

Kara glanced over at the pretty young blond woman and smiled. “You’re just upset because I beat you. Again,” she said with a wink. They had lunched together on the beach every day this week, using their break to get out and enjoy the sun and the water.

Before that, the weather had forced them to eat in the employee dining room with the rest of the camp employees.

Andrea was about half a foot shorter than Kara was, and her blond hair was just as light as Kara’s was at the moment. But where Kara kept to herself, Andrea was a massive flirt. With everyone. Even her.

At first it had made Kara uncomfortable. Kara had never been particularly comfortable around other women.

Even now, years after everything she’d been through, she wasn’t comfortable around flirting. Sex was sex. Flirting was something altogether different. She enjoyed sex, flirting not so much. It just wasn’t her forte.

But she quickly realized that it was just Andrea’s nature, and they had become close friends.

“You mean you cheated. Don’t think that I didn’t see that little shortcut you took back there.” Andrea hopped off her bike and pushed it into the bike rack that sat under a palm tree on the edge of the sandy beach. “Help me with the lunch.” Andrea motioned to the basket on the back of her bike.

Kara put her bike up next to Andrea’s and took the large picnic basket that they had grabbed from the employee lunchroom. Andrea took her beach bag, which held a blanket, cold drinks, and silverware, to a spot in the sand and sat down.