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175 pages

English

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Description

Fire Island is the setting for a host of characters who find love and mayhem as they gather at a beach house for the summer. When Sheila and her friends, along with her college student son, and a gorgeous stripper, share a house on Fire Island for the summer, adventure ensues. Some colorful characters round out the scene, including the strip club owner, a questionable gentleman from Vegas, an Italian deli owner and a handsome widower. Sexual identity, the memory of a young mother's choice, the struggle of drug abuse and the quest for love, are challenges that the characters experience in the steamy summer days.

Sujets

Adventure (Guyana)

Adventure

Romance

Informations

Publié par	First Edition Design Publishing
Date de parution	01 avril 2015
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781622878116
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0360€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

A Beachin’ Summer
BY
ANDREA DAHLE SINNOTT
A Beachin’ Summer
Copyright ©2015 Andrea Dahle Sinnott

ISBN 978-1622-878-10-9 PRINT
ISBN 978-1622-878-11-6 EBOOK

LCCN 2015930679

February 2015

Published and Distributed by
First Edition Design Publishing, Inc.
P.O. Box 20217, Sarasota, FL 34276-3217
www.firsteditiondesignpublishing.com

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means ─ electronic, mechanical, photo-copy, recording, or any other ─ except brief quotation in reviews, without the prior permission of the author or publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
I dedicate this book to Adrienne, Allison and my son Nick, and to the memory of my parents, Virginia and Hans Dahle, and to all my friends who encouraged me to follow my dream.

CHAPTER ONE
“Ommmm….” Tension was dissipating from Sheila Goldman’s shoulders as she repeated the mantra one more time. She was comfortably reclined in a chair in the office of her psychologist/guru, Doctor Salim Hamaan. The doctor was busily writing notes and intermittently positioning his horn-rimmed glasses on his nose. He suddenly checked his watch.
“You are coming back to feeling safe and secure in the reality of this room,” he said in his soft and reassuring voice. “Did you find that peaceful spot that has eluded you these past sessions, Sheila?”
“I did, Doctor.” Sheila felt a warm glow settle in her solar plexus as she started to speak. She usually felt that glow after a pleasing dinner, but now her stomach was empty and a gurgle emitted from its depths reminding her that her inner glow would soon need sustenance. Embarrassed, she patted her middle and smiled at the doctor as she brought the recliner back to a sitting position.
Her session was nearly over. “I was at a beach,” she said. “I could smell the ocean as I watched the waves hitting the shoreline. I even felt the summer wind on my face.” She didn’t tell him that she had also been fantasizing about eating shrimp as well. Sheila didn’t always adhere to the dietary rules of kosher.
“Ah, you have never said that you liked the beach. You have a fondness for the mountains--the Catskills as I recall.”
“I never did like the beach much, but it felt really good imagining myself there with the sun on my body and the sound of the seagulls,” said Sheila. “Maybe it’s a sign that I am making progress with my grief.”
“Well, you certainly did get into your scene and maybe it is a sign that something is indeed in the wind for you, so to speak,” the doctor replied. “You are fifty five years young and still have a lot of living to do.”
“My husband thought he still had a lot of living to do,” said Sheila softly.
Sheila and her husband Mel had planned for a wonderful future. They would take a few cross-country trips and then buy a vacation home upstate to enjoy in their golden years. Instead Mel had left her a widow.
It was a stark realization, a stab wound to the very core of her being. Dramatic? To Sheila it was like living in a Shakespearean tragedy these last months since Mel died.
“Life can be unpredictable--but you have to think positively. You are alive and will go on to a new life, a different life perhaps, but one that can be fulfilling.”
“I’m meeting with Mel’s accountant to update my financial profile and have lunch after I leave here.”
“Getting your financial situation in order is for the best of course, but your emotional state is important as well. I sense a new purpose that you must continue to nurture. Losing your husband so suddenly to a heart attack was very unpleasant, but you are here and doing something about the pain of it and that is credible.”
Sheila rose and went to shake his hand. “Thank you, Doctor,” she said.
“And thank you, Sheila,” he replied as he accepted the check for two hundred dollars that she took from her purse. Progress could be expensive.

Sheila drove to a restaurant on the south shore to meet with Ben Yodelman. Ben asked the waiter to seat them near the window so that they could overlook the bay.
The waiter took down their lunch selections and Ben sat back and smiled at Sheila. He said that he was pleased to inform her that she was in great financial shape. She had recently retired from her job as a guidance counselor at a local high school and with her pension and Mel’s investments, along with his handsome life insurance policy, she was actually among the nouveau riche . Yes, Mel had taken care of her in life and now in his death, he had left her well off.
After consuming a lovely seafood combo with pasta, Sheila was studying the dessert menu when Ben casually asked her if they might go to dinner and a show one night in the future. He patted his beard with his very soiled napkin and smiled at her across the table.
Ben was divorced. He had interjected that fact a few times into the conversation so far. He now had a hopeful expression on his face. Sheila knew that she had packed on some pounds on her already less than svelte figure and she felt that she had no place being fussy, but it was simply that Ben didn’t appeal to her. There was a speck of red sauce on his very outdated paisley printed tie. She wanted to reach her hand across the table with a napkin and brush it off as best she could, but she refrained. She was not going to nurture Ben Yodelman.
“I’m not dating for a while,” she told him not wanting to hurt his feelings. “I have to sort through a lot of emotions. I just came from my therapy session.”
“I understand,” said Ben. “You and Mel had a special relationship. You don’t find that too often. My ex-wife Gilda always had something to say about me—and not good things.”
“I’m sorry for you, Ben.”
He nodded. “That’s the way it is sometimes. Well anyway, you can spend your money. It sounds mercenary, but there might be some consolation in enjoying it.”
“I’m not really thinking about the money,” she assured him.
“Another woman would be shopping in the finest places. Oh, Gilda would have had no problem with that. She would be off to Bergdorf’s when Shiva was done. She got plenty out of me anyway. She’s now married to an endodontist who I am sure is highly successful. There is plenty of dental pulp to be treated.”
Sheila patted her lips with her napkin. Ben was bitter. “I’m sure you’ll find happiness again, Ben. I have a friend who’s trying to talk me into a European trip, but I’m not crazy about flying.”
Ben raised his eyebrows. “Europe? Well, that would be exciting. I guess you are on your way to a new life, Sheila.” He looked disappointed. She couldn’t blame him. Misery loved company as the saying went.
Sheila thought again of her therapy session and Dr. Hamaan’s encouraging thoughts about her future and smiled. “You might be right about that new life, Ben.”
After her lunch and a luscious ball of tartufo for dessert, Sheila was a little breathless as she walked to her modest seven year old sedan. Maybe a new car was in order and maybe a European trip might be something to consider. The walking would probably do her good. Didn’t they have those rocky hills and incredibly fit people in Europe who ate little plates of food and drank red wine instead of soda? It could be just what she needed right now. She could take a muscle relaxer, board the plane and fly off to Europe—the possibilities were endless.

It was two months later. Violet Castle felt her heart quicken its pace. She had just stepped out of the shower and she could hear her phone ringing. It might be-- him --but she wasn’t going to answer. She would let the machine pick up after the four rings. She kept toweling herself off in the bathroom and listening for the responding voice after the beep.
It wasn’t him . Instead, she heard the throaty voice of her friend Sheila Goldman. Violet dashed for the phone, the towel trailing on the beige carpeting in the hallway of her apartment.
“It’s me. I’m here, Sheila,” she yelled as she pushed the button on the answering machine to turn it off. “I’m naked,” she laughed. “You’re lucky we don’t have picture phones.”
“You always were hard on yourself,” Sheila said. “You’re just as firm as you always were, you bitch.”
Violet put Sheila on speaker phone and grabbed for her robe. “How was the trip? Did Bianca drive you crazy?” Violet knew that Sheila was trying to make the best of things after her husband Mel had died suddenly. Violet was divorced for almost two years. She had gotten used to being single.
“The trip was great. I am enjoying my early retirement, Violet—as much as I can without….”
“Mel,” Violet gently finished for her. “I know you’re making the best of things, Sheila.”
Bianca Taglione, their mutual friend, persuaded Sheila to join her on that trip to Europe. It hadn’t been easy. Basically, Sheila was a homebody. She liked to cook and look after anyone in her charge--students, family, friends, anyone in need--Sheila was a nurturing person. But, Bianca was persuasive and Dr. Hamaan encouraged Sheila to conquer her fear of flying.
“Europe was wonderful. I white knuckled it on the plane for the first hour, but I used my meditation techniques, medicated myself and did okay,” said Sheila. “We would have waited until you could have come with us, Violet.”
“I am so proud of you Sheila, but I’ve been… busy anyway.”
“Busy with what? Is the real estate market picking up?”
“It hasn’t been a great year. I’m hoping next year will be better, but I’m not betting on it. I’ll tell you when I see you--about what I‘ve been busy with.”
“I’m afraid to hear about it. Your voice has a fragile tone.”
Violet’s friends knew her well, especially Sheila. She was hard t