Beyond the Waves
is a work of fiction. References to real people, events, establishments, organizations, or locales are intended only to provide a sense of authenticity and are used fictitiously. All other characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination.

Published in the U.S.A.

Philippians 3:13 & 14

But one thing I do: Forgetting what is

behind and straining toward what is ahead, I

press on toward the goal to win the prize for

which God has called me heavenward

in Christ Jesus.

Chapter 1

Taysia blinked away tears as she keyed in the digits to the security panel at the front door of Mom’s Gym. Her bag, slung over one shoulder, whispered against the slick nylon of her sweat suit as she hurried down the back hallway toward her office. The last thing she needed right now was to bump into Marie.

Pushing open her office door, she paused to absorb the peace of her little domain. The scent of new carpet and fresh paint assailed her. She liked the effect of her remodel. The dark green pile and mint-colored paint gave the room a cool, soothing feel that was heightened by the Thomas Kincade prints. She closed her eyes and inhaled the quiet, then forced the tension in her shoulders to ease on a long exhale of air.

Her fingers filtered across the top of the maidenhair fern on the stand to her right. This was where she lived and breathed. Well, here and the amazing beach at the edge of town, which was where she headed whenever she got the chance. There weren’t many places more beautiful than the Oregon coast. But when she had to be inside, she needed the soothing coolness of this room to escape from her hectic schedule.

She stepped farther into the office and pushed the door shut behind her as her shoulders drooped a little. Today the living and breathing would come with more pain than usual.

She squeezed the base of her neck and rolled her head from side to side, trying to ease the low throb of a headache that had been threatening since the night before. Daddy hadn’t shown up for their Friday dinner date last night, and when she’d gone to his house to make sure he was fine, it became obvious he’d forgotten all about it—not unusual these days.

With another sigh she set her bag down. She hated to admit it, but the signs of his decreasing mental faculties could no longer be ignored. She would have to make a decision soon.

Lord, I can’t stand to see Daddy go downhill like this. Please just bring him back. Only a few months ago, he was just fine. This has all happened so quickly. I don’t know what to do for him, Lord. Help me—

The buzz of the intercom interrupted her prayer. She stripped off her sweat-suit jacket as she moved toward the desk.

She punched the intercom button. “Yes?”

“Taysia? Is that you?”

Taysia rolled her eyes.
No, Marie, it’s Billy Blanks, Tae Bo instructor extraordinaire
. Really, Marie could be denser than coastal fog sometimes.

“Yes, Marie, it’s me. What?” She fired the words with the speed of a bullet, determined to end this conversation quickly. She loved Marie, but right now she didn’t feel like talking to anybody, much less Queen Featherbrain. She angled her eyes toward the ceiling.
Forgive me?

“
He’s
here!”

Taysia pinched the bridge of her nose. With her seventeen-year-old receptionist,
he
could be any one of half a dozen men… Ever since Reece Cahill had broken up with the girl, she’d been on a bit of a boy binge, trying to soothe her hurting heart. Reece was a very nice guy, and Taysia doubted he knew just how badly he’d hurt Marie. But, sad to say, Taysia hadn’t been surprised when she’d heard he’d broken things off. He’d always been more mature than Marie. Truth be told, he was more spiritually on track too. But Taysia was working with Marie on that, and she’d come a long ways from the broken, rebellious teen who’d walked in looking for work a year ago after her father, and only remaining parent in the home, had been sentenced to ten years for a B&E with intent to harm.

Yes, Marie had come a long way. Now, if only they could get her past this boy-crazy stage.

The box boy at the local supermarket had been Marie’s love interest
last
week.

This
week Marie had been on the new-cop-in-town-pulled-me-over-just-for-running-a-stop-sign kick…

The conversation she’d had with Marie just yesterday rang through Taysia’s head. Marie had giggled and chomped a large wad of bubble gum as she proclaimed, “After all, cops in Marinville just don’t pull people over like that, especially not for running stop signs, so he must have wanted to meet me, right? You should have seen him, Taysia. He’s so
gorgeous
!”

Taysia hadn’t bothered to mention that in the small burg of Marinville, no one but Marie probably ever drove over the speed limit, much less ran a stop sign. The poor guy had most likely been bored out of his gourd and looking for any excuse to do his job.

Although, if he
had
gotten a look at Marie, he might
have
pulled her over just to meet her. To say Marie was beautiful would be an understatement. She was a petite brunette with big blue eyes that could swallow a man whole, and she knew how to use them to her best advantage. Taysia had seen her weasel her way out of more than one sticky situation by coquettishly angling her baby blues in the direction of an unsuspecting male. The new officer in town must have a heart of stone if he could look Marie in the eye and still hand her a ticket.

Yes, Marie was definitely beautiful; she was just missing a few boxes in the attic.

Oh, Taysia! Stop it! All she needs to do is grow up a little. Marie is a wonderful woman. She is a wonderful receptionist. When she’s not—okay, enough!

Taysia pressed the intercom, wondering which male on planet Earth Marie was referring to this time. “Who, Marie?”

“
Him
! The new cop I was telling you about.” She lowered her voice so Taysia barely heard what she said next. “And he’s even more gorgeous than I first thought!”

“That’s nice. Did you tell him this gym is geared toward pregnant women and new mothers with post-pregnancy flab on their bellies and thighs? Unless his name is Arnold and he’s just delivered Junior, he should probably try Goddfry’s down on Second.”

A giggle crackled from the speaker. “He’s not here to work out, silly. Wait…who’s Arnold?”

Great. Now her love of obscure movies was showing. “Never mind.”

“Whatever…anyway, he’s here to see you.”

The headache that had begun last night after her conversation with Daddy flared to life with a painful vengeance. She reached into her top drawer and snatched up the bottle of painkillers.
Sophia Clinesmith
. This had to be about her.

“Fine,” she said into the speaker, “send him on back.” Pouring three of the white pills into her palm, she tossed them to the back of her throat, swallowing them down with a swig from the ever-present water bottle on her desk.

Sophia Clinesmith.

The pain in her head sank its claws into her frontal lobe and clenched its fists. She rubbed at her brow and hoped those little pills would kick in sometime soon.

This visit was undoubtedly about the lawsuit. Taysia had known Sophia since elementary school. All her life Sophia had been gorgeous, willowy, blonde, and bratty. Sadly for Mom’s Gym, she was also a model and had twisted her ankle on a pop can someone left in the gym’s parking lot.

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