Liam’s life could be better. He’s recovering from a divorce and a bitter custody battle, which he loses. He dearly loves his six-year-old son, Lucas, but seeing him every second weekend is never enough. His one salvation is the sea. When he’s sitting on the sand, watching the waves rolling in, he feels at peace, calmed and restored.<br><br>One day, the waves are particularly high, and the sea particularly rough. He’s surprised to see someone swimming in such choppy seas. When Liam calls out to the man, asking if he needs help, the man simply waves back. Liam thinks he must be an idiot. Little does he know the person he sees is no man, which he discovers two days later.<br><br>When they meet, Liam is both horrified and fascinated. His curiosity produces a strange attraction that changes their lives irreversibly forever.

The Sound of the Sea

Liam swallowed his coffee, collected his phone and keys from his desk, and left the building, wishing he was already tucked up at home. If he had enough energy to get home, it would be a miracle.


He spent a restorative weekend in bed, surrounded by bottles of water, cold medicine, and balled up handkerchiefs and tissues. He felt well enough to call Lucas on Sunday morning, though after hearing his son’s blow-by-blow account of his play date with his best friend, Joel, then about his classmate, Miranda’s, birthday party—in the same amount of detail—he was exhausted and slept till mid-afternoon.


By Monday, he felt well enough to return to work…until he got into his car. It must have been the outside air, but he’d barely put the key into the ignition when he began sneezing uncontrollably. The sneezing, rather than dislodging anything, clogged him up, with one nostril blocked completely. He returned inside, suddenly feeling as if he hadn’t spent the past two days in bed.


Chapter 19