The Tide Pool

By Jeffery Martin Botzenhart

If you treat me like glass, then that’s all I’ll ever be

Having battled cancer since the age of five years old, Erin, now nineteen, sets out for a few days to experience life on her own for the first time. Though now in remission, the ‘death watch’ lingering in her parents’ eyes are just as lethal to endure. She needs an escape.

While walking along a road, deep in the forest, she meets Noah. After helping him change a flat tire on his small camper, he drives them both to the Oregon Pacific coast. This is where life begins for her, she thinks.

There at the beach both reveal to each other the personal demons haunting them. For Noah, it’s the untimely death of his beloved brother, and for Erin, it’s an escape from cancer. As the hours continue, the instant attraction they shared grows into a deep love for each other.

Should they break free from the past and those still clinging to it?

PUBLISHER NOTE: A Contemporary Romance featuring healing of the mind, body, and soul. M/F. 11,000 words.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Luminosity Publishing LLP
• Release date: Dec 27, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463551295

Jeffery Martin Botzenhart

I was born on November 9, 1967 in Warren, Ohio and grew up in a country trailer park in Southington Ohio with my two brothers and parents.I currently live in Girard, Ohio with my wife and sons. After graduating from Chalker High School in 1986, I went on to attend Kent State University.Originally, I sought to pursue a degree in education, but changed degrees after a few years in school. After working my way through college for eight years, I graduated in 1994 with a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations.Aside from writing, I also draw and paint. My other passion is soccer. I have proudly been a coach of a soccer team for autistic and special needs players.

Book preview

THE TIDE POOL

Sea Glass, Book Five

JEFFERY MARTIN BOTZENHART

If you treat me like glass, then that’s all I’ll ever be

Having battled cancer since the age of five years old, Erin, now nineteen, sets out for a few days to experience life on her own for the first time. Though now in remission, the ‘death watch’ lingering in her parents’ eyes are just as lethal to endure. She needs an escape.

While walking along a road, deep in the forest, she meets Noah. After helping him change a flat tire on his small camper, he drives them both to the Oregon Pacific coast. This is where life begins for her, she thinks.

There at the beach both reveal to each other the personal demons haunting them. For Noah, it’s the untimely death of his beloved brother, and for Erin, it’s an escape from cancer. As the hours continue, the instant attraction they shared grows into a deep love for each other.

Should they break free from the past and those still clinging to it?

PUBLISHER NOTE: A Contemporary Romance featuring healing of the mind, body, and soul. M/F. 11,000 words.

THE TIDE POOL

Sea Glass, Book Five

JEFFERY MARTIN BOTZENHART

WWW.LUMINOSITYPUBLISHING.COM

LUMINOSITY PUBLISHING LLP

THE TIDE POOL

Sea Glass, Book Five

Copyright © DECEMBER 2019 JEFFERY MARTIN BOTZENHART

Cover Art by Poppy Designs

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

No part of this literary work may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without the written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

DEDICATION

For those who struggle in mind, body, and spirit, you are not alone.

1

5:05 P.M.

Shafts of sunlight piercing the lush forest canopy bathed Erin with their warmth. Stray breezes, capturing the fragrance of evergreens, created hushed whispers through trembling branches. Overhead patches of blue sky, dotted with drifting white clouds, enhanced the serenity of this late summer afternoon.

The padding of her red, high top sneakers on the road and the serenading birds offered minor intrusive echoes to the surrounding calm. Having never wandered through here before, Erin wondered if other parts of the forest enjoyed such splendor. She inhaled deeply, not only breathing in nature but freedom as well.

Rounding a bend in the road, ahead of her Erin spotted an old, blue Volkswagen camper pulled off on the berm. At first thinking, it was abandoned, as she approached, she saw a young man struggling to change a flat tire. His task was complicated by having his right arm in a sling. She knew it would be impossible for him to get this done on his own.

Self-consciously fussing with the scarf covering her head and pressing wrinkles on her blue and red paisley printed dress, she walked forward to his camper, surprising him. He stood up, waving to her.

Hello, he greeted, his dimpled smile charming her. His handsome features, ripped muscles under his black cut-off T-shirt, a shadow of a beard, and longish brown hair under his baseball cap, worn backwards, made him the most attractive young man she could remember meeting.

I’m thinking you’re in a bit of a jam here, Erin commented, setting her