The Secret Place
by
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It seemed lately that whenever Nick was dead tired and totally overworked he had recurring dreams of Leah. It became troublesome and a nuisance to him. Perhaps he needed to see a shrink and wondered why he continued to remember her after all that’s happened and after all this time. As he laid on his bed thinking about her, he looked at the bottle atop his dresser and memories flooded back to him as if it were yesterday. It was the summer he was fourteen and remembered Leah giving it to him. It was a beautiful day on the beach; they were lying in the sun side by side after a long swim and looking up at the white puffs of clouds in the sky when Leah spoke. "Nick, when you go back home will you remember me?" He was a little irritated as he was a teenager after all and in high school, “what do I care about a kid, and a girl at that!” “Nope,” he said with abandon. “I don't like tiresome girls begging for attention,” he teased, and threw some sand in her face. At that moment he glanced at her and noticed she had a stricken look on her face, she was hurt and tears rolled down her cheek. He sat up instantly, immediately regretting what he said. "Silly girl, he reassured her, “of course I'm going to remember you, how can I forget the girl I see every summer for the last three years!" Breaking from his reverie, Nick sat there on his bed as he held the bottle in his hand. He felt a loss and sadness for not telling Leah how much it meant to him. The smell of gardenias always conjured deep feelings he had for her. He did not know that he loved her back then but he knew that he loved her now. He wondered to himself, Leah where you are. I’ve missed you. He longed to be with her again, to see her, hold her in his arms and smell the gardenias in her hair.
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About the Book
This romantic story is about Leah and Nick, who meet on a beach in Hawaii when Nick is eleven and Leah is eight. Leah is a descendent of Hawaiian royalty and a dead shipping business. Nick comes from a long line of doctors, and his parents expect him to become a trauma surgeon. Every summer, Nick returns to his summer home with his parents and spends the summers with Leah, surfing, hiking, fishing, and frolicking on the beach. They are young, innocent, and carefree. They meet at their special spot they call the Secret Place, dreaming of the future, sharing their deepest thoughts and aspirations. As the years pass, they form a close relationship that will challenge their love for each other. At eighteen, Nick leaves for medical school, and Leah pursues her career in art. On the fortieth anniversary of his parents, Nick returns to his summer home, having completed medical school. He and Leah reconnect after five years and fall deeply in love. But as fate would have it, circumstances stop them from being together, and they go their separate ways. Nick is conflicted with his pursuit of becoming a doctor and his love for Leah. Leah is caught in a predicament she cannot run from. Find out how they reach each other again and reconnect despite the twists and turns of life.
About the Author
S. M. Peters is married with two sons. Writing has always been a hobby and has written many short stories and memoirs of growing up in the 1950s in Hawaii. Recently retired, she decided to pursue her lifelong dream of writing in earnest. She has worked in mortgage lending in her early years and in the administration office of a mental health agency in the past twenty-one years. Mrs. Peters’ interests are sewing, scrapbook making, jewelry making, canning, crafting, and selling all of her works. She likes cooking, reading, playing the ukulele, and singing. She resides in Hawaii with her husband of forty-seven years and her three dachshunds.