Outrunning the demons that dog her in Miami, Troy escapes south to the Bahamas, the land of her birth. She hopes that the new millennium can bring a new life and banish the specter of her parents' sudden and violent death, a crazy ex-boyfriend, and a stint in jail to the sea of forgetfulness. In paradise, she finds work as a Spanish tutor to Evie, a rebellious teenager whose life uncannily parallels her own. However, it is Simon, Evie's uncle, who makes his mark on Troy.

For seven years, Simon has kept his promise to Deanna, his dead twin sister, protecting Evie, despite her painful and vicious rejection of him. That task and the demands of an investment banking career leave him little time for love. Desperate, he hires Troy, expecting that she would be just another tutor that Evie runs off with undue speed. Until fate intervenes…

Troy and Simon have a lot in common—painful loss through death, a cautious nature, and a shared heritage that has linked the Bahamas and communist Cuba across the decades. Eventually, proximity, circumstance, and love for Evie soften Troy’s rough edges and melt the permafrost around Simon’s heart. Simon offers Troy a ready-made family and shelter from the storms of life.

But demons don’t give up so easily. When Troy’s past comes back to haunt her in the present, she must decide whether to take the path of least resistance that leads in the opposite direction… or to head toward the lights of home.

Inc, Wendy Coakley-Thompson

Published books