‘Marion Lennox’s RESCUE AT CRADLE LAKE is simply magical, eliciting laughter and tears in equal measure. A keeper.’
—RT Book Reviews
‘Best of 2010: a very rewarding read. The characters are believable, the setting is real, and the writing is terrific.’
—Dear Author on CHRISTMAS WITH HER BOSS
MARION LENNOX was a country kid, a tomboy and a maths nerd, but whenever she went missing her family guessed she’d be up a gum tree reading romance novels. Climbing trees and dreaming of romance—what’s not to love? But it wasn’t until she was on maternity leave from her ‘sensible’ career, teaching statistics to undergraduates, that she finally tried to write one.
Marion’s now had over one hundred romances accepted for publication. She’s given up climbing trees—they got too high! She dreams her stories while she walks her dog or paddles her kayak or pokes around rock pools at low tide. It’s a tough life, but she’s more than ready for the challenge.
A Secret Shared…
Marion Lennox
Right now my family is in the midst of restoring a fisherman’s cottage that’s protected by so many heritage restrictions it makes my eyes water. But when bureaucracy gets the better of me I head to our local ferry, which takes me over the treacherous Rip to the entrance to Port Phillip Bay and Melbourne beyond. Why? Well, my favourite cake shop is on the other side of the Rip—though the trip does make for expensive cake! But as well as cake I get to see dolphins. If I’m lucky they’ll surf in the ferry’s wake, leaping in and out of the water, joyously celebrating the fact that they can beat the boat twice over. They’re smart, they’re funny, and I defy anyone to watch them and not forget red tape and rotting roofing iron.
So it was with interest that I read of a dolphin sanctuary in the US where traumatised kids are offered time out, swimming with these gorgeous creatures as a type of therapy. So what if …? I thought as I watched the dolphins surfing alongside the boat. What if …? are my two favourite words. They send me off on another book almost as soon as I think them. What if my heroine finds a way to reach wounded kids with the same dolphins that make me smile? But what if she’s hiding secrets? What if she’s wounded too?
My hero is truly heroic—isn’t he always? But in A SECRET SHARED … Jack needs all the help he can get to win his lady and to share the secrets that guard her heart.
The dolphins are just the guys to help him!
Marion
To Ray and Deb, with thanks for making our dream a reality.
Table of Contents
‘YOU WANT TO save your kid with mantra-chanting and dolphins that eat our fish, go ahead and waste your money. Dolphin Sanctuary plays you for a sucker, and you’re walking right in.’
This was exactly what Dr Jack Kincaid didn’t want to hear. He glanced at the white-faced child in his passenger seat and hoped Harry wasn’t listening.
The little boy’s face was blank and unresponsive, but then, it always was. Harry had hardly spoken since the car crash that had killed his parents.
‘The sanctuary seems to be building a good reputation,’ he said, which was all he could think of to say. He didn’t want to be here but he needed petrol. The pump attendant, fat, grubby and obviously bored, had wandered out to have a word.
It was no wonder he looked bored. There’d be few cars along this road. Jack was three hundred miles from Perth, heading for one of the most remote parts of Australia. Dolphin Bay.
Dolphins. Healing. He thought of the hundreds of schmaltzy, New Age healing-type posters he’d seen in his lifetime and he felt ill.
What was he doing here?
‘So your kid’s crook?’ the attendant asked, and Jack flicked the remote. The car windows slid up soundlessly, ensuring Harry couldn’t hear.
Harry didn’t react. He didn’t seem to notice he was being cut out of the conversation. He never seemed to notice.
‘He was injured in a road accident a while back,’ he said. The pump was snail slow and this guy was intent on an inquisition. He might as well accept it.
‘You’re