Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 83368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
He flipped through the listings, and while he was pleased at the lack of ocean views and the amount of land the properties offered, nothing appealed to him strongly. He was looking for the wow factor, like he did with everything else in his life. He just wasn’t the kind of person to accept something ordinary. Unless it was an ocean swim.
Clicking off the real estate listings, he checked his email. Amazingly, there was one from Jay Malone. Subject line: Love to chat more about our movie project.
How had the agent even found his email address? He opened the email with some trepidation, wondering why the heck a top Hollywood agent had nothing better to do with his time than hassle a burned-out astronaut. Worst of all, the word no seemed to mean nothing at all to Jay Malone. Clearly, this was a man who never gave up. And then Hersch smiled to himself wryly. Maybe he of all people could forgive Jay this trait.
The email was simple. A line of pleasantries and then straight to the hard sell. Jay had loved their meeting and was beyond excited to talk more.
Hersch couldn’t imagine anything to be less excited about. Jay signed off with a final, pushy reminder to get back in touch ASAP. He shook his head. It took less than a second to decide to ignore the email. And then suddenly, he couldn’t stand his hotel suite another minute.
He needed to get out of his head and move his body.
He put on his running gear. In his book, a good, hard run could fix any kind of mood. As he pulled the navy blue T-shirt over his head, he touched the Saint Christopher’s medal that always hung on a gold chain around his neck. It had been passed down from his grandfather. His mother swore the medal had seen her dad safely through World War II, and scientist or not, sometimes Hersch believed it was part of the reason he’d come home safely from space. He never took it off.
It was the time of year when he’d normally be training for an Ironman competition. He loved the challenge, lived for it, really, and it was the most fun way he could think of to stay in top physical shape for his missions. But the Ironman meant completing the swimming section, and how was he going to do that when he couldn’t even dip his big toe in the water? It infuriated him that something so simple was holding him back.
He pulled on his shorts and socks and then warmed up with his tried and tested routine of calisthenic stretches before heading out.
He chose a trail far away from the ocean in Garland Ranch Regional Park in Carmel Valley. It was beautiful, green, and lush, with a few lingering wildflowers and a small grove of redwood trees at its heart. He began running and soon felt as though every trail went straight uphill without ever having a corresponding downhill, even though he’d chosen what should have been an easy run by his standards. He was running hard and fast, a sweat quickly forming as he tried to burn off his frustration, feeling the sweat drip down the sides of his face. Even as the breath was dragging into his lungs, he blinked sweat out of his eyes and took a moment to really appreciate the scrubby greenery and natural beauty of his surroundings.
Mila Davenport was right. There was something truly special about Carmel. It was the right place to make his new home.
And that couldn’t happen soon enough. He’d been in his hotel for only a few days, but he really needed to get out of there. He could already picture himself in his new house. In spite of the fact that nothing had inspired him in the online listings, he had a feeling that Mila would come up with something. She seemed a lot like him—somebody who really rose to a challenge. Not so long ago, she’d been flying high as one of the top female surfers in the world, when an accident had wrecked her career. The more he’d learned about her, the more he’d found himself completely engaged in her story. He’d kept clicking and reading, clicking and reading, discovering all that he could about her career and the accident that had ended it.
He’d studied the photographs, read the numerous media articles. His heart had gone out to a young and stunning Mila with the world’s biggest grin, blonde hair wet from the ocean and slicked back, and pearly-white teeth on show. She hadn’t known then how quickly everything she’d worked for and believed in could be taken away. The life she’d worked for had been over in a matter of moments. Just one bad wave.
They had that in common, too, because if he wasn’t very careful, everything he had worked so hard for and believed in was going to be swept away by his fear of the water. It was such a stupid thing, and as his feet pounded solid ground, he felt his frustration rise again to the surface. He ran harder, pushing himself. He was going to have to keep pushing himself, in all manner of uncomfortable ways. He could do this. He knew he could.