Janna McMahan

The Ocean Inside


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      Outstanding praise for Janna McMahan and The Ocean Inside!

      “One of those books that you don’t want to put down until the end.”

      —The Sandlapper

      “A lingering and bittersweet coming-of-age tale.”

      —Charleston Magazine

      “A moving and gripping tale of an American family.”

      —Lisa Alther, author of Kinflicks

      And praise for her debut novel, Calling Home!

      “What a lovely, vivid, immediate novel Janna McMahan has written! Calling Home will make you want to call your mother, lock up your children, and find—or hold tight to—the love of your life. This novel will delight and transport all who read it.”

      —Luanne Rice, New York Times bestselling author

      “A raw and realistic coming of age story…McMahan gives a rich and multidimensional view of life in small-town Kentucky that does not simplify or romanticize country ways…a complex and sophisticated story that will resonate with readers everywhere and will hit home for anyone who grew up in small Southern town with dreams of a better life.”

      —New Southerner

      “Calling Home is a lovely book. It will resonate with everyone who ever loved, left or returned to a family—and in a way that’s all of us. Janna speaks to us in a strong, original voice. I hope we hear a lot more of it.”

      —Anne Rivers Siddons, New York Times bestselling author

      “Heart-wrenching…”

      —Kentucky Monthly

      “Calling Home is a gritty, down home, contemporary and very real novel. Janna McMahan is a writer who knows how to get out of the way and let the story rip. Each vibrant, well-developed character’s voice rings true. McMahan presents the struggles of the working poor and the small farmer, the aspirations of parents for their children, the passions and problems of family life. She has a special gift for dialogue. This beautifully written, heartbreakingly realistic novel is a page-turner of the first magnititude.”

      —Lee Smith, New York Times bestselling author of On Agate Hill and The Last Girls

      Books by Janna McMahan

      CALLING HOME

      THE OCEAN INSIDE

      Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation

      The Ocean Inside

      JANNA McMAHAN

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      KENSINGTON BOOKS

       http://www.kensingtonbooks.com

      This novel is dedicated to my beloved mothers-in-law, Ruth Ann Cotterill and Anne McConnell Cotterill. Both librarians, these two women happily clipped and collected for me.

      They were greatly loved and are most sincerely missed.

      Acknowledgments

      Special thanks to fellow cancer survivor Elizabeth Grimball, a brave young woman who freely shared her thoughts and feelings about battling this disease in childhood.

      I’d also like to thank Dr. Laura Basile and Dr. John Cahill for their medical advice, John Bolin for his theology guidance, Monica Francis for her insurance knowledge, Gerald Lonon for insight into real estate development, and First Sergeant Angus MacBride of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources for beautiful descriptions of shrimping. Thank you to all the helpful reference librarians at Richland County Public Library, Debra Bloom in particular. Also, thank you to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division for information on drug smuggling.

      My gratitude goes to my supportive friends and family who read my work, catch my mistakes, share great ideas, and in various ways contribute to my success as a writer. Thank you to Amy Barnes, Robin Riebold, Doreen Sullivan, Mary Jane Reynolds, Deirdre Mardon, Jeffrey Day, Brian Ray, Kate Spurling, Jill Todd, Shelby Miller Jones, Lisa McMahan, and my mother, Edith McMahan.

      A big ole thanks to my brother, Robb McMahan, for the catalyst of my first laptop and the missive “Now you have no excuse. Write that novel.” You’re the best brother in the world.

      Thank you to my bighearted friend Carolyn Mitchell for sharing her Pawleys Island beach house with my family. I can never repay your generosity. Also, thank you to Bunni Crawford for an invitation to a swanky party at her island home. The crab cakes were divine and the gossip even better.

      My appreciation always to Katherine Fausset, my insightful and encouraging agent at Curtis Brown. I’m so pleased we found each other.

      Thank you to John Scognamiglio, Editor in Chief of Kensington, for lovely covers, editorial guidance, marketing support, and creative freedom.

      Thanks to my family, Mark Cotterill, and our daughter, Madison, for being ever patient and supportive. I’m glad you’re both artists who understand that creativity takes time.

      The Silver Gardens

      Come to the silver gardens of the South,

      Where whisper hath her monarchy, and winds,

      Deftly devise live tapestries of shade,

      In glades of stillness patterned,

      And where the red-bird like a sanguine stain,

      Brings Tragedy to Beauty.

      —Archer M. Huntington

      Contents

      Chapter 1: Night Swimming

      Chapter 2: Island Life

      Chapter 3: Taking a Ride

      Chapter 4: Preexisting Condition

      Chapter 5: Focus

      Chapter 6: The Black Fountain

      Chapter 7: Side Effects

      Chapter 8: Pleasure Pain

      Chapter 9: Shirtsleeves to Shirtsleeves

      Chapter 10: Storm Surge

      Chapter 11: Hardship Cases

      Chapter 12: Comfort Zone

      Chapter 13: One More Time

      Chapter 14: New Friends

      Chapter 15: Death Knocks

      Chapter 16: Homecoming

      Chapter 17: Collapse

      Chapter 18: Wings

      Chapter 19: New Normal

      Chapter 20: The Swing of Things

      Chapter 21: Emancipation

      Chapter 22: Charity

      Chapter 23: Road Trip

      Chapter 24: Holding Hands

      Chapter 25: Making Waves

      Chapter 26: The Way Home

      Chapter 27: Invisible

      Chapter 28: Wrack Line

      Chapter 29: Bluffing

      Chapter 30: Baby Steps

      Chapter 31: Jezebel

      Chapter 32: Winds of Fortune

      Chapter 33: Lowcountry Boil

      Chapter 34: Limited Options

      Chapter 35: A Call for Help

      Chapter 36: Home Calling

      Chapter 37: Treading Water

      Chapter