“And we’re naming her,” Maggie declared, looking at Jo Ellen. Her friend just tipped her head knowingly, and they said the name in perfect unison.
“Scarlett.”
Frank groaned. “You two are going to be unbearable.”
“We already are,” Jo Ellen said sweetly. “But now we’re mobile.”
Maggie flipped the keys in Jo Ellen’s face with a teasing look. “I say we take Scarlett to Charleston next.”
“Where Rhett was born,” Jo Ellen said.
Laughing, they hugged.
“See? I paid attention to that endless movie,” Jo added as a whisper in her ear.
Maggie just squeezed her friend and felt whole and excited for life. She might not have that many years left, but she was going to make every one of them count.
She was early for the house showing Lorna had scheduled, but curiosity made Tessa drive the fifteen-minute distance to Miramar Beach with a little more speed than usual. Her real estate agent had said she had a beautiful surprise—a dream property that hadn’t even hit the market yet.
The “pocket listing” wasn’t like anything they’d seen so far, Lorna promised, and she wanted Tessa to tour it as soon as possible.
Tessa turned off the main highway and started driving directly toward the Gulf. Each block she passed made her more certain she couldn’t possibly have the right address—how could she afford to live this close to the beach?
And not any beach, she realized as she reached the very end of the side street and could see the sand, water, and sky. A public beach! One that years ago she’d helped some teenagers clean, she thought with a smile.
But even better, one that featured a rare stretch of Destin’s coastline without wall-to-wall houses built to block the view—or save it for the lucky or wealthy.
She turned and followed the beach road, the Gulf shimmering on her left like someone had tossed diamondsand sunshine from heaven. When the phone chirped that she’d “arrived,” she had to double- and triple-check the address.
Thiscouldn’tbe the right house, not for her budget. Did “pocket listing” translate tohalf price?
The house was two stories with an oddly flat roof. The blue paint on the clapboard was sun-faded and the trim was weathered and chipped, but it looked like the entire back of the house included two large decks facing the water.
And the view! It wasn’t peek-a-boo Gulf glimpses or turn-your-head-the-right-way-on-Tuesday-and-maybe-catch-a-sunset. This was full-on direct ocean glory. The kind of view people paid millions for. The kind of view she didn’t even dare to want or dream of affording.
“Why would Lorna bring me here?” she murmured to herself as she found the small side driveway made of crushed shells and gravel. She parked and climbed out slowly, staring at the house like it might vanish if she moved too fast.
But there it stood, on a small lot, one of three older homes that hadn’t been gobbled up and razed for bigger, better, and even more expensive houses.
Likely built after Hurricane Opal, this place had character and stories in its bones. And unless Lorna had misunderstood Tessa’s entire budget and brain, it was completely unattainable.
Maybe there was something inside that she wanted Tessa to see. She did say she had a surprise.
She walked up to the door, peeking through the window before knocking. The door opened to reveal Lorna, barefoot and beaming.
“Location, location, location,” she sang. “Am I right?”
“I think the expression is budget, budget, budget,” Tessa replied with the same tune. “Or am Iin the wrong place?”
“You’re in exactly the right place,” Lorna said with a wink. “Come in.”
The first floor was cool and quiet. A wide-open living area flowed into a modest kitchen, all in need of updating but full of potential. Beyond the French doors was a small deck with a plunge pool and a view that made Tessa stop mid-step.
“Oh, wow,” she breathed. The Gulf looked close enough to kiss. “This is… I mean, I love it. But it’s?—”
“Let me show you the rest first,” Lorna said briskly, motioning her down the hallway.
Sure, just take this kid into the candy store, hungry and penniless. “Okay,” she said instead.
