“It’s beautiful,” Linda told her. “My granddaughter and I are very grateful to my big brother here for bringing us on this summer vacation.”
“You’re brother and sister?” Linda didn’t know why that information pleased her. She shook it off.
“Yes,” Darius replied a little too fast. “And Emma is Isabel’s granddaughter and my great-niece. I thought we needed to get away from the hustle and bustle of Miami for a relaxed and fun summer here in Sweet Blossom Bay.”
“Well, you certainly came to the right place for a wonderful summer,” Linda assured them. “This small community has a way of taking you in. You may arrive as a stranger, but you will go away feeling like family.”
“Yes, I know,” Isabel told her. “We used to come here some summers with our parents when we were kids.”
“How lovely,” Linda said. “So you’re here for the entire summer?”
“We are,” Isabel said with a nod. “Are you here for the summer or do you live here?”
“Yes. My son and his wife are away working for Doctors Without Borders for the summer,” Linda explained. “My grandchildren and I arrived yesterday.” She glanced at her grandchildren. “We’re staying at Hearts Hotel for the summer.”
She watched Darius’s face as she said it, frowning as his eyes gave the smallest flicker behind them. But the expression was gone before she could decipher it. Linda shook it off and ignored it.
Linda wondered what that was about but she didn’t have time to think about it when Sophia asked Emma, “Are you going to the first day of the summer carnival tomorrow?”
“I don’t know,” Emma turned to her grandmother. “Are we, Gran?”
“I’m sure we can go,” Isabel told her with a warm smile.
“You should come with us,” Sophia said, then stopped and glanced at Isabel. “That’s if you would allow it.”
“Sophia, we’ve just met,” Linda laughed. “Sorry, the kids here are like a big family.”
“I remember that, actually,” Isabel commented, then looked at Emma. “Why don’t we meet you there?”
“That’s a brilliant idea,” Darius said.
“Why don’t I give you my number?” Linda suggested. “Then you can message me, and we can make arrangements to meet.” She smiled at the look in Isabel’s eyes. “I grew up in Sweet Blossom Bay. I know all the local spots, so I can introduce you and show you, Sweet Blossom Bay, from a local’s point of view.”
“That’s very kind of you,” Darius told Linda, then turned to his sister. “What do you think, Isabel?”
Isabel hesitated for a second.
“Please, Gran,” Emma pleaded with her grandmother. “It will be nice to have a friend here for the summer.”
“And we live just down the road from the Bay View Beach House,” Sophia pointed out, so you know where to find us.”
“Okay,” Isabel relented, pulling out her phone.
Linda and her exchanged numbers. She saved Isabel’s number as Isabel from Bay View Beach House.
“Did you say you arrived here yesterday?” Darius asked.
“Yes, we came from Miami,” Linda told him.
“We’re also from Miami,” Darius told her. “What part are you from?”
“Coconut Grove,” Linda told him. “And you?”
“We are out near Key Biscayne,” Darius informed her.
“You realize just how big Miami is when you meet someone from there here,” Linda pointed out.
“And how cozy this little town is,” Darious pointed out. “I bet there’s no way you’d go a few days without bumping into someone you know, especially as a local.”
