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Chapter 6
Destiny looked at herwatch. She was late and kicking herself for taking the long way to the spa. She should have gone down the road towards Ben and Abbi’s house and used the flight of stairs up the hill, they would have taken her right to where she needed to go. Despite being told by Kim to use it as a shortcut she felt like she was trespassing. Abbi had the stairs installed when Ava bought the old house on the hill, for easy access to and from her work.
Hanging a left at the four corners she picked up her pace. With any luck she would be there within in few minutes. From her vantage point, she could see the lake shimmering behind the houses below. Spying Abbi and Ben’s house, she wondered what Lane was doing. She was reminding herself to thank him when something caught her eye moving between the trees. It was two people climbing the stairs. Well, now she was happy she hadn’t gone that way. One thing Desi noticed since coming to Pearl Lake was how friendly everyone was, and she wasn’t really in an outgoing mood at the moment. She was on an agenda.
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“WHEN DO YOU THINK Ican move in?” Lane looked at Mark.
Mark shrugged, “I don’t see a problem with today. I mean the place is empty and has all the furniture you’ll need.”
“Good, because honestly, I slept like shit last night. I’m not used to waking up to a kid crying,” he said as he stepped onto the grass at the top of the hill.
Mark laughed. “No, I don’t imagine you are. Did Ava send you photos of the pool and hot tub she had installed?”
Lane shook his head. “She told me she was having it done.”
“C’mon, I’ll show you. They’re pretty sweet.”
The two rounded the corner of the house just as Desi came marching up from the street. Crossing the lawn, she climbed the stairs to the massive stone porch. A hammock hung at one end and a porch swing hung from the rafters above at the other, and she was in love with it already. Swinging her gaze towards the lake, she held her breath as she took it all in. It was stunning and she couldn’t wait to plant her butt in that hammock. The sooner she got in there the sooner she could. She wasn’t sure if she should knock on the door or just walk in. She decided on the latter, after all, it was a business.
Ava was standing at the counter ringing up a customer as she opened the door and walked in. Closing it softly behind her, she went over to a display shelf that held body creams, and moisturizers. Not wanting to appear too eager she snuck a look over her shoulder to see if the lady was still at the counter. She was.
Destiny moved along the wares that were for sale and soon discovered Ava carried, jewelry, purses, shawls, and gloves. She looked at a mannequin and saw an exquisite set of silk pajamas. A short-sleeved shirt with buttons down the front and knee length pants. If that wasn’t a selling point, the 4-inch black and white zebras all over it, was. Despite them being too small for her, she couldn’t resist trailing her fingers along the fabric, sighing in delight at how extremely smooth to the touch it was.
Desi flipped the price tag over and almost balked aloud. Two hundred dollars for a pair of pj’s was a bit steep for her. But then she remembered the check in her purse. She was trying every which way to convince herself that she didn’t need or want them when Ava came up behind her. “Those would look adorable on you.”
Destiny groaned. “Maybe if I were that small.”
“I have a bunch in storage, I can get your size in a second,” Ava grinned. “I’ll tell you what, I’ll sell them at cost to you.”
Desi smiled. “You fight a hard bargain.” Nodding, she said, “I’d love a pair.”
“Perfect! C’mon, let’s go grab them.”
“Don’t you have clients coming?”
Ava walked over to the door and turned the open sign to closed. “Nope, I only had the one today.” She turned the lock on the door and said, “Thankfully, I’m officially closed until after the wedding.”
“Lucky you!” Desi said, thinking of the horrendous ordeal ahead of her, catering it.
Ava laughed and looked at her. “It’s my first vacation I’ve had in six years, I’m looking forward to it. Now let’s get you those pj’s, they’re just in the back room.”
Desi followed her through the reception area and peeked in each doorway they passed. Some held massage tables and others lounge chairs. One even had a massage chair with water jets. Desi made a mental note to book that for before and after the wedding, she had a feeling she was going to need it.
“Here we are,” Ava said, pushing a door open. As far as Desi could tell it was an oversized closet. Rows of shelving ran along the wall and boxes sat neatly stacked, side by side. Ava started digging in one. “They are true to size but will shrink. What size do you take?”
“Better go with a 1x then,” Desi replied.
“Alrighty, here you go,” Ava passed her a black satin bag wrapped in cellophane, then moved onto another box.
“Thanks,” she said. Wondering what Ava was looking for now, Desi opened the clear packaging and took out the black bag. Pulling on the drawstring she looked inside. “Ooh,” She sighed in delight. There they were, black and white zebras, the size of her hand on a burgundy background, stared up at her. She couldn’t wait to get them on.
“There should be care instructions in the bag too,” Ava mumbled, still rooting through a box. “Aha! Got it,” she finally said and turned around holding out another bag for Desi to take.
