Page 24 of The Summer We Kept Secrets (The Destin Diaries #4)
“It was. And, yes, he had support from friends and his clients. Just recently, after he hunkered down and spent two years renovating his house like his very life depended on it, he told me he wasn’t sure who he was anymore.”
Tessa listened, rapt.
“He said he’d been so busy keeping people alive—and counseling his patients—he didn’t know how to live just for him.” Lorna gave a tight smile. “I think he’s finally out of the fog, and ready to start a new life. I really admire him for that.”
“There’s obviously a lot to admire,” Tessa said, mulling over all this new information.
Then Lorna gave a dry laugh. “Oh, but you’re not here for all that, are you?
You’re not buying Dusty, you’re buying a place to live and”—she tapped the screen with a long nail—“I have a townhouse right here that does have a hint of a water view from the rooftop.” She made a face.
“Would something like that work for you?”
She stared at Lorna, still thinking about the beach bad boy turned into a halo-wearing angel of mercy when the door from the garage opened behind them, and they both turned.
Dusty stood there in khakis and a short-sleeved button-up, holding a bouquet of flowers from the market. “Hello, ladies.”
Lorna smiled and gestured to the flowers. “Oh, for me?”
“Only if she made an offer,” he joked, coming all the way in. “Actually, they are for my dinner date.” He handed the flowers to Tessa. “Trying to make up for the many sins of my past.”
She wasn’t sure how to react, other than to accept them with thanks, but Lorna’s brows shot up.
“Dinner date, huh?” She gave Tessa a sly look. “And here I am talking on and on.”
About Dusty, Tessa knew she meant. “No, you’re finding me my dream house.”
“This isn’t it?” Dusty asked.
Tessa gave him a warm smile. “Very close,” she said. “But I’ve decided to keep looking for my unicorn.”
“Welcome to the club,” he teased.
“And you both have me to find two unicorns,” Lorna said, flipping the cover of her tablet to close it. “I shall make it my goal.”
“No rush here,” Dusty said, walking out of the kitchen. “I have a few things to take care of while you finish up.”
He disappeared into the living area and down the hall, leaving Lorna and Tessa in an awkward beat of silence.
“I should have mentioned…” Tessa said softly.
“No, no. You don’t…no.” She regarded Tessa with a long, warm look. “Anyway, now you know you couldn’t do much better than Dusty Mathers.”
“We’re just old friends, honestly.”
Lorna shrugged, obviously doubting that. “It’s been two years and he’s not a man who should be alone. He needs someone lively and beautiful. And…” She leaned in and lowered her voice, “he’s looking for waterfront, too. Imagine what you could do together.”
Tessa just laughed at the implication while Lorna stood and slung her bag over her shoulder.
“Have fun tonight,” she added. “That is what he needs more than anything. In the meantime, I’ll keep looking, Tessa, and we’ll be in touch.”
With a wave, she let herself out while Tessa sat stunned and holding sunflowers and…maybe some stupidly high hopes. For a house and a man like Dusty Mathers.
Dusty drove them to a precious Italian restaurant near the harbor, tucked under an awning of bougainvillea.
The drive didn’t take long, and the conversation was easy—about their mutual house hunt and how much they wanted to be able to see the Gulf, hopeless as that seemed.
They chatted about the weather, the changes in Destin, the latest on Jonah’s travails since the barbeque.
Tessa let all that she’d just learned about the man next to her settle on her heart. Everything she thought she knew about Dusty Mathers had turned upside down in the last hour.
She tried to set it aside as they were seated at an outside table, and he surprised her by suggesting they have wine. Did Lorna say he didn’t drink? Or just that his father had?
It was a stark reminder that she shouldn’t take everything the hard-selling real estate agent just shared as gospel truth.
So she also ordered a crisp Pinot Grigio and decided the job of revealing his personal history was Dusty’s, not Lorna’s. She’d let the evening unfold as if she hadn’t just been given a glimpse into his life.
After a moment alone, he leaned in, putting both elbows on the table, giving her a chance to really drink him in.
She liked a man with a beard, and his was clean-cut and the perfect amount of silver and black. He wore dark-rimmed glasses, but they didn’t hide the glint in his deep brown eyes. His shoulders had the breadth of a man who was no stranger to the gym—or, maybe in his case, building materials.
She even noticed clean, blunt-cut nails and the fact that sometime in the past two years, he must have stopped wearing a wedding ring—there wasn’t even a tan line.
“God, you’re gorgeous,” he whispered, his gaze as intense as hers must have been.
“Oh.” She had not been expecting the heartfelt compliment. “Flowers and flattery. You must really want me to buy your house.”
He chuckled. “No, I think we’d be having a different conversation if you were gung-ho to buy. And the statement stands, Tessa. You’re the same jaw-dropper today that you were in that white bikini that was made simply to torture helpless boys with raging hormones.”
She leaned back, her jaw loose. “I can honestly say I never thought you noticed.”
He snorted. “No one didn’t—and probably still doesn’t— not notice Tessa Wylie.” He made a face. “A couple too many negatives in that sentence, but you get my drift.”
“Thank you, Dusty. Honestly, I never got that vibe from you.”
“Did that bother you?” he asked with a tease in his voice.
She inched closer. “Maybe. Did you pretend not to notice me just to get under my skin?”
“I wish I were that clever,” he admitted on a laugh. “Truth?”
“Only the truth.”
He took a minute to think and during that time, the waiter brought their wine and Dusty asked if she wanted to split fried calamari to start. After they ordered dinner, toasted, and sipped, he put his drink down and looked at her.
“Blame Eli,” he finally said.
“Ah, yes. He had ‘dibs,’ as you mentioned.” She rolled her eyes at the memory of young Eli’s sweet crush on her.
“I honestly thought the sun rose and set on that guy,” he told her.
“I mean, he was a bit of a dork, but in a way that I longed to be. He had his act together at eighteen, and after spending some time with him last weekend, he still has it together. And he’s grieved, so I’m all the more impressed by him. ”
She studied him, letting the cold wine play over her tongue. “It was nice of you to back off even if it did shake my confidence.”
He hooted softly. “Nothing should shake your confidence. Anyway, we were friends. I was such a mess, you and I could just have fun. And we did.” A slow smile pulled. “Do you remember the bonfire when we had to call the fire department?”
“Kate just reminded me of it the other day—not that I forgot.” She took a sip, letting her mind slip back in time. “But do you remember the time we climbed the fence into the Coastal Community pool at four in the morning?”
He threw his head back with a hearty laugh. “Hey, you dared me during truth or dare. What else could I do?”
“You could have told the truth.”
“No, I couldn’t. The question was what one girl had I never kissed that I most wanted to.” He pointed at her. “You asked it, by the way, and Eli was right there ready to kill anyone who said your name.”
She shook her head, laughing. “I have no recollection of that, but I do remember a bunch of us walking down Gulf Shore Drive, singing something by The Cars?—”
“’Just What I Needed’,” he said, and at her questioning look, he explained, “That was the song by The Cars. Don’t make me sing it.”
“Yes!” She gave a clap at the memory. “And you had the words all wrong. You kept saying, ‘I guess you’re just what I needed, I needed someone to read!’”
“And you kept getting in my face saying, ‘It’s feed and bleed, you idiot.’”
“Oh. I’m sorry I called you an idiot,” she said, reaching over the table. “That was rude.”
“Also true. I kinda liked it, anyway.” He turned his hand and captured her fingers. “It was like your special name for me. You didn’t call anyone else an idiot.”
“Oh, Dusty.” She bit her lip, unable to ignore what she now knew about the childhood that kid had. “I’m still sorry I said that. But I have zero regrets about breaking into the community pool.”
“Until we heard sirens,” he reminded her.
“We made it out unscathed,” she said, laughing again. “And we’re no worse for the wear.”
The memories continued as they shared the appetizer and ordered blackened fish for dinner, which was almost as good as the conversation. It flowed with no pauses except for belly laughs.
He was skilled at asking questions—she assumed from years as a therapist—and over a shared tiramisu for dessert, he let her go on and on about her event planning business, even filling him in on her years with Ritz-Carlton.
“I lived in Ritz hotel suites for so long, I never paid a dime in rent or mortgage,” she explained. “And that brings me back to house-hunting. I believe it’s time to settle down.”
“I’m so glad,” he said, putting down his fork. “Otherwise, I doubt I would have run into you. I don’t go hang out at the beach anymore, and you certainly don’t need a therapist.”
She cocked her head. “I could have used one after my father passed and maybe when my new friend and only employee went behind my back and found the son I’d given up for adoption.”
She’d told him the entire story about Roman during the first course, and he hadn’t seemed at all surprised. But then, in his job, he’d surely heard it all.
“But I’m glad this house-hunting secret of mine reunited us.” She took one final bite, and narrowed her eyes. “You’ve come a long way since those days, Dusty. You’re nothing like I remember.”