Page 40 of The Summer We Kept Secrets (The Destin Diaries #4)

T he house was too quiet when Tessa padded barefoot into the kitchen late Friday morning, hair still damp from her shower after a long run on the beach.

Where was everyone? Tessa reached for a banana, then put it back. She wasn’t hungry. She was restless. And ready to go.

She glanced at the time. Just past noon. Lorna had texted a message that morning that she had a very promising house to show her after lunch.

Just her . No word about Dusty. She hadn’t heard from him since a late-night call a few nights ago, when he’d said something vague about having “a lot on his plate.”

With a grunt, Tessa faced the fact that she didn’t want to go alone. House-hunting was a two-opinion job.

Grabbing her phone, she texted Kate. No doubt her sister was somewhere with Eli. But she’d try to lure her anyway.

Tessa: Got time for a secret errand? Meet me in the driveway in ten.

A minute later, her phone chirped.

Kate : I’m downstairs putting Atlas to sleep. Be up in five. Do I need bail money or just good shoes?

Tessa smiled, happy for the company, even if it meant coming clean with the secret she’d kept for several weeks.

True to her word, Kate came up and, in a few minutes, the two of them were climbing into Tessa’s sedan with plenty of time to make the house appointment. Next to her, Kate fished out her prescription sunglasses.

“I love that you don’t even ask where we’re going,” Tessa joked as she hit the ignition.

“Please. I wanted the distraction. I was feeling sorry for myself.”

“Why? Where’s Eli?” Tessa asked.

Kate buckled her seatbelt. “He stuck in the office with Meredith. Said something about how busy they are. He was terribly vague and had already bugged me once this morning.”

“He bugged you? Eli?” Tessa frowned. “I didn’t know he was capable of bugging anyone but Vivien when we were thirteen years old.”

“Oh, you know. He got…Bible-y.”

“Bible-y?” Tessa laughed. “What does that mean? He parted the Red Sea? A live re-enactment of the Prodigal Son?”

She sighed, clearly not appreciating Tessa’s humor. “He just was distracted. When I came into the kitchen this morning, his Bible—or his late wife’s, I think—was open on the counter. He must have been reading it in the middle of the night.”

“Maybe while he fed Atlas,” Tessa suggested. “Wasn’t he on monitor backup last night?”

“I guess. I don’t know.” Kate shifted in her seat and looked out the window, quiet for a beat.

“What’s wrong?” Tessa pressed. “You still haven’t asked me where we’re going.”

“Okay. Where are we going?”

“Tell me what’s wrong first.”

Kate sighed. “I just…I don’t know. I mean, I know I came down here this summer to see where things were—or could go—with Eli and I’m having so much fun with him. I love the guy, not even going to lie.”

“And…”

“And I can’t compete with God.”

“Is he asking you to?”

Kate didn’t answer, but she sighed for the tenth time in as many minutes. “It’s a gulf between us,” she finally said. “Sometimes I feel like it’s created such a distance. Like, I wasn’t invited into that part of his life.”

“I’m sure he’d love to invite you into that part of his life,” Tessa replied. “In fact, I know he would.”

“Maybe, but I don’t…want to.”

“Ah,” Tessa said, imagining she sounded like therapist Dusty as she navigated traffic. “Now we’re getting somewhere.”

“Where?”

“To church?” Tessa teased.

But Kate didn’t laugh. “It’s so important to him. It’s not just a personality trait. It’s not just, oh, Eli is into God and prays for everything. No, it’s like who he is . I can’t be part of that. I don’t want to, honestly.”

Tessa let that settle, and couldn’t help but ask what seemed to her to be the obvious—and dumb—question. “Would you really give up a man because he’s…too good?”

Kate smiled. “Tess, I don’t believe in things I can’t see. Except…” She let out a little moan. “I suppose there are things that can’t be seen, and we do ‘believe’ in them.”

“Like love?” Tessa suggested.

“That’s exactly what Meredith said.” Kate groaned and dropped her head back, clearly in anguish over this. “Please tell me where we’re going and don’t make me talk about this anymore.”

Tessa threw her a look, and decided she looked miserable and should have her request honored. Kate hated talking about feelings—it just wasn’t logical enough for her scientist sister.

“We’re going to see a house,” she said.

Kate blinked. “A house? For…?”

“Me.”

Kate’s eyebrows rose. “Wait. You’re house-hunting?”

Tessa gave a sheepish grin. “Yep.”

“I didn’t know you were even thinking of moving out.”

“I didn’t think I’d still be here three months after being discovered squatting in the back bedroom.”

Kate winced. “I hate that you did that.”

“Well, it’s over and forgotten—except by me. I’m ready to not be The Thing That Wouldn’t Leave.”

“What does that make me?” Kate asked.

“The Guest That Eli Invited,” Tessa shot back. “You’re practically family except for, you know, the religion thing.”

Kate rolled her eyes. “You are family. You and Lacey are joined at the hip and running a business.”

“She’s on her Jacksonville jaunt with her new man, and we can work remotely, or she can come to my house, where I’ll set up an office,” Tessa said.

“I don’t have to live at the Summer House to work with Lacey.

It’s not my house. It’s theirs. And it gets crowded.

I heard that Crista might be coming down in July—the place is jammed regardless of the oodles of bedrooms.”

“Huh. So, this is a surprise,” Kate said slowly as she processed the news. “How long have you been looking?”

As she drove into a sweet residential area, Tessa told her the whole story, starting with Dusty’s house being the first. She explained that they were both essentially on the hunt for the same house in the same price range, so Lorna always brought them on showings together with hopes that one of them would like the property.

“You have been seeing him a lot,” Kate said. “I didn’t know it was just house-hunting.”

“It’s not. I mean, I…don’t want it to be.” She glanced at her sister, ready to open up. “I really like him, Kate. First man in a long, long time I’d like to seriously think about settling down with.”

Kate’s jaw dropped. “Tessa, that’s wonderful.”

“Not really. We actually have our own philosophical impasse. He’s widowed two years, and after all that caretaking? He just wants ‘fun’ and, usually, that’s where I come in. But this time, I want more.”

“And you should have more,” she said. Of course Kate, her counterpart since conception, immediately got all that and needed no detailed explanation.

“I hope he’s here today,” Tessa said as she turned onto the street. “I actually miss him and haven’t seen him for a few days.”

She drove down a shaded street lined with low-slung ranch houses, their yards peppered with oaks and scrub palms. And, sadly, no sign of that upscale truck she liked so much.

“I still can’t believe you’re buying a house,” Kate said. “It’s such a commitment.”

“Right?” Tessa scoffed. “I know it’s a big move for me. But I’m ready. I’m ready for a lot of things, actually, but…” She glanced around. “I don’t see one of them here.”

Surprised at how deep her disappointment was, Tessa parked in front of a brick ranch with a weathered front porch and three mismatched lawn chairs.

“I already don’t like it,” she admitted.

“Then why look?” Kate asked.

“I don’t know. Truth is, I haven’t liked most of the houses we’ve looked at.

Dusty is more forgiving, and handy, so fixers have an appeal.

I want something bright and beautiful with no need for a new floor or bathroom counter…

and a view of the water.” She snorted. “That’s my impossible dream, but I simply do not have a million-plus at my fingertips. ”

“Have you found anything close?” Kate asked.

“A few, but nothing I’d commit to. I have found Dusty…” She gave a sad smile. “And apparently I don’t have whatever that would cost, either.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Tess. It’s early and he’s probably falling just as hard for you. If he has eyes and a brain, he is.”

“I really hope so,” Tessa confessed. “Because I really like this guy.”

Kate looked past her, over her shoulder. “Lorna?” she guessed.

Tessa turned to see the Realtor striding to the car, dressed in flowy linen pants and a loose floral top, smiling like she had the keys to heaven.

“Ready to see it?” she asked as Tessa opened her door.

“Always. Let me introduce you to my sister, Kate.”

They all greeted each other, then Lorna led the way with chatter about good bones and functional layout and “so much potential.” Tessa managed not to ask about Dusty, hoping that maybe he’d driven with Lorna and was inside.

No such luck. Even worse, the place was cute, but dark and dated.

After they’d done a quick tour, Tessa stood in the doorway of the kitchen, eyeing the ’80s-style walnut cabinets and imagining what could be done to them—but not by her.

“This is Dusty’s dream house, not mine. Has he seen it?” She hoped she didn’t sound like a desperate teenager trying to finagle a date with her favorite boy.

Lorna shook her head. “No, he’s, uh, backing off the search for a while.”

Tessa’s heart squeezed, more at the tone than the words—and the fact that he hadn’t told her. “He’s decided to keep his house?”

“Actually, I think I have an offer on it. And Dusty? He’s spreading his wings. He’s asked me to find a Realtor in Vermont, which is random and shocking.”

Tessa tried not to react. “He mentioned a cousin in Vermont and the possibility of going there,” she said.

But that was a long time and lot of feelings ago. She’d completely forgotten that, especially since he never talked about it during any date or boat ride or long walk or romantic dinner.

But… Vermont.

“I guess that kind of changes everything,” Tessa added under her breath, but Lorna heard, and winced.

“Tessa, I have to be honest. I thought you two had a real shot,” she said quietly, her words echoing Tessa’s deepest feelings. “But he’s…scared.”