Page 50 of The Summer We Kept Secrets (The Destin Diaries #4)

S he 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 diamonds and sunshine from heaven. When the phone chirped that she’d “arrived,” she had to double- and triple-check the address.

This couldn’t be the right house, not for her budget. Did “pocket listing” translate to half 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 I in 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.

Two bedrooms, both with big windows and bad tile flooring with wretched old grout. A tiny office that would be adorable with the right light fixture and several coats of fresh paint. A laundry room that needed…prayer.

But that view . That impossible gorgeousness could be seen from every window that looked across the beach road and straight to the sand and sea.

“This is really something,” Tessa said, her heart pinging against her ribs. “But…I definitely can’t afford this.”

Lorna didn’t argue, just smiled. “The upstairs is almost an exact replica, though there’s carpet, which is heinous, and no laundry, but a second bathroom. The stairs are here, behind this door.”

She urged her toward a closed door in the kitchen.

“I can’t look at any more,” Tessa said, holding back as Lorna opened the door. “There’s no way?—”

“I can’t afford this, Lorna.” A muffled and familiar masculine voice finished her sentence, accompanied by footfalls on stairs.

Tessa froze.

Dusty stepped through the doorway, phone in one hand, a skeptical expression on his face that melted instantly into shock.

They stared at each other.

Tessa’s heart stopped. Or maybe stuttered. Possibly did a full-on backflip.

“Hi,” she said, because her brain had been replaced with tapioca pudding.

“Hey,” he said, equally dazed.

“I…I didn’t see your truck.”

“She told me to park across the street in the beach lot.”

They both turned to Lorna who gave a playful cringe-face. “Yeah, I, uh…did that. But doesn’t it make sense?”

Absolutely nothing made sense right then, especially not the presence of a man Tessa hadn’t stopped thinking about since they said goodbye. Certainly not the splash of attraction and longing and sheer happiness at the sight of him—that made zero sense.

“You’re having us bid against each other?” Tessa asked, stepping back to let Dusty into the kitchen. “Because you will have multiple offers on this place.”

He just looked confused and pointed toward the upstairs. “Are these…two different listings?” Dusty asked.

Lorna shook her head, looking entirely too conspiratorial and maybe a little delighted with herself.

“It’s one property,” she said. “Two units—upper and lower that can be lived in, rented, renovated, shared, invested, whatever. But the owner only wants to sell to a single buyer, with one contract, one bank mortgage, and a thirty-day close if possible. That’s why it’s not on the market yet.”

They both stared at her, no doubt reciting the same questions—who, when, why, and how much ? But they were silent, waiting for more.

“You can afford it,” she said to both of them. “ If you buy it together. It’ll be at the high end of each of your budgets, but it’s entirely doable as a co-purchase.”

“A co…”

“What?”

“Just hear me out,” Lorna said, holding up two hands.

“I mean, you don’t have to be related or married or anything like that.

Just buy it together, with both names on the contract, and one loan from the bank.

You can have separate living quarters—well, you’ll share the laundry. But won’t that make wash day more fun?”

They stayed slack-jawed and silent.

“Okay, well, it’s totally possible, doable, and if you don’t buy this property, you are out of your minds,” Lorna finished. “I’ll let you look some more, walk around, discuss. Oh, here’s the price.”

She held out a listing sheet and both of them stared at the upper right corner. Yes, they could do that…together.

Lorna pivoted and headed toward the door and slid on her sandals. “Take your time. I’m going to make some calls, and I really hope one of them can be to the listing agent, who has agreed to cut her commission if I can get an offer in today.”

Today ?

She walked out humming, leaving them alone and speechless.

“Well,” Dusty finally said on a huffed-out breath he’d clearly been holding for a while. “You wanna see the upstairs?”

Did she?

Nervously rolling the listing sheet, she nodded. “I guess. I’m a little…”

“Yeah. I am, too,” he said on a laugh. “Come on.”

She followed him up the narrow stairway—yes, the disgusting carpet would have to go—which opened up to a living area much like the one below. Except the view up here was even more astounding.

Turning, she tried to take it in—both units were essentially apartments and they’d been rented hard. But the bones were spectacular and the price…

She glanced at the sheet. They were asking twice her high end. But with Dusty…

“Much the same in the back,” he said. “But come and look at this. You can’t get here from the lower unit.”

He opened a door that was in the same place as the one in the downstairs kitchen, but this opened to concrete stairs and…sky.

As she climbed, longing clutched her throat. “This is…” She stepped onto a rooftop deck, automatically reaching for sunglasses she’d left in the car. “Bright.”

“Beautiful,” he said, turning to a nearly three-sixty-degree view from the water to town.

“Sunsets would be stupendous,” she whispered.

“And night skies out of this world,” he added.

“This is…unbelievable.”

He nodded, still taking it in. “Nothing like it in Destin. At least, not for us.”

Us. The word hung on the air and nearly choked her.

“C’mon,” he said, ushering her to a round table with an open umbrella and two metal chairs the owner had placed up there. “Let’s…discuss.”

Sitting in the shade, they both laughed awkwardly, neither one knowing where to start.

“She’s tricky, that Lorna,” he finally said. “I gotta give her props for…orchestration.”

“And an amazing house unlike anything we’ve seen before.”

They were quiet for a long moment. She glanced at the paper, the view, then him, realizing that he hadn’t taken his eyes off her.

“I’ve missed you,” he admitted softly. “Probably more than I should.”

“You’re allowed to miss people. Even when you’re scared.”

He shrugged. “And I’m not in Vermont.”

“I noticed.”

“I decided not to run,” he said. “But I didn’t want to stay if it meant hurting you.”

“And I didn’t want to fall if it meant waiting around for someone who wasn’t sure.”

They looked at each other, the sound of a child laughing on the beach and a few cars passing the only noise besides Tessa’s pounding heart.

“This house…” he began.

“It’s crazy,” she finished.

“But it’s also…” He trailed off.

“Kind of perfect,” she whispered.

He nodded. “Should we even talk about it?”

Biting her lip, she nodded.

“We wouldn’t be roommates,” he said. “Just… housemates. Sharing a roof. A view. Some drywall headaches because, oof , this place has me wanting to haul out my tools. But we could do upstairs-downstairs two-unit living.”

“Someone gets a laundry room and pool,” she said, not even believing they were having this conversation.

“The other one gets this…” He gestured toward the stunning rooftop. “Would that be so bad?”

“Well, whoever got this would have to share,” she said.

“And whoever got the laundry would also have to share.”

After a long beat, he inched closer. “It could work, Tessa.”

Her chest rose with a breath so tight it could burst her lungs. “I’d want…ground rules.”

“I’d want renovations,” he replied.

“I don’t want free therapy,” she added.

“And I don’t want…”

“A relationship,” she finished when he didn’t.

“Not what I was going to say,” he whispered. “I don’t want…to miss out on something amazing because I’m healing from all I’ve been through.”

She regarded him, swallowing hard as he took her hand and pressed both of his around it. “I’m going to say it again, Tessa. I’ve missed you.”

“What does that mean?”

“That I can’t stop thinking about you. I wake up wondering what you’re doing. I want to kick myself for being a fool—which is how I think we’d both feel if we don’t at least…try.”

“Try…us or this house?”

He just smiled.

“What about you?” he asked. “Have you stopped thinking about me?”

“When I’m asleep.”

That made him laugh but it faded as he looked into her eyes.

“Dusty…” She tried to ease back, tried to not have those dark eyes magnetically draw her closer. “I haven’t changed what I want. If anything, I’m more certain. I’m not playing or cohabitating or being someone’s good time.”

He nodded. “I know that.”

She studied him and looked around again, weirdly feeling…at home. “What if we just buy the house and each take a floor and…see what happens?”

“Yes,” he said. “We can’t miss out on this opportunity, Tessa. It comes along once in a lifetime, could be the best thing we ever did, and I have a really, really good feeling about it.”

Once again, she didn’t know if he meant the house or…them. And right then, she didn’t want to.

“Should we make an offer?” she asked on a shaky whisper.

“Yes.”

They both stood at the same time. He reached out his arms and she pressed her hands to her lips to keep from squealing.

“Really?” She asked.

“Really.” He pulled her into him. “And we have to hug on it.”

She did, melting into the embrace, but then she drew back, narrowing her eyes. “You want the laundry and pool or the rooftop deck?”

“I want the housemate, and she can pick where she lives.”

“Okay,” she agreed. “But you have to do my renovations before yours.”

“Tessa, you drive a hard bargain.”

She just laughed and slipped her hand into his, walking toward the stairs. “Let’s go tell Lorna she nailed it.”

At the top of the stairs, they hugged again. Standing in the sunshine with the Gulf surf providing the background music, Tessa rested her head against Dusty’s shoulder.

“I’ve never owned a home,” she whispered.

“I’ve never…been so hopeful.”

She closed her eyes and leaned into him because it was time to let go and try something completely new.

Yes, we promise there are more heartwarming and delightful stories in The Destin Diaries series! The Summer We Let Go , book five, brings change in the salt air, hope on the horizon, and more happy tears and tender moments in store for the Wylies and the Lawsons!