by Rachel Magee
“Exactly.” She looked up to examine her house and let out a long, weary sigh. “Six days until the open house. It was going to be a tight finish before I added hurricane cleanup to the list.”
“You can ask the HOA to push it to the next meeting. Given the circumstances, I don’t think any of the board members would have a problem with it.”
“And put off the vote for another two months? I can’t wait that long. My bank account will need paying customers long before then.” She snagged her lip with her teeth and straightened her posture. “No, it will be done in six days. It might not look exactly the way I imagined, but we will have that open house and the board’s going to love it.”
Her pep talk sent a wave of confidence swirling through him. “I have no doubt. Where do we start?”
She pulled away from him enough to give him a look that she thought his comment was ludicrous. “We? No. You have your own mess to clean up over there.” She pointed to his house. “You have a little girl you have to bring home in a few days. Which reminds me, have you checked in with them?”
“Video-chatted with her this morning. She’s doing great and is as perky at six a.m. as ever.” He missed his little girl fiercely, but knowing she was safe and happy brought him comfort.
“And she deserves a house in perfect working order when she comes home.”
Millie was right. Making sure his house was safe for Alice was a priority, but Millie’s struggles were a priority, too.
As if reading his mind, she answered him. “What? After all I’ve done, you think a little hurricane cleanup scares me?”
He imagined all the dangerous positions she’d put herself in so far. “Your lack of fear is exactly what I’m worried about.”
She grinned. “How about this. You go take care of your stuff, and I promise I’ll save all the really scary tasks that involve power tools and tall ladders until I’m fully using the buddy system.”
“The buddy system is good. I’m a fan of the buddy system.”
“So I hear.”
Maybe falling in love with her was a risk, but it was one he was willing to take.
“Don’t worry, buddy. I’ll be back.”
Chapter Twenty
After putting on and taking off all thirty-two full-length wooden shutters that covered the doors and windows of her house, Millie decided she should be excused from doing any type of exercise for the rest of the month. Maybe even the rest of the year. Every muscle in her body ached as she hauled the ladder to the front of the house.
Luckily, the windows on this side all used shutters attached to the house that either swung open on either side of the window or propped open over the window. All she had to do was open them and secure them into place.
She leaned the ladder against the first wall, tightened the old tool belt she’d been using, and climbed up to get started. She’d just unlatched the first hook when the sound of tires crunching down her driveway caught her off guard. The only person she was expecting was Braxton and there was no way he’d finished his own house.
She swung the first side of the shutters open before she turned to check out the approaching car.
Sophia waved and pulled around to a stop in front of where Millie had propped the ladder. “Hello! I was driving past and thought I’d check on you.” She climbed out of her car and walked over to hold the ladder steady. “I can’t stay long because there’s a stingray in my pool. An honest-to-goodness two-foot-wide stingray swimming around in circles.”
Millie latched the other half of the shutter in place and climbed down the ladder to her friend. “Really? A stingray?”
Sophia nodded. “I guess it came in with the storm surge and settled there along with half the sand from the canal. I had to go by Tessa’s to borrow one of her big fishing nets to get it out.” She pointed to the big net sitting on the passenger seat of her car. “But I thought I’d drop by and see how you fared during the storm before I rescue the poor agitated soul.”
Millie leaned against the ladder, sitting on one of its rungs. “No physical damage besides the fountain, the boardwalk, and a pool full of debris.”
Sophia’s concerned expression melted into confusion. “That doesn’t sound too bad.”
“I kissed Braxton.”
Sophia’s eyebrows darted up in surprise. “Oh. That’s an interesting turn of events.” She paused for a second as if considering this new information.
Millie chewed on her lip, replaying the scene in her mind. So the kiss itself wasn’t the problem. It was actually nice. Very nice, in fact. The troublesome part was what came after it.
“I also told him I liked him. I actually used those words. Like some seventh grader at a dance in the school gym.”
Sophia chuckled and leaned back against the hood of her car. “Wow. You really pulled out the big guns.”
Millie shrugged. “Apparently I don’t do anything halfway.”
A scandalous grin curled the corners of Sophia’s mouth. “So what happened after you brought up the big L-word?”
“I didn’t say the big L-word. I said the little L-word. Big difference.”
Sophia held up her hands in surrender. “My mistake. Still, what did he say?”
Millie glanced over at his house before answering. “He said, and I quote, ‘Me too.’”
Sophia rolled her eyes. “Boys say the dumbest things.”
It was enough to lighten the situation and Millie let out a snort of laughter. “Right?”
“So let me get this straight. You kissed the man you’re falling for—”
Millie held up a hand to stop her. “Like.”
Sophia nodded her apology. “Sorry, like. And he happens to be into you too. This sounds like a good thing but I’m getting the feeling that you think it’s…” Sophia paused and stared expectantly at Millie.
“A giant mistake? Yeah.”
“Right.” Sophia nodded as if considering the story again. After a second her head tilted to the side. “Why exactly is this a giant mistake again?”
“Because he’s Braxton Channing. He’s like famous and stuff.”
“He’s not really that famous now. He hardly ever gets stopped for a selfie anymore.”
“Fine, I’ll take that one off the list. But it’s not all him. I’ve got all this going on.” She motioned to the house behind her. “My life is complicated. I have a new business about to open and I’ll need to focus all my energy into Seascape if I hope to make it a destination spot once again. This whole thing is—”
Sophia cut her off. “Complicated?”
Millie let out a long breath and rested her head against the ladder rung behind her. “Basically. Yeah.”
Sophia flashed her a sympathetic smile. “You’ll be hard-pressed to find one love story that isn’t complicated. Love isn’t easy. But it is worth fighting for.”
Millie let that resonate in her mind. Part of her wished she could walk away right now, but it was too late. Despite promising herself that this chapter in her life was a solo act, she’d fallen for the boy next door, which left her in quite the predicament. From here on out, there was only one scenario where this story ended happily and a whole lot of scenarios where it ended in heartbreak. How had she let this happen?
“I have too many other things going on in my life right now,” she said. “What if I don’t have time to fight for it?”
“Before this hurricane decided to careen into our beach, I was working on a huge order that was supposed to ship tomorrow. Now, instead of trying to get my shop back up and running so I can get that order out in the vicinity of on time, I’m on my way to scoop up an angry stingray with a net that only has a four-foot pole.” Sophia jabbed her thumb in the direction of the net in her passenger seat. “We don’t always see the next thing coming before it gets here, but that doesn’t mean we can’t embrace it.”
<
br /> Millie stared up at the clear blue sky as she considered her words. “This could end badly.”
“It could,” Sophia said. “Or it could be great.”
But why did it have to be so scary? She’d moved to a new state all by herself and taken on renovating a huge house without any experience in home repairs. Both of those situations had just as much risk of ending badly, if not more so, but she hadn’t let that stop her.
“Your thing could end badly, too.” Millie pictured Sophia trying to chase a stingray around her pool with that net, and some of the tension that had been weighing on her broke. She looked down at the net inside the car. “That’s the longest pole Tessa had?”
Sophia’s serious expression changed into something more joking. “Dios mío. Right? That’s what I said to her. She just laughed and said I’d be fine. But you don’t see her over here chasing Mr. Ray, do you?”
Millie giggled. “Do you want help? Because I’ll totally cheer you on from a safe distance.”
Sophia waved her off. “Nah, I’ve got this. And you, my friend, have got your thing.”
She looked over at Braxton’s house. “We’ll see.”
“I’d love to stay and hear all the juicy details, but this whole stingray situation is time sensitive. I need to return him to the ocean before my saltwater pool becomes toxic for him. We can finish this conversation tonight. You’ll be at Joyce’s, right?”
Millie stepped away from the ladder and walked over to give her friend a hug before she left. “Joyce’s?”
“Yeah, she sent a text inviting the book club and a few others over for a post-hurricane Lowcountry boil. She has a defrosting deep freezer full of shrimp and sausage she needs to cook before they go bad. You were on the text.” She pulled up the message on her phone and flipped it around so Millie could read it.
“I must have missed the invitation. My phone’s dead.”
Sophia pocketed her phone and held out her hand to Millie. “I have a small generator at my house. I’ll charge it for you and give it to you tonight. Joyce said to come over around six or whenever you get to a stopping point.”
Millie jogged over to the porch to retrieve her dead phone, glancing around at all the cleanup that still needed to be done. “I think my break is over, but dinner tonight sounds great. Let Joyce know I’ll be there.”
“Will do.” She got in her car and started the engine. “But fair warning, he’s invited too.” She jerked her head in the direction of Braxton’s house.
“Like I said. Complicated.”
For the next several hours, Millie worked without stopping.
Her muscles were sore and she was dripping with sweat, but it felt like she’d barely put a dent in the cleanup efforts. Yes, all the storm shutters were off and stacked on her back porch and she’d cleared all the debris off her long driveway, but she hadn’t touched any of the fallen trees or the forest residing in her pool. And she hadn’t even thought about repairing the things that were broken like the boardwalk and the fountain.
Visible progress or not, Millie was more than ready for a break when Tessa pulled up at six o’clock to take her to Joyce’s.
“Sorry about the fountain.” She pulled a face to show her sympathy as Millie slid into the passenger seat.
Millie tried to avoid looking at the pile of rubble and focused instead on buckling her seat belt. “Thanks. But if that’s all I lost, I should consider myself lucky. How about you? How’s the boat?”
Tessa headed around the newly cleared drive toward the street. “We were able to trailer the smaller boat and my brother took the other one north to get it out of the storm’s path. Both made it through without a scratch, but the marina is a mess. It’s going to take a while to get everything cleaned up there. But no one was hurt, so I think that’s worth celebrating.”
They turned onto the road and headed the short distance to Joyce’s house.
The big gate was open and the long driveway was already lined with cars. “It looks like we aren’t the only ones ready to celebrate tonight,” Millie said. “Hurricanes are awful, destructive things, but it’s inspiring to see a community come together.”
Tessa parked behind the last car. “For sure. Every time we have one of these kinds of parties, I think what a shame it is we don’t do this more often. Why wait until our freezers are defrosting to share our provisions with people?” She reached into the backseat and grabbed a platter full of sliced fruit. “Case in point. The fruit I bought at the beginning of the week thinking I’d have you and Sophia over for lunch is now overripe.”
Millie pulled back the plastic wrap and snuck a piece of mango. “Well, I’m appreciating it now.” She smiled at her friend and popped the fruit in her mouth as they both climbed out of the car. “For the record, it’s not too ripe. It tastes great.”
“Glad to hear it.”
They walked up the wide stairs that led to Joyce’s front porch.
“Oh, by the way, I think we figured out who wrote the love letters.”
Tessa paused mid-step and stared, shocked. “What? How did you not lead with that news?”
“What news?” Joyce appeared in the doorway just a few steps above them. Tessa regained her momentum and continued up the stairs to join her.
“Millie found out who wrote those love letters to her aunt.”
Joyce clasped her hands together. “We get to have book club after all! Who was it? A guest? Some heroic soldier who left for war?” But before she had the chance to answer, Joyce held her hands up. “Wait, don’t tell me until we get all the girls together. Everyone should hear this news at the same time.”
Joyce ushered them inside, and Tessa glanced around. “Is everyone here?”
“No. Not Betty. She evacuated with her granddaughter. But I’ll round everyone else up and we’ll meet you on the patio. Help yourself to a drink from the cooler. Since ice is limited, they’re only a touch cold.”
Normally, going indoors was a relief from the warm, humid South Carolina weather but not today. As with all the houses along the coast, the interiors were a mixture of muggy, stagnant air along with the whirring sound of electric fans. Until the electricity was restored, outside was the more comfortable place to be.
Joyce’s patio looked a little different than last time. All of the patio furniture and decorations were missing. Millie assumed they were still stored since redecorating seemed low on the hurricane recovery priority list. What was probably higher on the list was cleaning out the murky green pool that still had its fair share of storm debris in it. But what warmed Millie’s heart the most was that coming together with friends and neighbors was top of the list. There was no doubt this was the kind of community she wanted to be a part of, the kind of place she wanted to be her home.
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about the letters when I saw you earlier!” Sophia said, joining them.
Millie grabbed a bottle of water from the cooler by the door. “I was a little distracted by other things. Like your stingray. How was the rescue mission?”
Sophia gave her two thumbs up. “Mr. Ray was successfully returned to the canal and no one was harmed in the process.”
Camilla swept over, dressed more casually than Millie had ever seen her. “Tell me the end was beautifully tragic. Star-crossed lover? Lost at sea? Something that she never got over and spent the rest of her life standing on the widow’s walk watching the sea?”
Millie laughed. “Last time I checked there isn’t a widow’s walk at Seascape, and sadly, I still don’t know how it ended. The last letter was as optimistic as the first. The final sentence was ‘until tomorrow.’”
Bonnie laid her hand over her heart. “How poetic. I wonder what tomorrow brought that ended such a beautiful love story.”
“We’ll worry about how it ended later.” Joyce waved her hand as if brushing away the discussion. “Fir
st, how did you figure out who wrote them? Did he sign the last letter? Did you find something else in the office that identified him?”
“Nope.” Millie shook her head, a slight grin pulling at the corners of her mouth. This revelation was going to surprise them as much as it had her. “Actually, I met him.”
The news was met with widened eyes all around.
Millie nodded. “Turns out our mysterious Mr. C has been right here the whole time. The author of the love letters and the one who was in love with my aunt was none other than Braxton’s friend Henry Donovan.”
This time varying levels of shock registered on her friends’ faces.
“No,” Camilla gasped, her eyes staring off as if she was trying to connect the dots.
“Henry? But Braxton didn’t buy that house until fairly recently, and I don’t think Henry moved here until after Jade died,” Tessa said, her eyebrows knitted together in confusion.
“Actually, according to Braxton, Henry grew up here. He was the reason Braxton decided to buy a house on Summer Island.”
Bonnie nodded. “You know, I think I remember someone saying that. He left to be a golfer, right? When Braxton first bought the house, someone said now Summer Island will be home to two professional golfers.”
“Wait, start at the beginning.” Joyce rested her chin on her hand, her full attention focused on Millie. “I want to know everything.”
Millie smiled and launched into the story of meeting Henry at the memory care home. She told them everything from Henry thinking she was her aunt to what Braxton had told her about his first name being Christopher and referring to whatever happened as The Big Regret.
“Henry,” Camilla repeated, when Millie was finished with the story. “I wonder why they never reconciled when he moved back. You’d think living next door to Mildred would have inspired them to talk again.”
Sophia shook her head. “Mildred was already in the nursing home by then. And, actually, if you want someone who stood on a widow’s walk and waited, it was Henry. Several times when I’d come over to help with Alice in those early days, I’d see him standing out on Braxton’s deck, looking toward Seascape. I always assumed it was because he liked looking at the trees in the nature preserve next to it.”
