Chapter 3
THREE
Monday morning, Sienna pulled up outside Emily’s apartment in the royal-blue Maserati she’d bought after one of her larger home sales because she’d “needed a decent mode of transportation to show millionaire clients prospective homes.” She leaned out the window.
“Morning, Sunshine!” she called from behind a large pair of black sunglasses and a floppy hat.
Blair waved from the passenger seat.
“Morning.” Emily lugged her bags and the Yeti cooler Will had bought her for Christmas last year to the car and opened the trunk.
“What’s in the cooler?” Sienna asked.
“Eggs, cheese, cold cuts, lemonade, and a bunch of fruit. I didn’t want it to go bad.”
“Well, it might anyway. I’m planning on living on cocktails and seafood.”
Emily shut the trunk, climbed into the backseat, and cocked an eyebrow. “Cocktails?”
Sienna sighed. “Well, I’ll have a mocktail. But you know what I mean.” She threw her hands in the air. “It’s our girls’ trip!”
They all laughed, and Emily delighted in the relaxed atmosphere.
She needed this trip more than anything.
While she couldn’t run from her problems forever, she could give herself a break and have some quality time with her best friends.
They’d stood by her for everything since college and they’d stand by her now.
She fastened her seatbelt as Blair leaned her thin forearm out the window. Then Sienna drove away.
Emily rubbed her empty ring finger where her engagement ring had been.
She’d set it on the table and told Will to take it the night he’d shown up at their house to pack his things, not knowing she’d be there.
She’d tried to get him to talk to her then, but he’d brushed her off, saying he “wasn’t ready.
” How could he be ready to write her a breakup note but not ready to explain why?
Her finger felt too light, not natural. A piece of her was missing, but the ring wasn’t even the half of it.
She turned around to watch her apartment fading into the distance, along with the future she’d planned.
She was so thankful for Sienna and Blair.
They were the only constants in her upended world.
Even though they all had their own battles at the moment, they could bask in the sunshine, breathe in the salty air, and let their troubles fade away for a little while.
Emily forced the thoughts out of her mind and breathed in the summer air. The warm breeze whipped through the backseat, blowing the runaway strands from her ponytail against her face. She closed her eyes and let out a long breath, allowing relaxation to set in.
Seven hours, two coffees, a lunch on the road, and a handful of bathroom breaks later, they arrived in Santa Rosa Beach. The boardwalk was humming with people, the shops’ bright wares drawing them in.
“I’m dying for the bathroom again,” Sienna said, parking and throwing open the door. She rushed ahead, running into a café with a striped awning and white bistro tables outside.
Blair laughed. “I can’t imagine what she’ll be like when she has the weight of a baby on her bladder.” She nodded toward the beach shop next door. “Let’s shop. She’ll find us.”
The bells on the door jingled as they went into the quaint seaside store. Emily ran her hand along the rainbow of pastel sweatshirts with beachy slogans printed on the front.
Blair pulled a yellow T-shirt from a nearby rack and held it up to herself. “Is this my color?”
“You could pull it off,” Emily replied, sliding on a new pair of sunglasses and inspecting her reflection in a small mirror. She returned them to the display.
Blair hung the shirt back on the rack, and they meandered through the shelves of trinkets—coffee mugs with “Santa Rosa Beach” in swirling font, picture frames full of sand, baskets of seashells and starfish, refrigerator magnets with slogans like “Vitamin Sea” and “Good Vibes Only.”
“Oh, books.” Emily paced over to the wall of reading material. She bent down and grabbed a brightly colored rom-com, flipping it over to inspect the description on the back. Deciding against it, she returned it to its spot and selected another.
Blair flipped through one of the magazines.
“Thank goodness,” Sienna said, breezing toward them. “I didn’t think I was going to make it. That last bottle of water did me in. What’s that?” She hooked a finger over the top of Emily’s book selection and pulled it down to view the cover. “Looks good.”
Emily handed it to her and then picked up another—this one, a biography about a famous sea captain.
“Y’all doing okay?” a young blonde said from the other side of a short shelf of folded beach towels as she fished out new stock from a basket beside her.
Emily nodded brightly.
“Let me know if I can help with anything.”
“Which of these local magazines do you recommend?” Blair asked the shopkeeper.
The girl pursed her lips as she eyed the wall.
She draped a towel on the edge of the basket and came around to them.
“If it were me, I’d get this one.” She took a magazine off the shelf and handed it to Blair.
“We just got them in today. It has a new article about Patrick Owens I plan to read.” She leaned in dramatically, her eyes wide. “He’s so hot.”
“Who’s that?” Sienna asked.
“A local. He’s real mysterious. He’s opening a new restaurant, and we’ve had New York magazines asking the locals if we know anything about it. They couldn’t get him on the phone—he doesn’t talk to a lot of people. Sometimes I see him at the fish market, but he rarely speaks to anyone.”
Sienna made a face. “Gripping. Sounds like a real blast to read about.”
The girl laughed. “I didn’t sell it very well, did I?”
Sienna shook her head.
“No one could believe he actually sat for an interview—it’s been the buzz in town.” She grabbed a copy. “Now I’ve talked my own self into it.” She rolled up the magazine and folded it under her arm. “I swear I spend half my paycheck in the very store that pays me.”
“Thanks for your help,” Sienna said.
“No problem.” She set the magazine on top of a stack of towels and went back to folding.
“I’ll pass for now,” Blair said.
“How about you?” Sienna asked Emily. “Getting anything?”
Emily shook her head. “Nah. I already packed a book, so I should wait to see what the other shops have before I buy a second.”
Blair led them back out to the car.
“Off we go to the beach house! Who’s ready to live like the rich and famous?” Sienna said, starting the engine of the Maserati.
“Me!” Blair and Emily said in unison.
Sienna pulled out of the parking lot and put down the windows. The warm, salty air blew against their skin as they drove down the main drag, palm trees lining their way.
Sienna’s car came to a halt outside a large, meticulously landscaped property with an iron gate.
She leaned through the open window and punched in the code.
With silent smoothness, the gate opened.
They drove through, the gates closing behind them as they rounded the paved drive that was lined with beds of Japanese blueberry trees and purple muhly.
Palms dotted a manicured yard of St. Augustine grass.
The mansion came into view—its white siding, deep wraparound balconies, and Bahama shutters made it look like something out of a magazine.
Nestled along the Gulf, the sprawling estate had floor-to-ceiling windows facing a private beach and turquoise water.
Emily could already imagine the feel of the golden sunsets on her face as she sat outside each evening.
Blair looked over at Emily as they got out of the car, her green eyes wide in astonishment.
“This is incredible,” Emily said, using a hand to shade her view of a private boardwalk leading directly to the beach and an infinity-edged pool that spilled seamlessly onto the horizon.
“I’d say so.” Blair pulled her bags from the trunk, her attention moving from the house to the beach and then back to the house.
“Perks of my job,” Sienna said with a laugh.
“You really can’t tell us who owns this house?” Blair asked.
“Sorry. Confidential.” Sienna pretended to zip her lips.
“I think it’s Luke Bryan’s,” Emily offered.
Blair pursed her lips and put her hands on her hips. “Mmm. I could see that. It kind of has Kenny Chesney vibes. Imagine a blue chair on the beach out back.”
Sienna rolled her eyes. “Guess all you want. I’m not telling and risking the best client of my career.” She air-zipped her lips again with two fingers.
Emily slipped the cooler strap onto her shoulder and grabbed her two suitcases. They hoisted their bags up the staircase to the double front doors, where Sienna typed in a second code and let them in.
Emily tipped up her head to view the vaulted wood-beamed ceilings.
Then, she took in the white-oak floors as they made their way through the house.
A soft, neutral color palette accented by shades of blue and turquoise complemented the natural textures that dotted the rooms. They entered the spacious kitchen.
Emily set her handbag on the marble countertop, dropped the rest of her things onto the floor, and then unloaded the cooler’s contents into the fridge.
When she’d finished, she went into the open, sunlit great room with only a double-sided fireplace separating the two spaces.
“Is this an elevator?” Blair said, punching a button on the wall next to a glass sliding door.
“Yep.” Sienna opened one of the French doors leading to the balcony, sending a breeze through the gauzy floor-to-ceiling curtains. “It also has a home theater and a wine cellar,” she said.
“Wine cellar? Could be the McGraws’ residence,” Blair said, looking around. “I could see them having a wine cellar.”
Sienna laughed.
“I feel relaxed already.” Blair pushed the button. When the doors opened, she stepped inside. She waved from the interior of the elevator, her bags at her feet.