Chapter 38
chapter thirty-eight
Summer
three weeks later
“These are pretty, but I feel like white barstools are so impractical.”
Frank’s wife, Janice, nods. “You can get stain-resistant fabric, but if someone with kids buys it, it’ll be impossible to keep them true white. Let me make a note to see what other fabrics are in stock.”
I flip the page of the design book. “Wow.”
A giant, double bed-sized porch swing fills the page. It has a mattress on it, a stack of plush pillows, and it’s hanging from the back porch ceiling in the photo. I immediately picture a cute family lounging and swaying on it for an entire Sunday afternoon.
The price next to it says five thousand dollars.
“That one is well made. Every client I’ve sold it to has told me it was worth every penny.”
There would be plenty of room for it on the porch, but I can’t justify the cost, knowing we’re selling the house.
Silvie turns from staring out the back door and walks over to where we’re standing at the marble kitchen island.
“You’re so talented. I can’t believe how good this place looks after the dump it was before.”
I look, peering around the house and trying to picture how it looked before. It was falling apart, with rotted wood and water-damaged floors from the roof leak. It was already halfway demolished when I saw it.
Now, the ten-foot ceiling that stretches from the kitchen into the living room has thick natural wood beams and rattan pendants, shaped like teardrops, over the island. The living room is empty right now, except for a slowly spinning fan.
The walls are a warm white, and the wood flooring that was meticulously restored and kept covered has been scrubbed clean. It’s my favorite part of the entire renovation. I mixed the stain color myself, trying different ones together until I found the perfect warm coastal beige color.
The windows were all replaced with black-framed casement-style windows that crank open with a lever, except for one.
In the kitchen over the sink, we were able to salvage the original stained-glass window that depicts the Sunrise Beach lighthouse by the ocean with a sunrise in the background.
January said it was designed by an artist years ago and gifted to the original owner.
The pale yellow color I chose for the upper cabinets is the same shade as one of the sunbeams in the stained-glass window.
Half of the upper cabinets were replaced with open shelves, except for one wall, where we used the same wood stain as the beams and had an eight-foot-tall cabinet built for storage.
Throughout the bathrooms, I chose a range of tile designs. The half bath in the hallway near the study is the boldest. I chose a colorful wallpaper with pink and red cranes and a deep crimson for the vanity. The oval gold-framed mirror was so heavy that it had to be double-anchored into the wall.
Dayton’s favorite room is the office right off the foyer. I had custom acacia wood bookshelves designed that stretch from the floor to the ceiling. The arched window overlooking the garden has a hydrangea flower bed outside of it and an original stone bird fountain with a bench.
He and Cal are walking down the hallway from the direction of the foyer, Dayton’s voice echoing through the empty house.
“… big solid desk and cognac leather chairs.”
“Just add a box of cigars and a crystal decanter, and you’ll be set,” Cal says.
Dayton grins, nodding. He walks over to me and looks over my shoulder at the catalog.
“We have to get that.” He points at the swing.
I laugh, shaking my head as I turn the page. “Where’s the budget police I had to sweet-talk the last six months?”
He nuzzles my neck, inhaling. The sliding back door opens, and January walks in with Birdie on her heels.
“Look at this place,” Birdie coos.
Silvie walks over and gives her a side hug. “Isn’t it gorgeous? I can’t wait to see it fully furnished.”
“It will be soon if I can decide on these barstools. When is everything else being delivered?”
I already made most of my selections over a month ago. Shipping to an island takes longer than most places.
“First delivery is tomorrow! It’ll be like Christmas morning every day for the next week.”
“Get the porch swing. How long will it take to get here?”
“Dayton! We do not need that porch swing to sell this house.”
“You don’t like it?” He pulls back to look at me.
“I love it, but it’s too much for a staging.”
“Get it,” he tells Janice. “And expedite the shipping.”
I roll my eyes, wondering what has gotten into him. After he had to front the cost to rebuild the deck and the outdoor kitchen from his own money, I feel guilty even picking out furniture.
I didn’t ask how much it cost. I know the sale will cover it, but it couldn’t have been cheap. He’s a successful businessman who hates spending money. When he told me not to worry about it because he had it covered, I figured he might have had to borrow it from a friend or withdraw a loan.
Truthfully, I hate even thinking about money. My mom never talked about it, and we always made ends meet. I don’t need much to be happy. This house is much nicer than anywhere I ever dreamed of living.
“After it sells, do you know where you’re gonna go, Sum?” Silvie asks.
All eyes turn to me. I interlace my fingers through Dayton’s. He squeezes them. We haven’t talked about the future, like, at all. We’ve been together nonstop the last three weeks, aside from a few nights when he had to fly to New York for a client meeting.
I know he’s sick of working out of the studio and that, realistically, his company is in New York. The branch in Miami is too small for him to be needed there permanently.
I almost needed to not discuss anything serious with him up until now, but with the house finally being done and my living situation up in the air, it’s time for us to talk about us.
“I’m not really sure, to be honest. I haven’t wanted to think about it. I thought about California. Savannah said I could live with her for a while. I didn’t expect to fall in love with Coconut Beach while I was here.”
Emotion rises in my throat at the words. Falling in love, period, wasn’t in my plan.
Yet here I am. Stupid in love.
Dayton’s warmth at my back and the gentle squeeze of my hand in his eases the tension in my shoulders.
Silvie’s eyes soften. January is grinning like a Cheshire cat who knows something I don’t. She always does. Cal glances at Dayton with a question in his eyes that I can’t interpret.
“You have time to figure it out,” Birdie says warmly.
“And lots of friends to support you while you navigate your next steps,” Silvie says.
I smile, nodding. She’s right. I’ve built some incredible friendships on this little island. Part of me can’t imagine flying all the way back to the West Coast.
Being here makes me feel closer to my mom and Russell.
Being here feels like home.
The sun is descending in the west as Dayton pours us each a glass of champagne. We’re up on the second story of the deck, where he just finished hanging the string lights. There’s no furniture up here, so he brought up our beach chairs.
I’m wearing a simple white linen dress that has a low back. After being here for almost a month straight, his skin has the same golden glow he always had in high school. The pale yellow button-down is showing off his chest.
He lifts his champagne glass to mine. “A toast, to finally finishing the house.”
We clink our glasses and sip. I exhale before looking out where the waves meet the pink sky. My heart feels heavy but full.
“I’m going to miss this view.”
“Oh, that reminds me. I got you something.”
I look over as he pulls out a folded piece of paper from his back pocket. My skin tingles as I reach for it. I have no idea what to expect.
Maybe a plane ticket to visit him in New York.
I unfold it, staring down at the document that’s definitely not an airline ticket.
In bold letters across the top, it says GENERAL WARRANTY DEED.
Underneath that line has my full name, Summer Lark Sullivan.
“What is this?” I murmur, not believing my eyes.
“It’s the deed to the house.” He says it like he’s ordering a bagel with fucking cream cheese.
I blink again, trying to catch up with the words he just spoke.
“But why does it only have my name on it?” I flip it over, searching for Russell Dayton Copeland II.
“Because it’s yours, Cupcake. I want you to have it. I want you to stay.”
My eyes slowly crawl up his body until they meet his amber gaze. My chest is thumping erratically, and my skin is flushed.
“I don’t understand …”
He reaches out to tuck my hair behind my ear. “Do you not want to stay here?”
My hands are shaking. “I do. I just … this is too much.”
This house is worth so many zeros. Way too many for me to accept as a gift from him.
“I don’t need a house this big.”
“It’s only four bedrooms, plus the studio. If you’re okay with it, I’ll work out of the home office, and you could set a bedroom up as a photography studio for portraits. You could even rent out the apartment to someone for extra income and to cover the taxes and insurance.”
“You want to live here too?”
He sips his champagne. “I really need to split my time between here and New York. I’ll keep my penthouse there, but we can spend our summers here and fly back and forth whenever you need to.”
We.
I look out over the white-capped waves in the growing darkness. The string lights are hanging overhead, creating a warm, cozy ambiance. Tears prick the corners of my eyes.
“It’s too much, Dayton. I can’t accept it. Don’t you need to pay back the loan?”
I look back at his face to see him frowning.
“What loan? They owned the house outright. I thought you knew that.”
“The loan for the new deck and the outdoor kitchen.” I gesture to the stone countertop with the flat-top grill, the sink, and a glass-front mini fridge.
“I don’t want you to be forced to keep paying that off when it should come out of the sale.
And this house was your inheritance too! No, I won’t accept it.”
He laughs out loud, setting his glass down. “I didn’t need a loan for that.”
I look around at the extravagant deck. Now that I’m really thinking about it, he paid Janice directly for the furniture today. I just assumed they were loaning it to use and would take extra out of the commission once it sold.
I fold my arms. “How did you afford that?”
He shrugs. “I had some investments that did well this year. Listen.” He takes my glass and sets it on the railing before grabbing my hands.
“It’s too late for you to reject it. The paperwork is done.
I signed my half over to you. I don’t need the money.
All I ask is that you save a place for me in your bed and let me set up a desk in one of the rooms to work from when I’m not making sweet love to you on that new porch swing. ”
“But—”
“No buts. Stop arguing with me and let me love you, woman.” He wraps his arms around me, pulling me in for a kiss.
His lips find mine. I sink into his kiss, tilting my head back. His mouth slants over me. His soft lips part so he can brush his tongue against mine. More tears leak out of my eyes. I’m bursting with so many feelings that I don’t even know how to begin processing them.
I pull back, searching his eyes. “Why? Why are you doing this?”
“Because I’m madly in love with you. I need to prove it to you, that you mean more to me than anything else.”
“I love you too, Dayton,” I whisper, crying harder now.
“Finally,” he says, groaning. “I’ve been waiting so damn long to hear those words from you.”
I laugh, kissing him again. “I’m sorry it took me so long to catch up.”
He nuzzles my neck, swaying us back and forth in tune with the music. “It’s okay. You caught up, and we’re here now. We’re together. This moment is more than I ever hoped to have with you.”
“Thank God you finally told her,” January calls up from below, apparently eavesdropping. “I was sick of holding on to that secret!”
“I didn’t even tell her,” he whispers into my ear.
I laugh, leaning into him. I close my eyes, feeling more content and at peace than I have in years.
“Does this mean I always have to answer your phone calls now?”
“Yes.”