Chapter 10
DARIUS
Darius came down the wide stairs of Bay View Beach House and stopped halfway because he could hear his sister laughing.
He hadn’t heard Isabel laugh like that in years.
Not the careful social laugh she had used at galas.
Not the small grateful one she had managed since Robert had died.
This was the open, easy laugh she had carried as a younger woman, before life had asked too much of her.
The laughter rolled out of the open living room doors and met him on the staircase like something he had quietly stopped believing he would hear again.
He stood with his hand on the banister for a long moment and let himself listen. He could pick out fragments of the conversation. They were talking about how they would renovate the house, and although it was beautiful, it needed some upgrades because it had so much potential.
His heart froze at his sister’s next words.
“I would love to move here. Since we’ve arrived…” Isabel told Penny. “Emma has just come alive again.”
“I know,” Penny agreed with her. “It's so great to see.”
“I love it here, too,” Isabel admitted. “Whenever we came here with our parents, before they passed away, it was like I could breathe again. I felt free. In Miami, even though it’s a lot bigger than here, it felt so crowded and…”
“Claustrophobic,” Penny finished for her. “I’ve only been to Sweet Blossom Bay a few times in my life, but each time I came here I felt the same way.” There was a pause. “Right now, just like you, I’m thinking how nice it would be to live the rest of my life here.”
“Penny!” Isabel exclaimed. “Are you thinking of retiring?”
“Maybe,” Penny said with a soft laugh.
“Well, I don’t know what my brother is going to do without you,” Isabel said. “But it’s about time you lived your life for you. Especially after your divorce and what your husband did.”
“Thank you, Isabel,” Penny said. “Can we keep this between us? I haven’t decided anything yet.”
“Of course,” Isabel agreed. “But, whatever you decide, know that I’ll stand by it. Like Emma and me, I think a complete break from Miami is what we all need.”
“I agree,” Penny told her.
Darius’s eyes widened at the news. He had no idea Penny was thinking of retiring.
And Isabel? She wanted to move here? Guilt knifed through him at his deception about why they were really here under the guise of a holiday.
It intensified when he thought of just how much Isabel and Emma loved it here.
His jaw clenched, and he took a deep breath.
I’ll buy them another house here in Sweet Blossom Bay.
He tried to ease his conscience. I’ll even buy Penny one as part of her retirement package.
His heart squeezed. He didn’t want to lose Penny, but he’d never stop her from moving on with her life.
She was more than his attorney and advisor. She was family.
Darius composed himself and walked downstairs and into the room where Penny and Isabel were.
The living room of Bay View Beach House caught the early evening light through the wide bay-side windows and cast long, warm panels across the polished floors.
It was a beautiful room with tired bones.
The paint had gone matte with age. The curtains were heavier than the room needed.
The ceiling fan creaked when it turned. The previous owner had let the house sit closed for years before his daughter had finally agreed to a sale, and even two months in, the place still wore the quiet, stale air of a home that had been waiting too long for someone to love it back to life.
Penny and Isabel were sitting on the sofa with the coffee table in front of them, buried under magazines, swatches, a notebook full of Isabel's neat handwriting, and sketches.
Penny had her reading glasses pushed up into her hair.
Isabel was holding a paint swatch toward the window, comparing it to the light.
"Hi," Isabel greeted him with a warm smile as he walked in.
“Aren’t you supposed to be getting ready for your date?” Penny asked. Her eyes were running over him. “Or… is that what you’re wearing?”
“Darius!” Isabel looked at him critically. “You can’t wear that on your date. It’s casual day wear that you’ve been wearing the whole day.”
"No,” Darius denied. “I still have plenty of time to get ready.” He pointed to the coffee table, moving the subject away from his date. “What’s going on here?”
“We went into town today and found ourselves in a hardware store,” Isabel replied. “Penny and I thought it would be fun to get some swatches as this place needs a good refresh.”
“While it has good bones, it does need to be modernized,” Penny pointed out.
“Ah!” Darius said with an understanding nod. “I see.” He glanced between the two women. “Remember when we arrived, I told you both that I didn’t know what I was going to do with the house yet.”
“Keep it for our holiday house,” Isabel told him. “Or, let me buy it from you for Emma and me.”
Darius’s brows shot up. “Isabel…”
“Hear me out,” Isabel stopped him, holding up a hand. “Emma is so happy here. When I went to drop off more clothes because she wanted to extend her sleepover with Sophia and Lily, Emma said she wished we could move here.”
Darius’s heart fell to his feet. But he ignored the sinking feeling. The house was bought as part of the project he’d been planning since his parents died.
“Issy…” Darius began.
“I think,” Penny stopped what he was about to say and shot him a warning glance.
“You should take the summer to decide what you want to do with the house, Darius.” She turned and gave Isabel a warm smile.
“And no matter what Darius decides to do with it, there’s nothing stopping us from having some fun giving the house a refresher. ”
“Really?” Isabel looked at Penny. “So, you’re not just humoring me here?” Her eyes narrowed on Penny. “You’re really going to ruin your expensive manicure and help me fix the place up?”
“You know how I love to decorate things,” Penny reminded Isabel and glanced at her hands.
“Who cares about ruining a manicure?” She harrumphed.
“I’m on holiday, so I don’t need to look perfectly groomed.
” Her grin grew. “And besides, when we’re done, it’s the greatest excuse to book into the day spa that lies between Sweet Blossom Bay and Sandible.
I hear it’s got an incredible reputation. ”
Darius stared at Penny. It had been a long time since he’d seen the cocky girl with the cheeky grin, who was a veritable force of nature that not only oversaw but also got stuck in with the renovation of her first apartment.
He smiled at the memory of her rushing into meetings when she’d first started having exchanged her paint splattered coveralls for a business suit and cool composure.
But as she became more and more involved with him at the Wayne Group, that carefree woman completely disappeared, replaced by the corporate Penny.
His eyes drifted to his sister. Her face was flushed with excitement, and the dark, haunting shadow that had dulled her eyes for so long had lifted.
Now they sparkled with enthusiasm and purpose.
He thought of Emma. The way she’d rush down Heart House stairs with her new friends, laughing and then filling the car with exuberant chatter of what the three girls had gotten up to and what they were planning for the next day.
Darius leaned forward and looked at the notebook between them.
There were three pages of careful handwriting with the heading Kitchen.
Sunroom. Garden. Front porch. Each heading was underlined in blue ink, each followed by bullet points in two different handwritings.
His sister's tidy loops and Penny's slashing pencil.
The two of them had clearly been at this for hours.
"You two have been very busy," Darius observed.
"Yes, since we got back from the hardware store," Penny admitted. "It started over coffee. It got away from us."
“Yes, it’s great to have a summer project to work on,” Isabel told him with a bright smile. “Even if you’re just going to redo it or sell it…” She waved a hand, trying to look nonchalant.
But Darius caught the flash in her eyes. The longing as she glanced around the room, and his guilt grew even heavier as he realized how much his sister needed this. She had needed this, and he’d been trying to wrap her in cotton wool to try and contain her grief instead of giving her a purpose.
"A summer project," Darius repeated. It was more for himself as the idea took root.
He would let Isabel and Penny give the house a refresher for the summer. It could work out well. Especially on the off chance that they somehow didn’t acquire Hearts Hotel and the piece of land. Then he could either sell it on, give it to Isabel and Emma, or rent it out as a vacation house.
Isabel was a qualified architect who also did interior design.
Penny had done a few house flips as a hobby over the years, but once she got too busy, she stopped working on them in her spare time.
So he was confident it would look magazine-cover-worthy by the time the two of them were finished with it.
"A summer project," Isabel confirmed, her eyes holding his. “Penny and I haven’t done something like this in years, but we really want to again.” She drew in a breath. “So I hope you will let us do this.”
Penny, he noted, sat staring challengingly at him.
She knew the exact reason they were really here in Sweet Blossom Bay.
She knew what he was planning. Isabel was unaware that he’d started pushing to acquire Hearts Hotel to carry out their father's dream of a resort, which he had wanted to build for his children and their grandchildren in Sweet Blossom Bay.
“Yes, Darius,” Penny finally drawled, her head tilting slightly. “What do you say? A summer project to restore this beautiful house.”