Summer had not begun the way Hannah had expected it to. Throughout the whole school year of teaching squirming, hyper, but always-treasured-children, she had longed for lazy summer mornings on the beach. She’d gone out to the beach that morning, intending to bask in the brisk, salty breeze and the glorious colors of the sunrise. Instead, she’d been jumped on by three looming, official looking men from the new resort next door, all puffed up like tom turkeys. As if she wasn’t bitter enough about that encroaching monolith as it was.
But the rich, arrogant developer that she’d been loathing for so long was…well…flipping gorgeous—which seriously irritated her. If life was fair, he would have been balding or pudgy or weak-chinned. The blond Adonis who had joined her harassers on the beach certainly had none of those issues. His wind-ruffled hair, brilliant blue eyes, and fit, muscular build were more similar to a Ken doll than any man she’d ever met. At least she’d been able to bring him down a peg before she’d left him to enjoy the rest of his grabbing, beach-stealing life.
Yes, her morning had been ruined, but she sat out on the sand, watching the change from dawn to day out of sheer stubbornness until Carter Ellis and his minions left the beach. A few minutes later, a drone flew over the resort and out to sea, then circled back around, flying at the resort straight on. For just a moment, Hannah felt an impulse to run across the sand in front of the resort, do cartwheels and dance like a crazy person to ruin the shot.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t so mean spirited. Besides, she doubted it would be anything more than a minor annoyance to Mr. Moneybags anyway. It certainly wouldn’t stop the hordes of tourists that would be flocking to the luxurious and pristine beach-front accommodations. She wondered if they would ever realize that a whole neighborhood had been torn down to accommodate their vacation paradise.
Hannah heard her phone vibrating in her beach bag and pulled it out. It was her sister. “Hey, Leah.”
“Hi. Enjoying your first morning of vacation? I didn’t wake you up did I?”
“No. I came down to the beach early so I could have it to myself for a while. Too bad that didn’t work out.”
“It can’t be crowded already. It’s not even eight o’clock your time.”
“It doesn’t take much to make a crowd if you’re surrounded by annoying people. You know that developer who’s been building the resort next to the house? Well, they came and tried to pay me to shift down the beach so they could have a clear shot for their promotional video. They were so mean about it that I dug my heels in.”
“Of course you did.”
“Hush your mouth. I’m trying to talk. So then, the rich guy himself came down, acting like he owned the place, but I was on public sand. And the worst part was, he didn’t even have the decency to look like a billionaire.”
“What on earth is a billionaire supposed to look like?”
“Well, it’s not what they’re supposed to look like exactly. But did you ever see a billionaire who wasn’t old with bad hair and teeth? This guy looks like he just stepped out of some frat girl’s spring break fantasy. And then he had the gall to bribe me.”
“Bribe you? With what?”
“Cash. I have to admit I was tempted to accept it for about two seconds. Of course, I didn’t though. What a hot shot. I’d love to take Mr. Hunky Honeypot’s face and…”
“And what? Kiss it?”
“No! Smack it.”
“Really? You keep going on and on about how hot he is. I think you’re smitten.”
Feeling her cheeks warm, Hannah was thankful Leah was in Boston and couldn’t see it. “I’m saying it in a disdainful way. Can’t you hear the tone of my voice? Besides, as an artist, I can appreciate beauty when I see it without it meaning anything.”
“Hannah, you’re an elementary school teacher. The only art you deal with is construction paper collages and stick figure drawings.”
She hated it when her sister ran down her profession. Maybe Leah was living in a more cultured city, surrounded by wealthy friends, but Hannah still knew more about fine art than her sister ever would. And someday she’d start selling some of her own work. At least Leah was distracted from her slips about Angel Face.
“Why’d you call, Leah?”
“Oh! Funny enough, I got another offer for the house from your new crush. He must really want the house out of his way because he offered more than it’s worth. Way more.”
“Well, the answer is a bigger no than ever before.”
“I get it, Hannah. I know. I don’t want to sell the house either. Especially not to someone who will tear it down. But have you even paid the taxes and insurance yet? If you can’t afford to do that, maybe we should consider selling the house.”
“No way.”
“You could get a really nice house with the money from the sale.”
“But not one with memories. And not one on the beach. I’d be giving up something I’d never get back.”
“Okay. I’ll decline the offer. But only because I know he’ll be ready to buy whenever you’re ready. I’ve got to go, darling. I have a PTA meeting in two hours and I haven’t even showered yet.”
After hanging up, Hannah shook her head. Only her sister would need two hours to get ready for a PTA meeting. It was startling how different they were even though they were only eighteen months apart. Of course, Leah was light years ahead of her in the game of life with her wealthy stock broker husband and two over-achieving kids.
Their parents had been older when they’d had Leah. They always called her their miracle baby because they’d given up on having kids. Then their mom finally got pregnant out of the blue when she was almost 40 and their dad was in his early fifties. Getting pregnant nine months after Leah was born had been more of a shock for them. The shock had only increased when Hannah had turned out to be quite the free spirit compared to her easy-going and biddable older sister. Leah had been the perfect child for an older couple. Hannah…not so much.
But having older parents had come with certain advantages—like her parents being able to afford a vacation home in Destin. Of course, when they’d bought the house in the late nineties, the real estate here had been a lot more affordable. She wished they’d lived to enjoy it longer.
Her insides twisted with grief that still felt too fresh even two years later as she thought about her parents’ deaths. She stared out at the choppy waves washing up on the sand in a crashing, foaming tumult. The gulf breeze whipped her hair into tangles and the rising sun warmed her skin. Eventually the constant, soothing cadence of the waves and the shriek of seagulls scouting the beach eased away the last of her tension. The only thing she could do right then, about anything, was enjoy the moment she was in. It was the mantra she tried to live by.
With one more deep breath of the salty, humid air, Hannah stood and walked back up the beach. Climbing the steps to the bridge that spanned the sand dunes to the back porch of her house, she thought of everything she needed to get done today.
Since school was out, it didn’t matter what she wore to go clean out her classroom, but wearing a bikini top was probably a little much, even for a beach town school. She took off her cover up and threw on a t-shirt and flip-flops. She pulled her tangled hair up into a messy bun, deciding she’d worry about brushing it later, and drove the short distance to the elementary school where she taught. She spent the rest of the day sorting through all of the art supplies, storing them away, and deciding what to do with all the class art projects currently displayed around the school.
When she got back home, she was dead tired but forced herself to pull her phone out of her pocket and make the call she’d been dreading all day. It rang twice before she heard, “Hello?”
“Tonia, it’s me, Hannah. I was wondering if you have a spot for me now that it’s summer.”
“Are you crazy? You know I’m always happy to hire you. You’re the best babysitter ever. We always get awesome reviews from your jobs. When can you start?”
“Tonight if you need me.”
“Great. I’ll let you know. You’ll have to come down and fill out paperwork before you can go, but I’ve still got your background check on file. I’m so excited, girl. I’ll try to keep all the good jobs for you.”
“Thanks.”
Hannah tried to inject some enthusiasm into her voice, but the truth was, she hated the term babysitter. And she longed to enjoy her summer vacation instead of watching tourist kids while their parents went out and played. Still, it was one of the best temp jobs in the area and paid well. She even got tipped some times. As Leah had reminded her, she needed to pay her bills, and to do that, she needed to make some extra cash fast.
She must be crazy trying to keep this house with all the bills and maintenance on it. Technically, her parents had left the house to Leah so her name was the only one on the deed to make things easy with legalities, but they had made sure both girls knew they meant it for both of them. They wanted Hannah to live in it as long as she wanted to. Leah was perfectly happy with the situation as long as Hannah took care of all the expenses.
Even without a mortgage to pay, however, living there was more than she could afford on her teacher’s salary. If any more expenses came up, she might have to rent out the small apartment downstairs. But this was her home—and her favorite place in the world. She’d do whatever she needed to keep it.