“I’ll look around in a minute,” she said, studying him long enough to catch a shadow of the boy she remembered. She could see the twinkle in his brown eyes, and remembered he was tall, but beyond that? She’d have never recognized this man with distinguished hair and a silver close-cropped beard wearing a blue-checked button-down and khaki shorts as?—
Wait. Did he say… “DoctorDustin Mathers?”
He chuckled at the sound of disbelief in her voice. “Right? Somebody got his act together. I have a PhD in counseling psychology. Some might call me a shrink.”
He guided her into the kitchen, which was beautiful and freshly remodeled. But her interest in the house waned at the unexpected reunion with an old friend.
“But I only shrink problems, not heads,” he added, because Tessa was still struck speechless. “Iced tea or something stronger?”
“Tea’s great.” She sat on a barstool at a white quartz-covered island, watching him open the fridge and get out two glasses. “And color me surprised that the original wild child of our beach summers chose such a calm and nurturing profession.”
He poured two tall glasses over ice and glanced up at her. “My wild days are over,” he said, the tiniest note of sadness in his voice. “What brings you to Destin—and in the house market, no less? There’s no way you’ve been around all these years and I didn’t know it. Sooner or later, I meet everyone or hear about them in my office.”
She took the glass he offered with a nod of thanks. “I came back a few months ago and ended up living temporarily in the same place, with the Lawsons, too.”
“Seriously? That place was small.”
“It’s not anymore. Last year, Maggie—you remember her?”
“With fear and trembling,” he said as he slipped onto the stool next to hers, lifting his glass for a toast. “To old friends.”
“Careful how you use that word,” she teased, tapping his glass with hers.
“Old or friends?”
She laughed at the quick comeback. “Nothing wrong with being friends, which we were.”
“We were, and, good gracious, if you’re old, Tessa, I’ll take whatever magic pill you’re popping.”
She sipped and smiled at him over the rim of her glass. “Anyway, Maggie had the whole place razed. She rebuilt a breathtaking mansion on the beach. Eli’s the architect who designed it, Vivien is staging it, and somehow we all ended up there.” She shook her head, hoping he didn’t want details of howshe’dended up there—the squatter story wasn’t her proudest moment. “I’m sure you’d notice it if you go down Gulf Shore Drive.”
“I’m never over there,” he said. “You kind of have to know someone just to get on that street, right?”
“It is off the beaten path, but now it’s quite crowded with Lawsons and Wylies. Like old times.”
“Must be fun,” he said. “And did you say Eli’s an architect? I always admired that guy so much. Isn’t his dad an architect?”
“Was. He’s been gone many years. My dad, too.”
He grunted and made a face. “Oh, I liked your father. Mr. Artie, I called him. Great guy. I’m sorry.”
How sweet of him to say that, and to remember her father’s name. “We just had a celebration of life for him out on the Gulf.”
“That’ll do a lot to heal your hurt,” he said.
She inched back, lifting an eyebrow. “Is it that obvious?”
“I do a lot of grief counseling,” he explained.
“Ahh. Well, you definitely want to come and see us then,” she said, thinking of Jonah but opting not to dive into that rightthen. Instead, she glanced around. “You mentioned your wife? Is she here? I’d love to meet her.”
Once again, his expression softened. Saddened, even. “Not for two years,” he said. “My wife Kelly passed away.”
“Oh, Dusty.” She reached out and put a sympathetic hand on his arm. “Now I’m the one who can see your hurt. I’m so sorry.”
“Thanks. You’d think I’d know how to manage the grief, but it hasn’t been easy. In fact, I couldn’t even counsel people for a while. I took a hiatus and remodeled this place top to bottom.” He glanced around. “Just me and a whole bunch of YouTube videos and the occasional expert when I screwed something up.” With a soft laugh, he added, “I hope that doesn’t make you not want to buy it because I really do want to sell. I thought I’d stay, but…” He shrugged. “I’m going to start over in a new place.”
“Here? In Destin?” she asked.
