“Tessa Wylie?” She extended her hand as she opened the door wider. “I’m Lorna Gonzalez, the listing agent. It’s lovely to meet you.”
“Hello, Lorna.” Tessa shook her hand and stepped into the cool house, which felt spotless and staged, and every bit as appealing as the last time—minus the equally appealing owner. “Thank you for the showing, since I missed the open house you held.”
“Oh, it’s my pleasure.” She gestured her into the house and tugged at the lapels of a crisp navy jacket. “I turned the A/C down to ‘please don’t let me ruin another linen blouse with a hotflash’ level,” she joked. Then she gestured to Tessa’s arms, bare in a sleeveless dress that she’d picked more for the date than the showing. “But if it’s too cold…”
“I’m fine,” Tessa assured the other woman, glancing around. “Anxious to finally see the place. I don’t need my own agent, do I? Because I’m just starting the process, and I haven’t found one?—”
“Absolutely not,” Lorna assured her. “Let’s take a peek around, and if it isn’t quite what you’re looking for, let me know what is, and I bet I can find it. I know Destin and the whole surrounding area like my own name. I was born and raised here.”
“Really? I spent summers here as a teenager,” Tessa told her. “From Ithaca, New York.”
“Oh, speaking of cold.”
“It is, but our summers in Destin were special. In fact, that’s how I met Dusty—well, he was Dustin then.”
Lorna smiled. “I knew him as Dustin, too, but Kelly pinned the nickname on him and it stuck. She said she refused to be married to Dustin from Destin.”
Kelly…his late wife, Tessa recalled. “So you knew her as well?”
She nodded. “We were friends since childhood,” she said. “Losing her was…hard.”
“I’m so sorry,” Tessa said, reaching out to her. “Dusty hasn’t talked a lot about her, but it’s clear they had a happy marriage.”
“Very much so,” Lorna said. “But years of it were spent with him taking care of her. And I can’t blame him for wanting to leave this house, but I tell you, now? You cannot recognize it as the ranch they bought shortly after they got married. Total gut and reno. Come on, let’s take a tour.”
Tessa appreciated the easy transition back to business, as she followed Lorna into the kitchen. The agent carried a tablet opento the listing but didn’t need it for reference, moving through the house as if she knew every inch of it as well as her own.
Efficient and not at all pushy, Lorna pointed out every feature and all the upgrades to the remodeled kitchen and family room, which was lined with sliding doors that overlooked a deck and a spacious backyard.
Adryspacious backyard.
“Don’t tell me, you were hoping for a pool,” Lorna said, obviously adept at reading a buyer’s expression. “You could easily put one in. There’s plenty of space. Come look.”
Outside was beautiful and lush with palms and foliage, but all Tessa could see was what itwasn’t—the Gulf with sunsets and white sand and an endless horizon.
“You don’t look thrilled,” Lorna said, eyeing her.
“I’m living in a lovely place on Gulf Shore Drive.”
“Ooh. Wear your money.” Then her eyes widened with a soft intake of breath. “And you’re selling?”
“It’s not mine,” she admitted. “I’m staying with friends—actually, the family we vacationed with when I was a kid. They owned the house and did a massive rebuild.”
“On Gulf Shore?” She narrowed her eyes, thinking. “The three-level showstopper with turquoise shutters? Not far from the marina?”
“That would be the one.”
“Oh. How could you leave?” She pressed her hand to her chest, reflecting Tessa’s precise sentiments.
“Because it’s not my home,” she replied, realizing yet again how much that bothered her and how ready she finally was to put down roots. “I want to buy but, yes, I’m spoiled by the view and location. I’d give my right arm to be able to see even a sliver of the Gulf.”
“You and everyone else who comes to Destin, or anywhere up and down 30A,” she said, referring to the beach highway that had become synonymous with this part of the Panhandle.
“Can I have a water view, if not waterfront?” Tessa asked, already knowing the answer.
“Not for under seven figures and, even then, it’ll likely be a fixer.” Lorna added an apologetic look. “Now, if you’re handy like Dusty…”
“Not in the least.” She glanced back into the house, accepting reality. “So, if I give up water, then I want something new or recently remodeled, close to my friends, and big enough for at least one office to run my business.”
