She grabbed her purse from her bedroom and saw the stack of house listings on the dresser. She eased Honeysuckle Hollow’s information page from the bottom of the pile. When she inhaled, she smelled honeysuckle growing on the vine mixed with the earthy scent of cloves. The smell of sage and rosemary lingered too. Her fingers trembled, causing the paper to flutter in her hands. She couldn’t deny the emotion bubbling up through her. ShewantedHoneysuckle Hollow for herself. Spear, bats, and all.
Chapter 14
Courage Quiche
Tessawokeupwithtwo words bouncing around in her brain:Honeysuckle Hollow. It was probably a harebrained idea to buy a run-down property and attempt to rehab it. She’d seen people get in over their heads with a financial disaster, and she’d always sworn she would never purchase a home more than ten years old. She preferred new, shiny, and efficient. It was no secret that older homes were high-maintenance and came withexpensiveproblems, but she’d always been drawn to their handcrafted character and their rich histories.
Her condo had been a great fit for her. Less than three years old, clean, and just the right size. In contrast, Honeysuckle Hollow was more than one hundred years old, falling apart, and too much square footage for what she needed. What would she do with four thousand square feet? Listen to her echo bounce around the empty rooms? Still, the house called to her. Honeysuckle Hollow had never turned its back on anyone. Could she turn her back on it?
Tessa grabbed her notebook, and at the top of a clean page—because this question deserved its own page—she wrote,Should I buy Honeysuckle Hollow?She numbered down the side of the page, and beside the number one, she wrote,I want to.Even though in the past she’d decided not to count her own opinions, it felt necessary to start the list with what her heart was telling her.
She crawled out of bed and shuffled to the bathroom. After taking a quick shower and brushing her teeth, she pulled on a pair of capris and a sleeveless button-up blouse. She tiptoed through the living room. Paul’s deep breaths fluttered the pages of a notepad on the coffee table. She peered down at the lined paper. The wordsMystic WaterandCherokeewere legible even upside down. Was he outlining an article about the spear?
Tessa closed the apartment door as quietly as possible and headed for the diner. She wasn’t surprised to see a flurry of activity already happening inside Scrambled. She waved to Laney, walked toward the kitchen’s swinging door, and pushed it open.
“Good morning,” Tessa said to Harry’s back.
Harry turned from the griddle and lifted his spatula in the form of a wave. “Morning, Tessa. I don’t see you much behind the scenes.” He flipped over a pile of hash browns and revealed their crispy, browned underside. “Perfection. How are you?”
Tessa lifted her shoulders. “Full of thoughts. Sorry to bother you while you’re working, and I know this is cutting in line ahead of your waiting customers, but do you have any quick dishes I could get to go?”
Cecilia walked out of the back room that housed the coolers and freezer. Her smile widened. “There’s the charmer who’s convinced my boy to stay a while longer.”
Tessa glanced behind her, and Cecilia’s laugh caused Harry to pause in his work and smile at his wife.
Cecilia pulled Tessa into a hug, squeezing her tight. “I don’t know how you’ve done it, but knowing that Paul is staying another day is more than I could have hoped. You’ve worked some sort of magic on him.”
“Notme,” Tessa said, making a scoffing noise in her throat. Why would Cecilia think Tessa had anything to do with Paul’s extended stay? Sure, sheborrowedthe spear, and he was interested in learning more about it, but he wasn’t staying because ofher. Based on what she’d seen on his notepad, Paul was working on a story about the artifact. He could probably find a story anywhere, even in Mystic Water. “I think he’s been enjoying spending time with y’all.”
Cecilia’s cheek dimpled just like Paul’s did when he smiled. “I think he’s spent more time with you than with us, but he couldn’t have picked a sweeter girl to be with. He’s lucky to know someone as accomplished and pretty as you.”
Tessa stared at Cecilia as warm fuzzies tickled through her. “Me?”
Cecilia laughed again. “Yes,you. If you could see yourself the way we do. The wayPauldoes. He was telling us about how you’re helping the townsfolk, which we’re not surprised by, and how funny you are, not to mention how pretty he thinks you are—”
“Cece, that’s enough,” Harry said.
“Oh, hush, Harry,” Cecilia said.
Paul thought she was funnyandpretty? Tessa’s heart did a rapid thump in her chest.
Cecilia huffed at her husband. “Don’t stand there and act as though you haven’t been wondering the same thing.”
“Wondering what?” Tessa asked.
“About you and Paul,” Cecilia answered.
“Me and Paul what?”
Cecilia pointed at Tessa with a manicured fingernail. “About you and Paul.Together. You two seem to get on well. Finally, Paul has found someone who makes him pause.”
Tessa’s breath caught in her throat. A tiny twinkle of hope glowed in her chest before she released it on her next breath. “It’s not like that. We’re nottogether.”
Cecilia narrowed her eyes at Tessa as though she didn’t believe her answer. Based on the way Tessa’s heart thumped against her ribs, she wasn’t sure ifsheshould believe her answer either.But we’renottogether. We’re not anything.Okay, maybe we’re quasi friends who’ve exchanged numbers and possibly agreed to being pen pals, but that’s it.
“Word around here is that you’re involved in Honeysuckle Hollow,” Cecilia said. “Paul mentioned he’d been out to see the house with you.”
Tessa nodded. Nothing ever stayed hidden in small towns, not for long. “I’ve been working with an out-of-town owner. I’d like someone to rehab it.”
