“Holy smokes,” Anna whispered.
Eli cleared his throat. “I’m standing right here.”
Anna grinned at Eli over her shoulder. “You’re my number one, but Tessa picked a solid ten.”
Tessa’s stomach fluttered. “Come meet him, and then I’ll give y’all a tour.” She led them into the dining room and introduced Paul.
“We’ve heardsomuch about you,” Lily said, making it sound like Tessa had blabbered about Paul to the extreme, which she hadn’t, but she knew Lily liked to stir up intrigue.
“Yeah?” Paul asked, grinning at Tessa. “Like what?”
Lily continued before Tessa could stop her. “Tess mentioned you might be leading-man handsome.”
Paul laughed. “Like Cary Grant or like Ryan Reynolds?”
Lily said. “Why not both? But other than that, she’s been pretty tight-lipped about her newfriend,other than your sleeping arrangements. So, if you’d care to enlighten us—”
“Why don’t I show y’all around?” Tessa interrupted before Lily could create a more embarrassing situation. She put her hands on Lily’s lower back and shoved her out of the room.
In the kitchen, workers chipped the tiles from the island while one man lay on his back, his body half hidden in the cabinetry below the kitchen sink. The French doors were open so another worker could carry in a stack of two-by-fours.
“The kitchen has good bones and lots of usable space,” Anna said. She pointed at the graffiti marring the kitchen wall and cabinets. “Can they sand down the cabinets and restain them?”
Tessa nodded. She led them around the ground floor and told them about the guest books she’d found and how the house had helped so many people. Neither one of her friends had known how much Dr. Hamilton used Honeysuckle Hollow as temporary housing.
“This houseisspecial, Tess,” Anna said. “You’re doing something meaningful here, saving a historic haven.”
Tessa felt uplifted by her friends’ compliments and support. Before they toured the upstairs, Tessa led them out into the backyard. Eli stepped off the brick patio and walked into the garden, following the winding river and the pathways.
Tessa shielded her eyes from the sunlight. “The Potts, a local landscaping and gardening team, will be back tomorrow, and they’ve already cleaned out so much. You should have seen how wild it was back here. Once they’re all done, we’ll replenish the river with koi.”
“We’ll?” Lily asked. “Who’s the ‘we’ in that sentence?”
Tessa tucked her hair behind her ears. “Just a general statement.”
Lily looked skeptical. “Uh-huh.” She glanced sideways at Anna. “You believe that?”
Anna smiled. “Not really.”
Tessa sighed. “Paul is the acting architect. He has a lot of great ideas and has experience with historic homes. It’s a team effort. Sometimes I automatically saywewhen referencing whatthe teamis doing with the house.”
“I thought he wasn’t sticking around,” Lily said. “You mentioned he was leaving. Days ago, right?”
Tessa toed a dandelion fluff, scattering white seeds into the air around her feet. “He changed his mind.”
Lily grinned like a best friend who had mischief on her mind. “He changed it, oryoudid?”
“Lily, we’re not here to interrogate Tessa about her love life,” Anna said. Then she nudged Tessa. “Unless there’s more youwantto tell us.”
“You two are like good cop, bad cop. But okay,” she said, glancing over her shoulder at the house and then lowering her voice, “I think he’s sticking around for me. I mean, Ihopehe is. He’s great, isn’t he? Lord have mercy, he’s so handsome, and he kisses like I imagine movie stars kiss in rom-coms. It’s like he fell straight out of one my romance novels, but not a hokey one. I don’t know what he sees in me, but he’s . . .” She sighed. “Perfect. Or close to perfect. Or perfectfor me.”
“Isn’t it obvious what he sees in you?” Lily asked, looking at Anna for backup.
“Of course it is,” Anna agreed. “Tessa, you’re a five-star catch. Don’t look at me like that, youare! You’ve never given yourself enough credit. Why do you think you’re the one who was always going on dates and fielding a gazillion calls from potential dates?”
Tessa paused and then rolled her eyes. “Because I was desperately looking for a partner?”
Lily snort laughed. “That’s only about ten percent of the reason. The other ninety is because you’re funny, smart, beautiful, quirky, and completely loveable.That’swhy Paul is smitten.”
