Page 23 of Changing Tides

I shrug. “I haven’t seen any yet, but you know they like to hide from grown-ups, so you’ll have to try and find one.”

A huge grin spreads across her face as I open the gate, and she skips onto the pebble path and snakes through the flowers and bushes.

“Canopy bed and fairy garden. That kid’s never going to want to leave,” Amiya points out as we watch Leia explore the wonderland.

“You have to admit, the cottage, the view, it’s all pretty spectacular,” I say.

“It’s all right,” she quips.

“There’s another interesting fact about Sandcastle Cove,” I tell her.

“What’s that?”

“The cottage owners’ grandson,” I say.

“Grandson. Don’t tell me he’s a prince and he and Leia are going to fall madly in love and live happily ever after.”

“He’s a little old for Leia.”

“Bratty teen?” she asks as she walks over to the wall of hydrangeas and plucks a bloom from the branch. “These are gorgeous. Someone put a lot of work into this space,” she muses.

“Amiya, focus,” I demand.

She stills at the seriousness of my tone.

“Okay. What?” she asks.

I look over to where Leia is climbing the steps that lead around the back of the tree house and up to the deck.

“Be careful. Hold on to the railing,” I call to her before I turn my focus back to my best friend.

“He’s here,” I say quietly.

“He who?” she asks.

“Sebastian.”

“Sebastian who?” she asks.

“What do you mean, Sebastian who?” I bellow, “Sebastian! The Sebastian!”

It takes a moment for it to register, and the minute it does, her head snaps to me.

“What?!” she cries, finally catching on.

Now, I have her attention.

“Yes. He lives here, in Sandcastle Cove. His grandparents are my landlords, for goodness’ sake,” I reply.

Her eyes go round. “No. No, that’s not possible.”

“Oh, it is. I mean, what a coincidence, right?” I note.

She shakes her head in disbelief. “Avie, that’s not a coincidence. That’s … that’s … I don’t think there’s a word in the English language to encompass what that is!”

“Right? I came home yesterday to find him in the garden, helping Sebby build the tree house.”

“What did you say when you saw him?” she asks.

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