Page 77 of The Summer Swap

“Oh, Seth—”

“Spectacular, don’t you think? It’s one of the best locations around here and people are always surprised to see it because they don’t know it’s here.” He put the wine and chocolates down on the side and joined her in front of the expanse of glass that overlooked the ocean and the harbor. “I’m close to beaches, great restaurants, and my commute to work is less than a minute. Doesn’t get better than this.”

“The position is good, you’re right, but the space—” She looked up at the vaulted ceiling and then at the flood of light through the glass. “I can see why you fell in love with it.”

“It didn’t look anything like this when I first saw it. It was a wreck when I bought it. It had been sadly neglected. I wasn’t in too great a state myself, so let’s just say this apartment mirrored my own journey. I like to think we healed each other.”

They were both trying to move on, she thought. Leave the past behind and keep moving.

Seth was farther down that path than she was, but looking at him now gave her hope. She’d been struggling to form a new life for herself without Cameron, but perhaps she needed to take inspiration from Seth and look beyond her current life. She’d been determined not to sell Lapthorne Manor, but now she was rethinking that. Yes, she loved her garden and had put countless hours into developing it into what it was today, but staying there kept her firmly stuck in her old life. She needed a change that was more than simply removing a few paintings from the walls.

She glanced around Seth’s home. “Who did the work? Local contractor?”

“I did it myself. Took me more time than I care to admit, and I did call for help when the roof sprang a leak.”

“You did it?” Astonished, she turned to look at him. “I’m impressed.”

“Don’t be. The process was messy and full of mistakes, but there was no one but me to worry or care and I got there in the end. It was good for me. It’s hard to feel sorry for yourself when you’re trying to figure out how to fix the mess you just made. This room was in fact three rooms when I moved in. But I’m not a lover of small spaces.”

“That’s because you’re tall.”

The three rooms had been turned into one long room, which had been cleverly designed to give a living space with a comfortable seating area, a dining area and an open-plan kitchen. There was an abundance of white, with large canvases on the wall adding an explosion of color.

Cecilia crossed the room to take a closer look. “These paintings are striking. They’re yours, aren’t they?”

He laughed. “How did you guess?”

“I didn’t guess. I recognize your work. Bold use of color. Abstract shapes, although—” She narrowed her eyes. “Yachts on the ocean?”

“You always did have a good eye for things.”

“It’s perfect. I thought you said you didn’t paint anymore?”

“I don’t usually, but the building costs escalated. I didn’t want to cut corners on the construction, so I cut corners on the art and did it myself. Come and see the bedrooms.”

She followed him through a doorway into the master bedroom.

It had windows on two sides and a bathroom with a skylight.

There were two further bedrooms, one with bunk beds piled with soft toys.

“For my grandchildren.” He picked up a stuffed bunny that had fallen onto the floor and added it to the pile. “They love staying, and I love having them. Life seems simple when you’re with young children. They live their lives in the present. All they think about is the next game, the next meal.”

She felt a twinge of nostalgia, remembering her grandchildren as toddlers. She’d been busy for a lot of the time. The support act to Cameron’s star turn. She’d loved spending time with them, but it had always felt fleeting. She’d done better when they were older, particularly with Todd. She’d worried that Hannah had sucked up all the oxygen in her household and had made a point of spending time with Todd so that she could get to know him outside the confines of his family. She’d discovered a smart, loyal and creative individual who had inherited a dose of his grandfather’s artistic talent. He’d loved to make things, and over one summer he’d made her a birdhouse and a box for her garden tools.

Theo and Kristen had wanted him to be a doctor, and Cecilia had felt exasperated that they couldn’t see how wrong that would be for him. Fortunately Todd, although not as vocal as his sister, was stubborn. He’d been determined not to be pushed down a route he didn’t want to take. Through it all, Cecilia had offered him support, encouragement and a nonjudgmental listening ear. She suspected it was one of the reasons they were close.

Seth put his hand on her shoulder. “I’ve made you sad.”

“No.” For the first time in ages, she didn’t feel sad. “You just made me think, that’s all. I’ve been thinking a lot lately. Too much, I suspect.”

“That happens when you lose someone. You have to recalibrate, and sometimes that means looking back.”

“Yes.” That was what she was doing. Recalibrating.

“Come and see the real reason I bought this place.” He took her hand and led her toward a door at the end of a light-filled corridor.

Holding his hand felt so natural that she didn’t consider pulling away. It felt right, as if Seth was the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle she’d been trying to complete.

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