Page 1 of Beautiful Dreamer

Prologue

Elizabeth Draper sat on the edge of the pier with her light brownhair up in a ponytail and her plaid shirt tied around her waist by its sleeves.With her jeans rolled up to mid-calf, she kicked at the water with her big toeas she scanned the memories of the past eighteen years like a wistful montage.So much had happened in just this small five-mile stretch.

Dreamer’s Bay was what you would call a blip of a town along thecoastline of South Carolina that not a lot of people knew about. With HiltonHead to the north and Wilmington Island to the south, a lot of folks skippedright over the Bay should their foot rest too heavy on the gas pedal. Elizabethliked that about her hometown. She preferred it small and elusive, like ahidden treasure you had to uncover, all their own. Once you found it, however,why would you ever want to leave? It was the kind of place where good thingshappened and people were there for their friends and neighbors. Beyond the beachitself, the lightning bugs in the summer were just one of the many beautifulspectacles you encountered in Dreamer’s Bay. The breathtaking Fourth of Julyfireworks display was another. She smiled imagining last year’s awe-inspiringdesign, not to mention the best damn funnel cake you could find for hundreds ofmiles.

Not only that, but Elizabeth had been blessed with a batch offantastic memories all her own in this place. There were the Easter egg huntsin Bountiful Park. Nights spent playing flashlight tag with the neighborhoodkids until her dad finally called her inside at her nine p.m. curfew. She shookher head and grinned when remembering her stint as Twin #2 inPeter Pan, which they’dperformed in the school’s underequipped cafetorium when she was twelve. Theentire population of the town had been in the audience. Only her mother hadbeen missing. She didn’t think about that part too much. On purpose. Instead,she’d fondly reflected on the time she’d scored second place in the annualbake-off with her grandmother’s recipe for chocolate mint pie with homemadewhipped cream. The win had come with a pretty significant trophy she’ddisplayed on the shelf in the living room.

In just a few hours, she would carve out another memory as shegraduated from high school, leaving her youth firmly behind her. The next dayshe’d be on her way out of Dreamer’s Bay for the first time in her life, headedto the University of North Carolina, where she’d start summer classes rightaway. Her stomach hummed uncomfortably at the thought of leaving everything sheloved. Elizabeth had never really known life anywhere else, and the idea thatshe was about to explore the wider world left her excited and terrified. Therewas nowhere like Dreamer’s Bay. What was she going to do these next few yearswithout it?

That night, as she clutched the portfolio that contained her highschool diploma, the emotion of the monumental event overcame Elizabeth. With alump in her throat and tears welling in her eyes, she surveyed her classmates asthey gathered outside the auditorium following the ceremony, wearing theirmatching blue and white gowns. Hugging, cheering, and well-wishing abounded,but also the understanding that they would part ways now, bound for differentplaces in life, their futures uncertain, their hopes and dreams still to berealized. Some would stay. Some would go. But they would never be the samegroup again, who’d grown up together and experienced so many of the samethings. She hugged her English teacher, Mr. Webb, then turned and hugged herbest friend KC and kissed her buddy Dexter’s cheek. She turned around, lookingfor the next hug, and came face-to-face with Devyn Winters, another classmate.They’d not spent a lot of time together in high school, running with differentcrowds. Devyn was co-captain of the cheerleading squad and Elizabeth was, well,just Elizabeth. She’d heard Devyn was bound for Penn State, having always beenthe good student. Extra popular, too. Elizabeth wasn’t.

“Hey, congratulations,” Devyn said, with a polite smile. She wasgorgeous, with blond hair and hazel eyes, and in that moment, she was haloedperfectly by the outdoor lights overhead.

Elizabeth beamed back. “Congratulations to you, too.” They staredat each other a moment, and for some reason it mattered more than it shouldhave. They reached for each other and shared a tight embrace, only it didn’tfeel obligatory. It was probably the gravity of the day, bonding twoacquaintances who would then drift their separate ways again, back on their rightfultrajectories that had never included the other. That’s what it was, right? Yet itfelt like so much more.

When Devyn released her, Elizabeth placed a hand over her heart,wondering about the intensity of the pang that struck her chest.

“Elizabeth. Over here.”

She raised her gaze and there was her father, rushing toward herwith his arms open and eyes misty. That was her rock, right there, the personwho always had her back. The pride in his gaze meant everything tonight.“Congratulations, little girl, you did it.”

With her cap clutched in her hand, she fell into his arms, happy toshare this moment with the one person she could always count on. “Thanks, Dad.”She laughed in wonder. “I can’t believe it. I’m a high school graduate.”

“I can. You worked hard and it paid off. I’ve never been prouderof you.”

In the midst of that crowd and the continued well-wishing,Elizabeth couldn’t help but glance around for Devyn and wonder about the momentthat still tingled. She scanned the faces around her, but to no avail. DevynWinters was gone.

Chapter One

Present Day

“Happy birthday, dear Donna. Happy birthday to you.” Devyn Wintersstared at her happily singing coworkers as they held that final note of thesong for several moments longer than necessary. She raised her eyebrows andsmiled as she did her best to look as happily engaged in this whole feel-goodmoment as the rest of the office did. Did she have to read their lips toremember the birthday woman’s name? Why, yes, yes she did. She was awful whenit came to remembering the admins because there were so many of them. She’dlike to be better, but honestly, who had the time? She’d done her job, appearedfor the requisite singing, snagged some vanilla cake with bright purple icing,and now worked on crowd-surfing her way out of the overrun break room whilebalancing her cake over her head.

“Devyn? Hey, Devyn?”

“Yep?” she tossed over her shoulder as she continued to dodge andweave like a pro. Time was money.

“Can I grab you to talk about the McMahon property at 803Financial? If you have a spare sec, I mean.” She glanced back at Redheaded Ricky,who meant well, always smelled pleasantly of soap, but rarely ironed his workshirts. He was a decent enough broker at the firm but was known for being asoftie and often late to the negotiating table, missing out on the reallyhigh-end listings because he’d decided to have a life on the side of his job.She didn’t blame him. Everyone’s priorities were different, but there wasn’t alot she could do for a guy like him who wasn’t available when the big dealswent down over drinks after hours.

“Sure. Can we walk and talk?” she asked reluctantly. With anafternoon stacked to the brim with listing appointments and two additionalmeetings with developers, she didn’t have a lot of downtime to talk shop. Plus,she’d just given away three minutes of it to Donna-somebody and herconfetti-vanilla birthday cake, which she decided mid-bite was not bad at all.The three minutes might have proven beneficial in the end.

“Definitely,” he said, matching her stride. “Walkin’ and talkin’.”

She glanced over at him, waiting for him to speak. “So…803Financial? The McMahon building?”

“Right.” He nodded. “Three units on the fourteenth floor are aboutto hit the market. I want that listing, and I was hoping you could offer mesome insight. Advice, if you will, on how I might land it. Everyone knowsyou’re a pro when it comes to working with the top developers.”

She whistled low because that property was out of Ricky’s league.In fact, countless brokers had been vying for a meeting with the developer,Randy Thibedeux, for weeks. “Have you ever worked with a developer?”

“No.”

She high-fived her assistant Karen as they passed her desk.“Messages?”

“Twelve. And check your email. Two offers came in on EighteenLexington. One is an international buyer.”

“Full ask?”

“One at full ask. The international offer is slightly under butall cash. I think you can get them up.”

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