Page 173 of Ewan

A beautiful island stretches out in front of us, punctuated by lights, cloaked in the peaceful air of an eternal summer.

“Anna Maria Island,” he says quietly, convinced he’s made the right choice. “Have you been here before?”

“Never,” I say, taking in the colorful houses.

Not far from the beach, we come to slow down in front of one of them, which is beautifully tucked in a sanctuary of vegetation. The Christmas lights decorating the eaves only make it look even more quaint.

“We’re home,” he says with a soft smile, and I’m so smitten with his words that if he dropped to his knee, pulled a jewelry box from his pocket and proposed to me right now, I’d say yes without thinking about it much.

“Yes, we are,” I murmur.

We veer into the driveway and come to a full stop before climbing out.

A short walk later, he runs his fingers over a smart lock and opens the door for me.

Again, I almost expect him to lift me up and carry me over the threshold as if we were newlyweds.

We’re doing a little tour of the house.

The inside is as colorful as the outside, and it must look phenomenally washed in bright sunlight in the morning.

The walls are painted in a light mint color, and the floors are dark and polished, while the doors and frames are all white.

Framed photographs of palmettos, infinite white sands, and blue water are scattered across the walls.

Whicker chairs and a table sit on the back porch, overlooking the pool.

There’s a grill outside next to the lounging area, and strings of colorful lights gleam everywhere, swaying in the breeze.

“I’ll bring the bags. Make yourself comfortable,” he says, and I keep strolling around the house, taking it all in.

I can see how this could be someone’s family house. Maybe it was, and they transformed it into a vacation home rental.

It’s not hard to imagine a family of four, adults and kids, with perhaps a few pets, living here.

Who knows what happened to them and if that family was more than a product of my imagination.

The bedroom is a spacious room with a wide platform bed and plenty of pillows. It took a lot of effort and attention to detail to make the house as visually appealing and cozy as it is.

I move to the kitchen.

The refrigerator is stocked with fresh food, drinks, and bottles of water. There’s cheese, eggs, meats, seafood, veggies, fruit, and a chocolate cake.

Great selection.

I open the cupboard and notice two loafs of bread.

The pantry has everything anyone would need in their house. The basics. Pasta, tuna fish cans, canned tomatoes, olives, mustard, olive oil, marinated dried tomatoes, anchovies, jams, and cereals.

And a ton of other things.

I feel like cooking now.

“Did you find everything you needed?” he asks, setting the bags down.

He doesn’t talk about the food as he tilts his chin toward the bedroom.

“Yes. I didn’t check the bathroom, but I’m sure everything we need is there. We have food,” I say, smiling.

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