Page 41 of Sunsets at the Beach House

“I like this a lot,” Willie said. She touched the cool, quartz countertop on display in one of the Dunes West model homes. She and Miguel were in one called The Carrington. The whole place seemed pretty high-end. All kinds of fancy finishes. “It sparkles.”

“That’s quartz for you,” Rob said. “Some people think it’s a little too sparkly, but—”

“No such thing,” Willie said. “I like bling.” She looked at Miguel. “I want this in our kitchen. You okay with that?”

“Sure,” Miguel said. He laughed. “She loves her bling.” He was sitting at the kitchen table while she looked around the kitchen, which was amusing to her, because Miguel was much more likely to do the cooking than she was. “Whatever makes her happy is fine with me.”

“I’ll make a note,” Rob said. “What do you think of the layout of this house, though? Would it suit your needs?”

Willie shrugged like she wasn’t sure, even though she loved the place more than she could say. “Can you give Miguel and I few minutes to talk alone?”

“Of course. I have a few phone calls to return anyway. I’ll just step outside.”

“Thanks.” Willie went over and sat with Miguel. Once she heard the front door close, she spoke. “This could work for us, don’t you think? It’s completely livable on the first floor, meaning we wouldn’t have to deal with steps unless we wanted to.”

She also knew that the house was built with wide enough doors to be wheelchair accessible, if either of them happened to have that need someday. Which she sincerely hoped they didn’t.

He nodded. “Guest rooms upstairs are fine, because anyone who might come to see us will probably have better knees than us anyway.”

“We could always put in an elevator.”

“We could.” He peered out the kitchen windows, which overlooked a very unexciting backyard, but on their lot, it would be the waterway. Their pool would be back there, too.

She wanted a beautiful outdoor area. Pool, hot tub maybe. Lots of covered, shaded areas for entertaining. A summer kitchen, too. She wanted family here all the time, if possible. “It’ll really be something, won’t it? Sitting on our back deck, watching the dolphins go by as the sun sets. Won’t that be beautiful?”

“It will. I can’t wait.” He returned his attention to her. “The house is perfect. Good-sized rooms. Open plan. A little office for me to work in, if I need it.” He hesitated. “What about that big closet in the master? That was big enough for you?”

“More than enough.” She didn’t think her clothes would fill half of it. “Is the smaller closet going to work for you?”

“Absolutely.” He smiled. “Then is this our house?”

“I think it is.” She looked around. It was hard to believe she could be living in something this nice. She loved all the fancy details, the gleaming white trim, the spacious rooms, and the dazzling light fixtures. She inhaled. And the new house scent. It was one of the best perfumes she’d ever smelled. “I really love it. I can’t believe this could actually be ours. On that lot. It’s like a dream.”

Miguel smiled. “If it is, I don’t want to wake up.” He took her hand. “Are you comfortable with how much money we’re spending? It’s a lot.”

“I know, but we should have what we want at our age. And the house and land will become a valuable piece of real estate for our children to inherit. So, yes, I’m comfortable. Are you?”

He nodded. “I am. I think the same way about it that you do.”

“Then that’s it. This is our house.” She felt faint with the excitement of it all. “I’ll go get Rob and tell him we’re ready to make our decision.”

She got up and headed toward the front door. She opened it and looked for Rob. He was standing in front of the garage, where there was some shade, chatting on his phone.

She caught his eye and waved.

He nodded. “Carl, I’ll have to call you back.” He hung up. “Ready for me?”

“We are.”

He walked back to the kitchen with her. “You know, we have two other models if this house is too big. Or we could scale things down by losing that bonus room over the garage.”

Willie smiled at Miguel as she shook her head. “No, we like this just as it is.”

Miguel moved his hands through the air. “This configuration is perfect.”

“Excellent,” Rob said. “In that case, we can head back to my office and write it all up for you.”

Miguel got to his feet. “How long will it take to build this house? When will we be able to move in?”

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