I didn’t quite believe her, but she didn’t seem eager to share, so I let it go. “What time is the crew getting here today?”
“Not sure,” she said, sounding as unenthusiastic as I felt. “Sometime this afternoon, I think.”
“So if I were to disappear for a few hours, that would be okay?” I asked.
“With Tess?” Juliet asked, and I was surprised at the little jolt of pleasure I got at just having her name mentioned around me. Plus, hearing the suggestion so easily from Juliet that Tess and I might be spending time together was a nice change from being yelled at over the dining room table.
“No,” I said, maybe too quickly. “I have a couple things I need to take care of.”
“In Maryland?” Her tone was skeptical.
“Um,” my brain spun, looking for some kind of appropriate cover. “Just need to get out for a bit,” I said finally. “Look around. See some of the country.”
“Sure,” she said, a half smile making it clear she didn’t think I was going out to sightsee. It didn’t really matter, though. Juliet didn’t need to know my plans. I wasn’t even sure about my plans. “Just be back by two or three, okay? I think the crew is due by five for sure.”
“Definitely.” I hoped I’d be able to get things handled by then. I slurped down some coffee, grabbed a muffin from the basket on the counter, and headed for the front porch, watching a car pull up just as I stepped out.
I’d set this all up the night before, so I went down the wide front steps and right up to the dark hulking car, popping the passenger side door open.
“Hey,” I said, greeting the woman at the wheel. She was pretty in an overdone kind of way. Big sunglasses, dark hair slicked into a knot on the back of her head. She smiled at me, and then something in her face shifted as she realized she might know who I was. I hadn’t given her the name I usually went by, so when I climbed into the passenger seat of her big SUV, I allowed her a few minutes to recover from the recognition and surprise I saw on her face.
“Are you …?”
“I am.”
“And you want to buy a house in Maryland?”
“Maybe,” I said, smiling. I’d come up with this idea as Tess had talked about the drastic differences between our worlds. I didn’t want to live in a different world from Tess. And maybe if I could find a little piece of home for myself in this world… well, maybe things could work.
“But …” she trailed off, her mind finally clicking into place as she shook her head lightly. “I’m sorry, I just. .. I’m just surprised, that’s all. I’m not used to showing houses to movie stars.”
I didn’t bother to tell her that Juliet Manchester was just a few feet away from where we sat, drinking coffee distractedly inside in front of a window. Tess had said most of the folks who’d lived here a while knew Juliet was from this area, that most knew exactly which house had been hers.
I gave the realtor my trademark grin. “It’s fine, but I am on a bit of a schedule today. Can we look at those waterfront houses we emailed about?”
“So you were serious about the … the big ones?” She pulled the car out of the driveway and back down the long lane as she eyed me sideways.
“I was.” I was as serious as I’d been about anything since running away. I might not have a plan for after I bought the house, but I knew that I wanted a piece of this world, this serenity and beauty. I was pretty sure I wanted it even if Tess wasn’t in it.
“It’s just,” she waved a hand. “People sometimes want to see them. You know, look but not really because they want to buy.” She blushed and giggled then. “I’m not saying that’s what you’re doing.”
“That’s not what I’m doing,” I confirmed.
“Okay,” she said slowly. “Well, okay then.” She seemed to finally settle into the situation. “Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. McDonnell, and I sure hope we can find something you’ll like today.”
“I hope so too, Jessica.” I settled back into the leather seat and watched the lush green trees fly by the sides of the car as we sped down one country lane after another. Thankfully, Jessica didn’t seem big on small talk once we’d settled the confusion over my identity, and she was happy enough to just take us to the first property on our list.
“This is seven-thousand square feet,” she said, opening the grand front doors into an expansive foyer that spread out into a wide open living room with high ceilings and exposed wood beams. From the floor-to-ceiling windows on the back side of the house, I could see the water sparkling just beyond a sloping green yard. A long wooden dock stretched out into the glassy dark water.
“Six bedrooms, six baths,” Jessica continued. “A chef’s kitchen, a first-floor master and mother-in-law suite in the basement downstairs. The rest of the bedrooms are upstairs.”
We wandered the house and the property, and then looked at four more that might have been built by the exact same builder for the exact same homeowner. The sun was high in the sky and I knew I’d need to get back to Juliet and the magazine folks soon as we left the last ridiculously big house. I wasn’t finding what I’d imagined. I’d fallen in love with Tess’s house—the history, the girl too. I knew I wouldn’t find a house with Tess Manchester waiting for me inside, but I didn’t want a cookie cutter builder home I could have gotten anywhere.
“These are all beautiful,” I said. “At the risk of being one of the people you were talking about … I don’t think I’m in the market for anything so
