Page 91 of Ten Beach Road

Thirty

Thunder boomed outside and lightning jagged through the steel gray sky. The rain fell in sheets outside Bella Flora for two days straight, the result of a tropical storm stalled somewhere out in the Gulf.

Used to searing sunshine with only brief afternoon rain showers that fell from bright blue skies, none of them knew quite what to do. It felt odd to be so idle when so much still needed to be done. But it was too wet to move their things into the pool house and refinish the wood floors as planned. Too wet for painting or touching up. As they played cards at the kitchen table, then gathered in the salon to watchThe Money Pitfor the third time, Maddie found herself thinking,The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house all that cold, cold, wet day.Replace the word “cold” with “dark,” Maddie thought, and it was so them. The only things missing were Thing One and Thing Two.

With a sigh, she stopped squinting out the salon windows trying to make out anything through the curtain of rain. The pool house, the seawall, the pass, and Shell Island had temporarily ceased to exist. Maddie’s gaze turned to Kyra, stretched flat on the sofa except for the rise of her stomach, the bowl of popcorn propped beside her. How many thousands of times had Maddie readThe Cat in the Hatto Kyra and Andrew? Would she read it soon to Kyra’s son or daughter?

They hadn’t really spoken about the horrendous call from Tonja Kay, though Maddie had the sense that it had brought them to a truce of sorts. Maddie shook her head as she remembered her own response. As memories went, both sides of that conversation were truly cringe-worthy.

Sunset was impossible to pinpoint in the downpour, but when the movie ended Deirdre called a meeting in the Casbah Lounge to discuss and toast the show house opportunity.

Nicole blended a pitcher of piña coladas while Maddie heated up a cookie sheet of Bagel Bites and mini-quiche, the most recent selections from the frozen appetizer section at Sam’s Club. Avery poured her prized Cheez Doodles into a serving bowl. Then they put on exaggerated Moroccan accents and invited each other to “meet me in zee Casbah.”

The 1920s-era Spanish tiles gleamed in blues and reds and yellows. They bypassed the room’s two banquettes, framed by tiled columns supporting Moorish arches and set up on the tiled bar, Nikki playing bartender behind it, the others climbing up on high-backed stools.

“So,” Deirdre said right off. “I propose a toast to Bella Flora, this year’s Symphony Designer Show House!”

“Oh, my God! That’s so great!” Madeline said. “I feel like we’ve just gotten that last-minute reprieve from the governor.” She, Nicole, and Avery raised their piña coladas. Kyra raised her nonalcoholic version.

“That’s because we have,” Deirdre said. “The Designer Show House was already scheduled to open the week after Labor Day, which is perfect timing for us. And it was set for another Mediterranean Revival on Snell Isle.” She named the tony northeast St. Petersburg neighborhood. “But just two weeks ago, when the designers had already finished their plans and were ready to start working on their actual rooms, the owner backed out.”

“Why?” Madeline asked.

“The owner has decided to tear it down and sell the land. There’s been quite an uproar.”

“Can he do that?” Nicole asked.

“Apparently. I mean everyone from his neighbors to the preservation community is livid, but the owner’s in debt and hasn’t been able to sell the house. He can’t afford to maintain it. Unless his neighbors are willing to pitch in and buy it there’s not a lot they can do.”

Maddie looked around the bar and thought about all that had gone into Bella Flora; what an amazing house it was. When they’d first come it was simply a project of last resort, but she was incredibly glad they hadn’t torn it down.

“The show house people must have been ready to kiss your feet when you showed up with an alternative,” Nicole said. “This is about as win-win as it gets.”

“Yes,” Deirdre agreed. “And I may have implied that we might be able to get some sort of coverage through our connections at Lifetime and HGTV.” She smiled and took a sip of her drink. “It never hurts to dangle that extra carrot.

“I’ve invited the designers to come choose the rooms they want. Hopefully, they can adapt their original designs to fit Bella Flora. The fact that both houses are of the same period and style will be a huge help.”

“How much will they take over?” Maddie asked. “I mean, what do we have left to do?”

“Design-wise, since I’ve already started on the kitchen and the pool house, we’ll be responsible for seeing those all the way through; I’ll need your help with that. And I thought someone might approach Renée Franklin and her garden club to make sure they’re willing to finish the landscaping. We can offer them a credit in the program and possibly some tasteful signage.”

“I’ll talk to her,” Nikki said. “I bet they’d like that. Will the designers finish everything else?”

“Pretty much. We’ll need to get the steam heat taken care of so the pool can get done. How long do you think it’ll take to get someone here?”

“I’ll call Tim back in the morning,” Nikki replied. “We’ve been playing phone tag. I won’t let him say no. But we’ll probably have to take care of the workmen’s airfare and hotel and other expenses.”

Avery had pulled out a pad and was making notes. Madeline wondered how she felt about Deirdre becoming so crucial to their effort and how easily she seemed to be able to juggle all the details; another trait she and her daughter shared.

“I figure it’ll take us about a week to refinish the wood floors and any other structural things that remain. And then maybe another to help paint the exterior of the house. That would put us into the middle of August and leave us a little room for weather delays and so on. Does that seem like a workable time frame, Avery?”

She got a somewhat reluctant nod of agreement from Avery. All Maddie could think about was whether Steve would be here by then. She wanted so badly to believe he’d make it, but was horribly afraid that meant she was living beside her daughter in the land of denial.

“The designers can use that time to adapt their ideas,” Deirdre continued. “But once the floors are done, we’ll have to give them free access; they’re going to be under a major time crunch.” She paused and cocked her head toward her daughter. “I figure Avery and Chase can be in charge of scheduling and supervising our efforts.” She kept her gaze on Avery, but Avery didn’t respond. She did, however, seem to be blushing.

Maddie watched her stop writing, then slowly set down the pen. The blush had almost faded when Avery looked up from the pad. “Obviously we need to get started on the floors. So we’ll have to make the move to the pool house as soon as the rain stops.”

There was a collective groan even though they’d all known it was coming.

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