Page 8 of Meet Me at Sunset Cove

At first glance she may have not realized there was anything wrong with the house. Until she caught sight of the scorch marks that clawed their way out beneath the turret windows, a thick layer of grime preventing a view of the inside.

Daisy felt a squeeze in her chest. She hadn’t planned to take on a project this big. A cute little bungalow with a bad porch, maybe? A sweet starter home in need of a new kitchen, sure. But nothing like this. This house would take time, precision, planning, and most importantly, funds.

The wind shifted, pulling her in, and Daisy thought of Augo’s words earlier that morning.You want to make God laugh? Just tell Him your plans.

She couldn’t go forward with this idea. Could she?

A tumble of leaves brushed across the porch, catching beneath the stunning bay window of what looked like a parlor. It really was a beautiful house, unlike anything she’d find back in LA.

Daisy pulled out her phone, and a moment later Robin’s face appeared on the screen. Her friend was wearing her power outfit—a black jumpsuit accentuating her golden pixie-cut hair and green eyes. “Hey, babe! What’s up?”

“I’m about to go off the rails and it’s really freaking me out and I need you to talk me out of it,” Daisy said, angling the screen to avoid the glare of the sun off the water.

“Oh boy, here we go,” Robin said.

Daisy turned the screen toward the house, the wind tugging at one of the dangling shutters. “I found this amazing, one of a kind, historic house that neeeeds me.” The words came out like a child asking to keep the baby bird they found in the yard.

Robin’s mouth was gaping, her eyes taking in the massive project, as mental calculations scrolled through her expression.

“Babe…I don’t think?—”

“Before you tell me I can’t afford it,” Daisy interrupted, ignoring the fact that she’d called her friend to talk her out of the project, not the other way around, “I think we could pitch a YouTube show to some of my original sponsors. You know, the ones from pre-Double Deckerdays.” Back before everything had gotten…complicated.

Robin pressed her lips together, thinking. Daisy watched her friend’s expression light up, a slow grin spreading across her face. “That could work.”

“Right? It’ll be just like the old days.” The days when they’d spent nights and weekends and every free moment building up Daisy’s YouTube career, filming affordable DIY projects and how-to videos and designer collabs, working toward the goal of getting picked up for a design series on HGTV. And they’d done just that.

“Anyway,” she went on, “I know we can do it again. I’ve already got a serious following. If we show the network that there is a demand for my content, I just know we’ll get picked up again, and we’ll be back on top in no time.”

Robin shrugged. “Can’t hurt to try.”

“That’s the spirit!” she cheered. “There’s a lot of details to nail down still, but I’m gonna get a look around and see if I can’t muster up some footage for proof of concept. Why don’t you put together a list of potential sponsors in the meantime?”

“You got it.” Her friend said, already scribbling a hectic to-do list across the whiteboard behind her desk. “And send me your videos. I can be our editor until we can afford to hire someone.”

“Sounds good. Love you!”

“Love you,” Robin replied.

The call ended, and Daisy turned back to the house. She sucked in a deep breath.

Here goes everything.

* * *

“What’s up, friends! I’m here on Jonathon Island where we’re embarking on a journey to uncover the beauty in the discarded!” Daisy held her arms out wide, showing off the disheveled house to her phone, which was propped against a pile of rocks on the yard’s stone wall.

A gust of wind knocked it over, and Daisy let her arms flop to her sides. “That’s okay. We’ll fine-tune it later.”

She strode through the dewy grass to retrieve her phone, flipping through the videos. She let out a sigh. She’d never get enough footage out here in the yard.

She cast a glance over her shoulder, her eyes climbing the porch to the second floor and over the picturesque turret.

Miahadsaid nobody’d lived there for years. It’s not like she’d be intruding if she took a teensy look around…

Daisy crept up the front steps, the wood groaning beneath her feet. She raised a hand to the glass panels of the front door and peered inside, halfway expecting someone to jump out at her.

The entryway was still.

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