MITCHELL

"So, what do you think?" Nash asked after we finished walking the two properties. We'd taken our time going through them and looked at everything, including peaking inside the closets, the attic space, and checking out the backyard and the fence surrounding it. Kennedy had remained at his parents' house with Ethan, who was sleeping.

The house they'd suggested for me was already empty and had been for a while. The one they were looking at was partially furnished, and had some half-finished projects. Nash had found out from the realtor that one person owned both properties. He had started to do some remodeling work on the one house, the one Nash was looking to purchase, just to find out he had to relocate for his job.

"I think they're both great," I responded truthfully. "But they need work for sure. "

"Yeah, they do, but there's potential."

"Yeah, I agree. I don't really have a creative vision, but I like what I see and I definitely like the location."

Nash nodded. A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "Enough that you want to buy it?" He asked.

I nodded, slowly. The house was perfect for what I wanted, but I recognized it needed quite a bit of work. And that part was a bit intimidating, since I didn't know what to do, and wasn't overly handy. I also wanted to make sure that Sammy was onboard before I pulled the trigger. She loved all that home decorating stuff.

"Did you show your dad the properties?" I asked Nash. Getting Howard's opinion would put me at ease.

"Yeah. He said unless you're planning on removing a lot of walls or making any structural changes, that any renovations could be done pretty quickly."

That was good. I'd like for it to be done before the seasons started up again.

"That's cool. Does he know any contractors?"

Nash snorted. "Have you met my dad?"

"Yeah, I figured he'd made some friends down here."

"He keeps in touch with the contractors he used for their house. They go golfing and stuff sometimes."

That sounded promising. We would need a contractor that was reliable, and if Howard knew them, that was just a bonus.

"Let's walk down to the beach," Nash suggested and pointed out a small trail next to the property I was considering.

It only took a couple of minutes for us to reach the beach access, which appeared a bit overgrown and was much more secluded than the one near Nash's parents.

"This is nice," I said as the trail opened up to the beach. It was a lot closer than I'd expected based on the price of the properties. I also liked that the beach trail seemed to be mostly unused.

"I know."

We slipped our shoes off and stepped onto the white sand that was already warm from the morning sun. There were only a couple of people on lounge chairs and another person jogging along the water's edge. Other than that, the beach was empty.

"We could do that every day," I said, and pointed out the jogger for Nash. "It'll beat running on the city streets."

"Yeah, for sure. And bring the family to the beach in the afternoon. That's the whole point of buying something down here, right? To be able to enjoy the off seasons."

"Yes."

"So, are you ready to make an offer?"

Probably, but there was one more thing I wanted to do before I signed on some dotted line.

"I'd like to walk through it one more time after Sammy gets out of work. I'd like to have her on FaceTime and make sure she likes it, too."

"Okay..." Nash hesitated for a second, but my questioning look must have encouraged him because he continued, "just don't wait too long. Ken and I are putting in our offer this afternoon. There has been some interest and we don't want to lose out."

I exhaled slowly as I thought about that. I didn't want to lose out on the house either, especially not if Nash and Kennedy were already buying the neighboring property.

"Let me see if I can get her on the phone now."

I called Sammy's cell twice within a few minutes, but there was no response. Not that surprising since she was working, but it was worth a try. I really would like her opinion before I made an offer.

Nash and I put our shoes on and left the beach. We were almost back to Nash's parents' house when my phone rang.

"Hi, Sammy," I answered.

"What's wrong?" she demanded in an almost frantic tone.

"Nothing. I didn't mean to make you worry. I was calling to see if you had ten minutes to walk through the house. I'd like you to see it on FaceTime."

I heard her exhale and when she answered me, her tone was a lot more relaxed. "Ummm, are you there now?"

"No, down the street, but I can be back there in two minutes."

"Alright. Call me back in five. I'll tell Sylvia I'll take a break."

"Okay."

Nash smiled as we turned around to go back towards the house.

"She's good for you," he said out of nowhere.

"What makes you say that?"

His eyebrows rose into that cocky, self-assured look the women seemed to love. "She makes you smile, Mitch."

She did. Just the thought of her made me smile, and Nash was right. She was good for me. Just being around her lowered my anxiety and made me appreciate life in a whole different way than I had before. She got me. Bad jokes and all.

"That ring isn't burning a hole in your pocket, is it?" Nash asked teasingly.

I chuckled. "Not right now. It's in a drawer at home."

He gave me a side eye look, like I was being difficult. "When are you asking her?"

"I'm not sure. I don't know how I want to do it yet."

"Why?"

We walked through the gate and I took notice that it was a bit wobbly and needed to be added to the list of things that had to get fixed.

"I want it to be special," I admitted. "She deserves that."

Nash nodded. "She does, but I think she'll like whatever you do."

"Maybe, but it should mean something. Like when you proposed to Kennedy. It was special for the two of you because you did it in a place that mattered."

"It did, but it was simple, Mitch. What really mattered was that I asked her."

I sighed and rubbed my hand across my face. I got what he was saying, but I wasn't sure that me just asking Sammy to marry me would be enough. We didn't have a special place that mattered to us, the way Nash and Kennedy did.

"What if she wants the whole big gesture thing?"

We had stopped on the front porch. Nash fiddled with the key while I took my phone out of my pocket.

"She's more outgoing than Ken," Nash responded, "but I don't think she's looking for something extravagant. Do you?"

"Just because she might not be looking for it doesn't mean she doesn't want it."

The look Nash gave me said he didn't really believe that, but he didn't question me any further. I pressed Sammy's name on my phone and waited for her to pick up.

***

SAMMY

The house was wonderful. It was just like the pictures Nash had sent Mitch earlier, except it seemed bigger when they walked around the empty place. It needed some work for sure, and I kind of loved that part. That we'd be able to choose what kind of cabinets we wanted, or whether we wanted tile or wood flooring in the kitchen.

It was especially nice to see the layout of the backyard and how it abutted up to the neighboring house where Nash and Ken would be. Nash suggested adding a gate in the fence between the properties, which both me and Mitch agreed was an awesome idea.

I could totally picture the house remodeled, and imagine us there. It would be so cool to have our best friends as neighbors. And I loved that Mitch liked my renovation ideas and suggestions, and that he wanted me to be a part of the decision making even though it was his money we were spending. It was all extremely exciting and a bit scary at the same time.

Mitch kept talking and showing me things until I had to cut the call short and return to work. Sylvia was cool, but I didn't want to take advantage of her generosity and Mitch could talk. I made him promise to send me pictures of the beach and the neighborhood and to call me as soon as he had any news. He and Nash were heading to the realtor's office to make the offers, and they were hoping to find out whether they were accepted or not later in the day.

"I love you," he said as he hung up the phone. "I'll call you as soon as I know."

"I love you too."

I put the phone down by my bag and walked over to the sink to wash my hands. Sylvia was frosting a tray of cupcakes with a wide smile on her face.

"He seems like such a sweetheart."

"Yeah, he really is. He's the best."

"I'm happy for you, Sam. You deserve a good guy."

"Thanks."

I washed and dried my hands and got back to the dough that had been resting.

"We don't have any wedding cake orders for this weekend, right?" I asked her.

There was a twinkle in her eye as she responded, "no, nothing until next weekend."

I nodded, and the wheels turned in my head. I could fly down to Florida for the weekend. If I left right after work on Friday afternoon, I'd be down there by dinner time. I could surprise him and get back home by Sunday night.

***

It was quiet in my apartment when I got home from work. I was so used to spending most nights with Mitch, whether it was in my place, or in his, that it was kind of strange to be all alone. I called Kennedy as I straightened up, both as a means to avoid the quiet and because I was curious whether they'd heard back from the realtor. She told me they hadn't and that Mitch and Nash were out getting food.

"I'm thinking about coming down for the weekend," I confessed." Do you know how long Mitch is staying?"

"Oh, Sammy, that would be awesome," Kennedy said in an excited tone. "We could go see the houses together."

"If we get the houses," I pointed out.

"We will. There's no way Nash is letting this go."

I rolled my eyes even though nobody could see it. It sounded about right. Nash and Kennedy had been looking for a house for a while and now that there were two neighboring homes for sale, yeah... I was pretty sure both boys would overbid if they had to.

"Do you think I should try to surprise Mitch?" I asked her.

"Yes. I think that would be awesome."

"Can you try to find out how long he's staying?"

"Sure, but he'll probably let you know once they hear back from the realtor, before he tells me."

That made sense.

"I'll call you tomorrow either way."

When I fell asleep, I still hadn't heard from Mitch about the house. I was a bit surprised about that, but Kennedy had expected there might be a bidding war and told me not to worry about it.

My phone rang a couple of hours later. I fumbled for it, fully expecting it to be Mitch. "Did you get it?" I asked without bothering to look to see who was calling. If I had I looked, I might not have answered.

"Sammy," came my mom's slurred voice.

I rolled over onto my back and blinked up at the ceiling. "What's going on?" I asked, knowing something had happened, and that she was drunk. "Where are you?"

"I need to borrow some money."

Not this again? "Why mom, what's going on?"

"Bruce left."

"Bruce?" I asked as my sluggish mind tried to think. Wasn't the last guy Stuart, or something like that...

"Why don't you come see me, baby? We could go out together. It's been so long..."

"Mom," I groaned. "Where are you?"

"I'm at home."

I tried to clear my brain, but I'd been in a deep sleep, so my responses were a bit delayed.

"Home as in Broad Street?" I asked.

I heard some commotion in the background and then my mom said. "He went to the bar. It's fine. It's fine."

"What's fine, mom? Who are you talking to?"

"Leroy."

Leroy? Who the hell was Leroy now? "Mom, what's going on? Are you okay?"

"You never come to see me anymore. I'm all alone, and you don't visit."

Oh, here we go. Another guilt trip...

"It's not enough that I'm your mother." Her voice rose, and I knew there would be nothing I could say to stop the tantrum that was about to come my way. "You're too good for me now, huh? Spending all your time with all your rich friends. Too good for your own mother. Can't even spare some money to help me out. When did you become such an ungrateful bitch?"

I sighed and did something I'd never done before. I hung up the phone. My mother might think I was ungrateful, but I no longer had the energy to deal with her neediness. I had learned what the true meaning of family was over the last couple of weeks, and it did not require that you shared the same blood, and it definitely didn't involve calling your daughter for emotional and economic support every time life got tough.

She called again. Repeatedly over the next twenty minutes, but I let all of them go to voicemail. I was done with enabling my mother. Instead, I sent an "I miss you" text to Mitch. It didn't take long before he responded with, "I miss you more."