earlier, but it didn’t appear anyone had done anything. There was even the same art sculpture of Poseidon a local artist had done, sitting in the yard. When her parents had sold the house, they’d included all of the items in it. Of course, her grandfather hadn’t left anything too personal there as it had been their vacation place, but still, it had been things her grandfather had cherished. Even her first fishing pole had been there. The pain of losing that had weighed on her for a long time. Amira had never had the slightest inkling to break the law, but her fingers tingled with the desire to break in and take what she considered was hers — if it was even still there.
“Amira, I have a surprise for you,” Smoke said. He left the golf cart, and walked around to her side, helping her out before pulling her into his arms.
“This entire day has been a surprise,” she said, hating how choked up she was. She was an adult, and this was ridiculous.
“The house is yours,” he whispered. She went entirely still as she tried processing his words. Had he just told her the house was hers? That was impossible.
“It can’t be,” she told him. “My parents sold it. I know Gramps’s had planned on leaving it to me, but he never got around to changing his will, so it all went to my mother.”
“I spoke to your mom, and she told me she’d felt horribly guilty since selling the place. She said she hadn’t thought you’d want the headache of dealing with it and had placed all of the money in a trust fund for you, but when she’d told you what happened, she’d never seen you cry so hard. She gave me the information about the buyers. I found them, and I made them an offer they couldn’t refuse. They’re from the East Coast and haven’t even come to the island yet to stay in the place. It had been an impulse buy for them. They’d been paying a service to tend to the yard, but they said the house and guest house haven’t been touched.”
Amira’s heart soared with joy as his words settled in. “They bought it and didn’t remove anything?” she gasped.
“No, they didn’t touch anything. Everything should be just the same as the last time you were here, though a lot dustier,” he told her.
“Wait. You said it’s mine. Wouldn’t it be yours?” she asked. She didn’t care because she knew he wouldn’t keep her precious items from her, even if they were to break up, that wasn’t who Smoke was. That fishing pole didn’t have a lot of monetary value, but it had a priceless emotional value.
“I bought it for you. It’s in your name. No one will take it from you again,” he said.
Amira was too emotional to speak. Tears streamed down her face as Smoke took her hand and led her up the steps to the outside patio between her Gramps’s two-bedroom beach house and the two-story guest house that had a small living room, bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom in the upstairs, and a giant garage on the bottom. She’d spent many nights in that guest house with her friends, watching movies and talking about boys. She wondered if some of the same people she’d hung out with back then were still on the island or if they still visited if they didn’t live there permanently.
Smoke gave her the key and she opened the door, the smell musky, but still remembered. It was almost as if Gramps was there with her right then. More tears fell. She didn’t notice Smoke hadn’t followed her as she walked through the kitchen of the main house and into the dining areas. She moved straight through to the living room, and then opened the door to Gramps’s room.
She found his bed made, his favorite lighthouse lamp next to it, and his antique dresser with one drawer half open. She moved inside, a feeling of sadness and warmth competing inside her as she looked over the familiar room. There had been a few nights when she’d been young, that she’d heard a strange noise and had come running to Gramps’s room, jumped into his bed, and buried her face against his chest. She’d been convinced there were ghosts in the house. He’d told her if there were, they were certainly friendly. That hadn’t helped calm her.
It took a few moments to notice a piece of