Sea Glass Castle - T.I. Lowe

1

Darkness was a gift that hid most anything Sophia Prescott wanted to keep at bay—the ruins of her marriage, the still-fading scars, and the inner debris of her self-worth, which had been scattered about so severely that she was pretty sure there was no hope of mending it. The shadows graciously did their part to shroud life, even if it was for only a brief period on Mondays. Every Sunday her parents kept her two-year-old after church, overnight, and until nightfall on Monday. During this time of seclusion, Sophia kept to the shadows and let herself fall apart before having to pull herself back into a presentable form for her son. Collin deserved her whole. Not broken.

But Mondays she broke.

Hunkered down underneath a thick quilt, Sophia pried her eyes open when the soft click of the door closing caught her sluggish attention. Knowing what was coming, she braced herself for the fight, fisting the blanket in both hands and squeezing her eyes shut.

A few forceful tugs and struggling grunts came from the other side of the blanket before the darkness was snatched out of her grasp. Blazing light poured in through the windows as the little sprite fluttered around the room to open even more curtains.

“Stop it, Opal!” Sophia screeched. “Too bright!” She buried her head beneath the pillow, hoping to escape the light and whatever her busybody friend was up to.

“Nonsense. It’s a beautiful summer day. One that begs for you to be outside enjoying it. Come on. Let’s go be one with nature.” Opal jostled the bed.

Sophia lost her grip on the pillow, opening her eyes just in time to see it fly across the room. “I live on a golf course. Nothing I want to go be one with,” she grumbled, sitting up to fix her best friend with her best glare.

Opal’s sparkling green eyes never dulled of their merriment. At the moment, they appeared to be holding a measure of amusement too. “There’s beautiful landscaping on this golf course. Don’t let my dad hear you sassing about his place.”

“I’m paying him rent for this condo, so I can sass about it all I want.” Sophia rubbed her eyes, wishing when she reopened them, the darkness would be back. But she knew Opal Gilbert Cole too well. There was no other option but to go along with her. “What do you want?”

“I want lots of things.” Opal grinned, twisting her golden-red curls into a messy bun, the blonde tips flickering every which way. “But I’ll settle for you helping me solve a mystery today.”

“It’s Monday. Shouldn’t you be working?” Sophia watched as Opal began rummaging through her armoire. It was a plain white piece of furniture that went along with the coastal theme of the condo. She was pretty surprised when moving in to find the place without Opal’s signature written all over it, but since it was a rental property, Opal’s family wanted to leave it more generic. The town called her the furniture fairy, and she deserved that title and then some given the way she could work magic into old pieces and turn them into something new.

Opal was known to use that magic on people as well, so Sophia was wary about the attention she was receiving all of a sudden. She stared at the bathroom door and contemplated locking herself inside to avoid whatever was about to go down.

“Bless This Mess isn’t open to the public on Mondays. You know that. And there aren’t any urgent furniture orders to work on.” Opal tossed a pair of burgundy tights and a gray- and orange-striped T-shirt dress onto the bed, two things Sophia had never paired together. It wouldn’t be happening today, either. “Besides, I have other pressing business.”

“What are you talking about?” Sophia crossed her arms when Opal pointed to the pile of clothes. “I’m already dressed for the day.”

Opal’s eyes narrowed and coasted along the plain black shirt and yoga pants Sophia was wearing. “Black has never looked good on you. It even washes out those teal eyes.” Opal tsked, like she had any room to judge wardrobe choices.

With a condescending look, Sophia flicked a hand toward Opal’s psychedelic halter top, which made her dizzy just looking at it, and her bright-blue Bermuda shorts. “Are you kidding me right now?”

Opal pranced around in a circle, pausing to shimmy her backside. “At least I don’t look like the living dead. I’m groovy, baby!” She gave it her best Austin Powers impression. The Sand Queens had