Gulf Coast Wedding by Maggie Miller

Chapter Eighteen

Sam grabbed the salon phone as it rang a second time. “Tangles Hair Salon, this is Sam. How can we make you beautiful today?”

“Babe?”

Sam smiled. “Hi, Levi. Why are you calling on this phone?”

“Because I had to talk to you immediately and you don’t always pick up your cell when you’re working.” He took a breath. “We got the house.”

She sucked in air, too excited to speak for a moment. Then she exhaled in a rush, her stomach doing a little flip. “Wow. We did? Are you sure? You’re not teasing me, are you? Holy cow, that’s amazing. We really got it?”

He laughed. “We really did. I can’t believe it. I mean, I can. The place needs work, but I don’t know, I just thought…well, anyway, we got it.”

“You thought my grandmother was going to interfere?”

He was silent for a moment. “The thought had crossed my mind.”

“Yeah, mine too. But that’s behind us now. I’m so excited.”

“Listen, you need to know, I paid cash for the house. It was the only way to make things happen quickly, but don’t worry, I didn’t empty my accounts to do it.”

Her mouth came open in surprise. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

“I can’t believe you could afford to do that. Wow.” The other line light up with an incoming call. “I have to go, the other line’s ringing. Text me all the details, okay?”

“Okay. Love you.”

“Love you too. So much. Thank you.” Grinning, Sam pushed the button to answer the second line and helped that client make an appointment all without really losing sight of the fact that she and Levi were now homeowners.

Well, about to be. She knew it didn’t really happen that fast. They still had to have a closing and get all the official paperwork signed. She also didn’t love that he’d paid cash in order to speed things up, but she appreciated that he was not only willing to do it, but able.

She hung up as she finished with the client, then grabbed her phone, wondering if he’d sent any other info.

He had. The closing was in two weeks since they were buying the house as is and there was no need to do an inspection.

Two weeks. That would go by fast. And in the meantime, maybe they could start picking out some things for the house. Paint colors. New cabinets. Countertops. Flooring. It was all so exciting. And pretty daunting at the same time. She blew out a breath. She really needed her dad and Lilly’s help. The thought of that kind of responsibility was somewhat overwhelming.

They had one shot to get this right and she didn’t want to screw anything up. Whatever they decided on for the house, they’d be living with for a long time to come. Outside of paint, maybe.

Levi sent another text. The owners were willing to give them the keys now since they understood there was a lot to do.

Wow. That was nice. And helpful. She sent him a text back telling him that.

She only had one day off a week, but she didn’t mind working in the evenings. Not with such an important goal. Maybe they could at least start ripping out that awful old carpet. And taking down that wall between the dining room and the living room. And doing whatever they needed to do to get rid of that funky smell.

She wondered how long it would be before they really got to move in.

She hoped not too long. Although, that would mean moving out of her dad’s place. The thought left her feeling a little sad. She loved getting to be around him so much after so many years of not having him in her life at all. Not that he probably wouldn’t like some privacy back, especially considering how things were going between him and Georgia.

She smiled at that. They were so good together. And it was really great to see her dad so happy. That made her wonder how his day was going. She’d been reluctant to text him since she figured he’d be super busy with election stuff, but she really wanted to check in with him. And not just because she wanted to tell him about the house.

How’s it going? Are you mayor yet? She hit send, thinking that would make him smile.

His response was fast. Lol You think I should run for that job next?

Why not?

Who knows? But I won’t know about the votes until tonight. Georgia’s ordering pizzas for the watch party.

Looking forward to it. Oh and btw, we got the house. She added some celebratory emojis for good measure.

That’s fantastic! Congrats!

Thanks. The sellers are giving us the keys early so we can get started with the remodeling.

Even better. Levi and I can get in there and get to work. Denise has offered to help too.

That’s really nice of her. I’m pretty excited.

I bet. I am too. It’ll be beautiful when it’s done.

I think so too. Better get back to work. Couple more hours and I’ll be home.

Same here. Polls close at 6. I appreciate Levi picking Clayton up from school.

He’s happy to do it. See you tonight.

Travis sent a thumbs up emoji.

She set her phone down on the reception desk and went back to work. There were towels to be washed and some in the dryer that needed folding and putting away. After that, she had to restock the drinks they kept on hand for the customers. And there was sweeping to do. There was always sweeping to do.

A light heart and a deep sense of things being right in the world helped the work go by like it was nothing. She was blessed and she knew it. Never would she have imagined that she and Levi would be reunited in such an amazing way.

And to think they were about to get married. And live in a house of their own. It was overwhelming in the best possible way.

It was pretty ironic that the boy her grandmother had been so adamant against, the one Lavinia had just known was no good, had turned into one of the nicest, most amazing guys on the planet. What would Lavinia think when she found out that Levi had just bought Sam a house?

Because there was no pretending Sam had any part of this purchase. She might have a job, but she wasn’t remotely in the kind of financial shape it took to buy a house. She couldn’t even contribute to the closing costs.

Would Lavinia finally acknowledge that she’d been wrong about Levi? Sam knew better. Her grandmother would never confess such a thing. But deep down, she’d have to know, wouldn’t she?

Sam thought Lavinia might already know she’d been wrong and that was the thing driving her to such madness. For a woman who thrived on controlling everything around her, losing that control had to be destroying her. Because it was pretty plain her grip on things was slipping away. It had been for a while now. Ever since Sam had made the decision to leave Alabama and returned to Florida and her father.

Actually, it had started before Sam’s move. It had started with Georgia arriving to take over the inn. She’d been the first one to really stand up to Lavinia.

Sam hadn’t considered that until just now. Georgia had actually begun the offensive against Lavinia. For that, Sam owed her.

And it made her love Georgia that much more. She had more courage than Sam’s own mother, Jillian.

Which reminded Sam that her mother had showed up at the cottage and not been heard from since. That was worrisome. She had to be at Lavinia’s, but why hadn’t she showed herself again? What were those two up to?

A new thought sent a chill through her. Did they know about the real wedding date? And if they did, what exactly were they planning on doing about it? Word was being spread about the fake date, but Lavinia was so well connected Sam wasn’t sure the fake out would work.

Sam also knew her mother and grandmother well enough to understand neither woman was the kind of person who’d just let an event like that go on without them.

With the icy reality of that still clinging to her spine, she reached for her phone again. But she didn’t want to bother her dad with this while he was finishing up one of the most important days of his life.

Georgia was busy with the photo shoot. And Levi didn’t know enough about the situation to do anything, really.

Sam put her phone down. This was one of those things that was just going to have to wait. She just hoped she didn’t regret that decision.