“Wow! This is insane.” Jake walked up to the floor-to-ceiling glass window and looked out over the ocean. The sun was finally starting to sink lower in the sky, and it was casting an orangey, pink light over everything. “Going to be honest. I didn’t really want to see the house. I just wanted to see this view. It’s awesome.”

“It’s okay, I guess.”

“Okay? You guess?” He turned. “What could be better than this?”

“Truthfully, I’m more of a city kinda girl.”

He looked at me curiously for a while. “Give yourself a few months. The sea has a way of getting into you.”

I seriously doubted that. My dislike of water was deeply ingrained in me, had been for years, and if I closed my eyes and thought about it, I was instantly transported back to that moment that I was forced to hate it.

We started walking again, up the other staircase that led to the bedrooms. We did a brief walk-through of the rooms; I left mine out since it still looked like a bomb had gone off in a clothing store. We’d gotten into this slow, step-by-step rhythm of walking together through the house until . . .

“What the hell!” Jake’s shrill shout made me jump, and I swung around as he scurried onto a chair.

“What?” His panic had set mine off.

“There!” He pointed at the floor, ashen faced.

I looked down and . . . “Oh, that.”

“Yes, that?” His eyes were glued to the spot by my feet where a snake was slithering past.

I bent down and picked it up; it coiled around my fingers like it always did.

“Oh my God. What are you doing, Lori? Put it down!”

“Don’t worry, it’s Zac’s pet. She’s a brown house snake, she must have escaped again.” I pulled the snake up to my face and stared at it. “Isn’t that right, Miss Hiss.” It stuck its tongue out at me belligerently.

I looked up at Jake; he was still perched on the chair with eyes that looked like they were about to launch out of his head, and I couldn’t help it . . . I burst out laughing. His white cheeks flushed red as he jumped off the chair, struck a pose, and then ran his hand through his hair.

“Yeah, I meant to do that.” His attempt at a cool recovery made me laugh even more.

“Wanna hold her?” I held my hand out, and he fumbled backward again.

“No. Not really.”

“Don’t like snakes?”

“Uh . . . no!”

I shook my head at him. “You know, you scream like a girl when you’re scared.”

“Don’t tell anyone. My reputation would be ruined,” he joked.

“Who would I tell?” I walked into Zac’s room and put Miss Hiss back into her terrarium.

“This is seriously a pet?” Jake leaned in and peered into her tank.

“It’s better than the tarantula,” I confessed.