I had assumed it would be Will and me…until he was killed in Afghanistan.

The girl I’d been, the one who believed in happily-ever-afters, had died with him.

I didn’t even know the woman I was now—just that she had a fixer-upper beach house and a master’s degree in childhood education and English. The rest of me was a whole lot of empty, and whatever wasn’t empty was pain.

“They miss you,” Sam said softly. “Ember. Paisley. The guys.”

“I’ll get there.” The promise felt as hollow as my heart. “Just not yet.”

“And until then, we get to have you,” Mia offered with a supportive smile.

“And maybe being here will help you heal at your own pace instead of everyone else’s.” Sam’s posture softened, and she squeezed my arm gently. “Why don’t you show us the inside of this monstrosity?”

“Yeah, let’s do that,” I agreed, thankful she let me off the hook like always.

We climbed the stairs that led from the pedestal garage to the first floor of the house. The homes around here were all on stilts to protect them from the rising waters brought in from storm surges, and my house was no exception.

My house. It wasn’t really mine, though, was it? It was his. Bought with money I’d never wanted from something I’d spent nights praying would never happen.

“Watch the landing.” I skipped over the split board halfway up the staircase.

“You know, you could always wait six months for Grayson to get home from deployment. I bet he’d be happy to lend a hammer,” Sam suggested as we crossed the dilapidated deck to the front door.

“In six months, this thing might be a heap on the beach,” Mia teased, pulling her black curls into a ponytail. She was unlike her brother in almost every way. Petite where he was broad, ivory-skinned where her brother had a perpetual tan, and bright blue eyes where Grayson’s were more the color of gunmetal. But her stubborn streak? Yeah, that was all Grayson. Good thing Sam had an even bigger one to put up with him.

“Oh, come on, you haven’t even seen the inside yet!” I argued.

“I’m picturing something very Addams Family,” Mia drawled. “I mean, I’m delighted you took the job at Cape Hatteras Elementary, but maybe I should have come down and checked this out for you. Or sent Joey. Or someone. Anyone.”

I paused with my hand on the sun-warmed door handle. It was in the seventies, which was warm for mid-March in the Outer Banks. It was nothing compared to the intensity summer would bring. Luckily, having been born and raised in southern Alabama, I was no stranger to heat or humidity.

“Okay, so buying it when all I’d seen were the pictures on Zillow and the inspection report was risky, but just wait.” The door stuck, and I forced it open with a shove of my shoulder before stepping into the small foyer. Aged wood paneling greeted us along every wall as I led them toward the living room.