I nodded. Interesting.

“Taxes in this area must be killer, though,” I said musing aloud.

Sheryl grimaced. “Steep, actually.”

We fell silent as we slowly made our way back to the outdoor patio.

I looked up at the house again when we got there. Sheryl said slowly as she looked at me, “If you decide to allow the house to float in the market, it’s possible that you may attract a bid of over $5 million for it, Aerin. There’s a house down the street that sold for over $4 million and this one’s way bigger and much prettier than that one. Bigger lot, too.”

I smiled. “In New York that would be a bargain for a house by the water like this.”

“I’m starting to really like the house,” I was thinking as I left Sheryl when she took a seat under the shade in the patio. I roamed around the house, discovering its various secrets.

Chris would have loved this place. She’d have probably ended up taking it out of the market. She’d have likely proposed to keep it as a vacation spot we could visit when we had time. I smiled to myself as I wandered again into the master suite and gazed out of the wall of glass, staring at the canal.

“And I probably would have agreed.” Actually, I’d have said yes to anything Chris wanted. Anything to make her happy, make her smile.

My chest tightened at the memory of her. “Chris” I whispered her name.

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The sound of a truck rumbling past nudged me gently into a wakeful state. Well, not a completely wakeful state, but the truck did a nice job of interrupting a dream I’d been in the middle of, about walking around a glass-walled house overlooking a peaceful canal scene.

I squeezed my eyes and rubbed them before trying to sit up slowly. I got to the point where I could lean on my elbows and saw a digital clock on the nightstand next to me blink out the time. 7:00 pm.

Where am I?

As I swung my legs over one side of the bed and sat on the edge, I hung my head, staring idly at the red pedicure of my toenails.