There was so much to be done! But each finished step in the restoration would be a labor of love, and only reinforce that he was at last where he truly belonged.

Very tired now, he watched the dancing flames for a time with the same sort of fascination that possessed him whenever he stared at the ocean. He could barely hear the waves striking the rocks over the crackling fire.

But just as he was about to cross over into sleep he heard something that was loud enough to wake him. He listened intently for a few moments, but heard nothing more. It had sounded for the world like a woman sobbing, but because he was alone here tonight, that was impossible.

Garrett lay back down. Before entering the long, dark tunnel of sleep, his tired mind reassured him that it had simply been Seaside’s way of welcoming home her new owner, and his heart accepted that premise.

HIS SUBSEQUENT DREAM was unlike any he’d had before—so clear and sharp that after awakening he could recall every color, every detail of what he had just experienced. He dreamed of a woman, very different from any he had known before. So different that he immediately felt drawn to her like no other.

He wasn’t there with her. Rather, he was watching her from afar. Even so, he could easily tell that she was quite possibly the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her long, blond hair was artfully arranged atop her head; her eyes were deep blue. She was wearing clothing that belonged to a different time. Her dress was pink, with large leg-of-mutton sleeves and a broad conical skirt that harshly imprisoned her narrow waist. On her feet she wore low, square-toed slippers, and around her neck there lay a locket, tan in color, which appeared to be made from some type of bone, perhaps.

The woman was crying uncontrollably. She was all alone and sitting in a dilapidated chair. It was the dead of night, and the room that imprisoned her was dark, and without character of any kind. As the moonlight streaming through the lone window highlighted her form, she soon buried her face in her hands while she wept. She seemed so alone, so helpless, and so much in need of companionship that his heart silently cried out for her.

To Garrett’s surprise, she soon removed her hands from her face, then turned and stared straight into his eyes. Her expression, both searching and pleading, was the most desperate he had ever seen. She then raised both arms and stretched them out in his direction, as if she were begging him to come to her.

“Please . . .” he heard her say to him. “Please help me . . .”

And then, as quickly as Garrett’s dream had appeared, it ended, the sad beauty that was its subject dissolving into nothingness with it.

With his body covered in a cold sweat, Garrett suddenly awakened.

Chapter 3

It was almost six o’clock the following evening, and Dr. Garrett Richmond, Professor of Architecture, was finishing another lecture of his class, American Antebellum Architecture 101.

As a professor, Garrett was a tough taskmaster. Even so, he never lacked for students. He was young, outspoken, and known for pulling no punches regarding his purist opinions about architecture.

“Consider this final thought,” he said as he wrapped things up. “Painting, sculpture, architecture, and literature all seem to spring from one’s personal fountainhead, compelling its owner to produce work in a certain medium. Admittedly I am no different in that regard, for it is only an appreciation of the architectural which I am trying to instill within your minds.”

As the class filed out, he stuffed his papers into a leather satchel and made the short walk down the hall to his office. Upon closing his office door he relaxed in his desk chair, enjoying the blessed quiet. When this course ended, he would teach one more night class next spring.

He was pleased with a decision he had made earlier in the day. Other than the capital still locked up in his condo, he had some eighteen thousand dollars in cash. He was feeling more confident about things now, enough so that he was planning to give his contractor a check for ten thousand dollars so that the restoration could get under way. By the time that money was used up, Garrett hoped he would have the additional funds from the sale of his condo.