Sanctuary (Murrells Inlet Miracles Book 1)

by Larsen, Laurie

  Nora paused and tilted her head back, taking a moment to connect eyes with each of her co-workers. She’d worked hard here. She’d accomplished a lot, and this group of talented professionals had participated in their success. Now was the time for her to revel in her promotion.

  Inexplicably, tears stabbed at her eyes. But not tears of happiness over this emotional moment. Not at all.

  She pushed the wetness from her eyes, and forced herself to take a breath. She needed to address her people. The clapping subsided and it was her turn to talk. But … she couldn’t.

  A deadly silence filled the auditorium and rows and rows of eyes directed her way. Her first sob echoed through the quiet.

  “I’m … I’m sorry,” she began, and sobbed again. She shook her head, forcibly willing herself to stop, to put her professional demeanor back on.

  But … she couldn’t.

  Tony came closer and put a hand on her shoulder. “Nora …?” His tone was questioning, concerned. He knew as well as she did that this was way out of character for her. She made eye contact with him and he took charge. “While we give Nora just a moment, I’ll ask Tim for his comments.”

  Tim stepped up to the plate and took hold of the awkward moment. Soon, all eyes had shifted to him and were smiling at his words of thanks and inspiration. So absorbed were they in Tim’s words that they barely noticed that Nora slipped through the side door, her shoulders shuddering as she silently wept.

  A pot of coffee sat on the table in front of her, all her favorite accoutrements in close reach – cream, sweetener, and her favorite mug. She’d just poured her second cup and answered Patty’s question.

  “I can’t explain it,” she said into the cell phone, holding her coffee mug in her other hand. “This has never happened to me before, and I have no idea why I couldn’t hold it together.”

  “Hmmmm,” her sister murmured.

  She waited. She knew the one syllable was supposed to convey something meaningful. “What?”

  “Think about it, Nora. The last time we talked, you wanted to know how you would be certain of God’s will for you. And we talked about praying to God to make it clear to you, so that you can’t miss his message.”

  Nora went silent and blinked. “What, you think … I was a crying mess up there in front of my entire firm because of God?”

  Patty exhaled. “No. Think of it this way. God laid something on your heart that you couldn’t ignore, that you couldn’t pretend, that couldn’t go on with life as normal. He made it clear.”

  Nora’s eyes went wide. Of course. That’s why the thought of continuing with her law career in Philadelphia made her desperately unhappy and sad. And the thought of starting a whole new life in Murrells Inlet, carrying out Aunt Edie’s dreams for her, made her happy. Even without Shaw. “It’s God’s will for my life to leave all this behind and accept my inheritance.”

  Patty yelped. “Are you asking or are you telling?”

  Was she? Was she still questioning God’s will for her life? No. She was convinced. This was it. The very situation that would push her out of her comfort zone. Now … what was she going to do about it? Would she follow God’s will, with faith that he would guide her in her new life?

  “I’m telling,” she said, but it must have been meek and quiet because Patty said, “What?”

  “I’m telling,” she said firmly, cleared her throat and said it again. “I’m telling you that God’s will for my life is to accept my inheritance.”

  “Oh Nora!” Patty exclaimed. “I’m happy for you!”

  If they’d been together they would have thrown their arms around each other and jumped around in a circle. But they weren’t together, so Nora had to picture it in her mind instead. Regardless, it was a monumental moment, one she’d remember for the rest of her life. A milestone. A game changer.

  “Uh, Nora?” Patty’s voice broke through her thoughts. “Didn’t you put your inheritance up for sale?”

  Nora gasped. “Yes! Oh my, I need to call the realtor! Bye!”

  Once she’d made up her mind, things moved quickly. Nora called Mr. Becker, Aunt Edie’s lawyer and was relieved to discover that there had been no bids on the property. She instructed him to take it off the market. She was moving in.

  She called a realtor in Philadelphia. Other than clothes and a few household items she wanted to bring with her, everything was for sale. She paid a little extra for the realtor to handle the entire sale, dispensing of not only the unit, but all goods inside, and the realtor would keep her informed of any reasonable offers.

  The hardest task was breaking the news to Tony that she not only would not be accepting the generous promotion, but in fact, she was resigning from the firm. She called him the day after her meltdown and asked him to meet her at a Starbucks near the office. She couldn’t have this conversation within the firm walls. She couldn’t bear to see all the pitying eyes inspecting her. Tony had agreed immediately and taken the news stoically. Nora presumed that he’d seen it coming.

  “Is there anything I can say or do to change your mind?”

  Nora reached across the table and patted his fisted hand. “No there isn’t, but I thank you for making the offer. I’m making a major life change, Tony, and believe me, it hasn’t come easily. But when I’d achieved my career dreams by becoming a Senior Partner, and I wasn’t ecstatic about it, I knew something was wrong.” She considered going into the whole story and decided against it. He didn’t need to know the gory details. She knew what she knew, and that was enough. “I believe I told you that when I was on administrative leave, I was down in South Carolina at the property that my Aunt Edie left to me when she died. I had started making plans and dreaming dreams about what I could do with that property to build a meaningful and fulfilling life. When I came back, I realized I wasn’t as excited about my current life as I was about my potential future life.”

  Tony stared quietly at her. He probably thought she was nuts.

  “So, I made a life-changing decision. I’m leaving Philadelphia behind and moving to the beach.”

  Tony shook his head in disbelief. “I have to say, I’m shocked. But I’m happy for you. I am. You’ve done a great job. You deserve a change. You’re a woman of many talents and I know you’ll make this work.”

  They chatted another few minutes about her new ranch, and her plans, and they discussed compensation topics. Then, he got up and left the coffee shop.

  And her heart soared unfettered with excitement and joy about her future.

  Nora had always found that the best way to get something accomplished was to throw herself in, whole hog. If you weren’t all in, you might as well be all out. So, she threw herself into making her life in Murrells Inlet as outstanding as it could possibly be.

  Shortly after she moved in, she stood in the mansion’s main floor with a contractor. She proudly gave him a full tour. “So, I want you to draw up plans and costs for renovations. Be creative, dream big. We can always scale back if we have to. I want to maintain the historic beauty of the architecture, but modernize and refresh everything. Start with the main floor here, and finish that. I have plans for it first. Then move on to other parts of the house.” The contractor took photos and made notes and left two hours later, promising to get back to her within three days with a proposal.

  Shortly after he left, the doorbell rang again. It was the regional Dress For Success representative. She’d contacted someone through the website and discussed her desire to open an affiliate. “Come in, come in.”

  An African American woman in approximately her late twenties introduced herself as Heather. Nora invited her to sit in the living room. “We enjoyed reading your application for an affiliate, and we’re excited about you getting onboard. Your passion for helping women achieve their professional dreams is outstanding.”

  “Thank you. I want to give back. I want to help. It’s my new life’s dream.”

  Heather nodded approvingly. “We’ve determined that Murrells Inle
t is a desirable location for an affiliate, and your background makes you a qualified candidate to open a non-profit.”

  “Great! Step over here, and I’ll show you where I plan to build my wardrobe showroom.”

  They walked across the first floor and into the doorway of an old, largely empty library. “I’ll have room in here for rows and rows of clothing racks, and to build a couple dressing rooms in the back. The location of the room is conducive to moving to the dining room for table work, mentoring or teaching.”

  “It’s lovely.”

  “Well, it isn’t, yet. It’s a mess. But it will be soon. I’m having the entire first floor renovated. It’s going to be beautiful.”

  Heather chuckled. “Your enthusiasm is contagious. You’ll need to write an executive summary and a business plan. Now that I’ve approved your location, that’s your next step.”

  Nora assured Heather that she was well versed in writing business documents and would have her package ready to submit in days.

  With her To Do List full of activities involving the renovation project and the non-profit start up, Nora realized that she was happier, more satisfied and more challenged than she’d been in years. Everything in her life now was new and exciting; she got to use her creativity to put both these ventures on the path to success. Sometimes she’d lift her head from her work, stand up and spin excited circles in her beautiful space. She approached each day with a smile and an enthusiasm in her heart that had been missing from her routine in Philly.

  The other benefit to managing two big projects at once was that she had no time to think about Shaw. And what he was doing. And whether or not she’d like to see him. And whether or not she missed him, now that she was back in his geographic location. She was simply too busy, too engaged, too focused to give him too much thought.

  Except late at night, when she’d throw herself, exhausted, into bed, happy from the day of activity, and anticipating tomorrow, his face would appear in front of her closed eyes. His voice would come silently to her ears, and her heart would beat just a little bit faster for missing him. How different would her life be here in Murrells Inlet if he hadn’t been married … if they hadn’t had a fight … if they had pursued some sort of romantic relationship? Could she be even happier than she was now?

  And then she’d shake her head and push that line of thought out. What good was “what ifs?” He was married. He had lied to her. And that was that.

  Every day she carved out time to walk on the beach. No sense living this close to the ocean and not enjoy it each and every day. Summer here was wickedly hot, but Nora just dressed for the heat in her shorts, light, airy tops and floppy straw hat while she walked barefoot in the sand. She came home and poured a glass of lemonade or iced tea and sat outside, surveying all that was hers … while the sounds of hammers and drills and whatnot machinery drifted from the open windows of her rundown mansion that would someday become a restoration of its former beauty.

  Within two months, Nora had received her official approval to open her non-profit affiliate, and her contractor had completed his renovation of the first floor living space. Now, she needed attire. Business casual, formal business, and even casual. She needed it all to offer a good selection, and she needed a wide variety of sizes. She purchased clothing racks and started by donating all her own business clothes that she no longer needed. Then, she drafted an email explaining her new enterprise, what she hoped to accomplish, how she wanted to help women, and ended by asking for donations. She blasted it out to every professional woman she knew. She provided her home address.

  Knowing successful, wealthy women all up and down the east coast, and knowing that wealthy people were always looking for tax write-offs, she expected a response. What she didn’t expect was the amazing outpouring of donations of women’s clothing that she started receiving within days of sending the email. Suits, dresses, jackets, slacks, blouses, shoes, jewelry, leather handbags, briefcases, and lo and behold, even laptop computers. Every day, Jake the UPS man would make a delivery. They’d almost become friends. Her colleagues had responded. They approved of her life change, and they wanted to show her how much they wanted to help. Every day, her heart stirred when more and more goods were delivered.

  She felt loved.

  To every single donor, she hand-wrote a thank you note, telling them how much their generosity had touched her heart. And to forever commemorate her loving donors, she created a bulletin board, decorated it as best she could, hung it in the new wardrobe showroom and covered it with index cards with each donor’s name written on them.

  She was ready for clients.

  Time to advertise. She settled on a multi-pronged marketing approach, and once she’d helped some clients, she hoped word of mouth would kick in. She spent a full week brainstorming, running her ideas by Patty, tweaking, and making plans. She’d start with a billboard on US Route 17, the main drag heading through Myrtle Beach, Murrells Inlet, Pawleys Island, the whole stretch. She worked with the Dress For Success national headquarters to get the right design. She worked with stations to create radio ads, television ads, and she agreed to interviews on the local news. She contacted the area newspapers so articles could be written. And she paid for advertising in the touristy newsprint magazines that filled the rack of every restaurant in town.

  She’d get the word out. She’d serve her clients and make a difference in the world. She’d help people, just like Aunt Edie asked of her.

  After months of preparing and planning and investing and collecting and advertising and creating business processes and dreaming, Nora’s phone rang.

  “Hi,” responded a soft female voice to her greeting. “Is this Dress For Success?”

  Nora’s heart jumped. “Yes! Yes it is.”

  “Do you require appointments or can I just stop by?”

  “Appointments are appreciated. When are you available?”

  The woman sighed. “Depends. Can I bring my daughter?”

  “Of course.”

  “Then I’m available right now.”

  “Come on over.”

  Within ten minutes, the sounds of a loud engine, and then a car door slamming brought Nora to the front door. She opened it. A slight young woman had gone around to the passenger side and was leaning into the car, then she straightened, hoisting a toddler on her hip. She set her down and the little waif of a thing took off, running toward the barn. “Grace! Grace! Come back, you!”

  The little girl, no more than two, if Nora had to guess, ignored her mother and kept running. Fortunately, the young woman was faster, and within four or five strides, had caught up with her and lifted her into her arms. The little girl giggled and Mom laughed and covered her face with kisses.

  Nora smiled in greeting as they hiked across the yard and up the front steps of the mansion.

  “Oh my, oh my, oh my,” the girl breathed. Nora smirked as she thought of the mother as a girl. A sign of her own age. She was short and slight, her skin porcelain and transparent to display freckles and her hair could best be described as strawberry blonde. She wore capris pants and a purple Myrtle Beach t-shirt. She looked like a teenager without a stitch of makeup. But this girl carried the responsibility of a child of her own. “This your place?” she asked breathlessly. “It’s gorgeous!”

  Nora soaked in the southern accent. She’d come to love the accent that flowed from the mouths of South Carolina natives because to her, it was proof that she was where she wanted to be, living the dream of the next chapter of her life.

  “Yes, it is. Come on in.” She held her hand out to help the girl across the porch and over the threshold of the doorway. “My aunt used to live here. We lost her earlier this year and she left me the property.”

  “And you’re doing work, I see.”

  “Yes, the living room, dining room and the Dress For Success showroom are finished. They’re tackling the kitchen now.”

  “How wonderful. Would it be okay if I set her down? I can’t promise she wo
n’t get into trouble but I’ll do my best to watch after her.”

  Nora’s heart swelled at the young woman doing the best she could. “Of course. And don’t worry. We’ll both watch after her. I’m less worried about her damaging anything in the house, more concerned about her hurting herself.”

  The woman looked into the sweet face of her daughter, her bright blue eyes, rosy cheeks and messy hair. “Grace, you be good, now. Don’t you make any trouble for your mama or this nice lady, you hear?”

  Grace nodded solemnly, moving her head to look between her mom and Nora. “I will,” she said, and Nora grinned as it came out, “I weel.”

  The young woman put the child down on her tiny feet, and watched her cautiously. The toddler, testing her freedom, took a few steps into the living room, then ran and jumped onto the couch.

  “Grace!”

  The little girl sat straight up. “Sorry Mama!”

  Nora laughed. “Seriously, don’t worry. You’re here to get some help with your job search, right? I’m Nora Ramsey and this is Dress For Success.” She held her hand out.

  The young woman shook it and said, “I’m Carly Milner, and of course, you’ve met Grace.”

  “Awesome. I’m happy to have you. In fact, you being here is a milestone for me. You’re my very first client.”

  “You’re kidding!”

  “No, I’m not. I’ve been working on setting this up for a while, and this is basically my Grand Opening!”

  “I’m honored.” Carly laughed.

  “I tell you what, why don’t we join Grace in the living room and we’ll talk for a little bit. Then we can go look at the clothes.”

  Carly nodded and they made their way over to the couch. Carly sat and Grace crawled into her lap. Nora grabbed a clipboard with a Client Questionnaire and a pen, and joined them.