They pulled up at the beach house ten minutes later, at about 12:15. Mark was standing on the lawn as Brodi pulled the car up the drive underneath the house. It was not lost on Elise that Brodi maintained a blank expression as he stopped the car and opened the door. The blank look morphed into a smile as Mark approached and opened Elise's door for her.

"Hey kids! Glad you made it. Well, son, what do you think?"

Brodi looked up at the house and nodded approvingly. "You've really kept it up. Still renting her out?"

"Nope. Got tired of fixing damaged property. Nobody but family gets her anymore. Which means," Mark looked over the top of his sunglasses at Brodi, "that you have access to it too. You have my phone number now, so no excuses."

Brodi laughed. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Now, how about a tour?"

"Love it!" Elise exclaimed.

The entire house was on stilts, like every other house that faced the beach. The lower end was nothing but a cement floor housing an outdoor shower stall, a picnic table, a hammock, and a clothes line. For access from the underside, there were stairs leading up to the front door, which opened immediately into a huge den. There were no carpets, just hardwood floors (easier to sweep sand out, and less difficult than carpet in case of flooding, Mark explained.) Only the kitchen and bathroom had linoleum.

"It's all one level," Mark was saying to Elise, "Open-air plan, except for the bedrooms and bathrooms of course. There are four bedrooms, two bath, just down that hall."

The kitchen ad sliding glass doors which opened onto a small porch, which in turn hadits own private boardwalk leading to the beach itself.

The den contained a huge overstuffed sectional, powder blue print from the 80's, a matching overstuffed loveseat and a papas an chair, all arranged around a glass coffee table strewn with sea shells and magazines. Against the wall at one end was a large screen TV, DVC, stereo, and even a game system or two.

Brodi wandered off by himself while Mark talked to Elise. Neither had really noticed he was gone until they heard a crash coming from one of the back rooms. The two of them sprinted down the hall and opened the door to the room the sound had come from. Inside, they found Brodi on the floor next to the bed, convulsing.

"Brodi!" Elise shouted as she knelt next to him.

Mark started tossing pillows towards her. "Put these around him to make sure he doesn't hurt himself. I'll call an ambulance."