*Lauren*

The bright tropical sun was just cresting over the horizon when there was a familiar rap on my bungalow door. I opened it to find my father Michael standing there, trademark coffee mug in hand and an eager gleam in his eye.

"Good morning, pumpkin," he greeted me with a warm hug. "I hope you don't mind me barging in this early. I figured we could use the cool morning hours to start digging into all the work ahead of us."

I smiled, touched ...