Author: Kristan Higgins

“Okay. Harry Welles—you heard of him, right?”

“Another Wall Street scumbag, from what I hear.”

“Yeah. Well, he bankrupted the family, and all his daughter has left is this house. From her mother’s side of the family. Julia Harrington was her great-aunt.”

“Wow. Millionaire to shack-owner,” she murmured as they walked toward the front door.

“Yeah. So she needs to flip it as soon as she can.” He opened the door for Chantal, who recoiled.

“I’ll pass on the inside for now,” she said. “I’m guessing crappy insulation, maybe four entire electrical outlets and plenty of wildlife.”

“You’re psychic.”

“So how much money can your client spend on it? If we put on an addition, a master suite with sliders and a deck, a big bathroom with a Jacuzzi, gourmet kitchen, build a big patio into the hillside here, outdoor fireplace…we can get a g*y couple in here faster than you can say, ‘Bar Harbor is unaffordable.’” Chantal licked her red-painted lips in anticipation.

“She has about ten grand,” James said.

“Well, shit, then.” She sighed. “There are back taxes on this place, did you know?”

“No,” James said. Crap. If he’d known that, he could’ve paid them off. Why Parker didn’t, he had no idea. Then again, she didn’t even remember that she owned the house.

Chantal nudged a piece of trash with her foot. “Julia was broke, and no one in Town Hall ever had the heart to go after them while she was alive. Sorry to say, Harry’s daughter will have to pay about fifteen years’ worth of taxes. Guess it slipped through the cracks until now.”

“What if we did a teardown?” James asked.

Chantal shrugged, pursing her full, red lips. “Nah. Waterfront property up here isn’t worth a ton, because who the hell wants to live in Washington County, right? It’s too far from everything.”

“Right,” James acknowledged.

“And this is what we call a postage-stamp lot. You can get two acres of waterfront over on Mutton Chop Bay for next to nothing. Judy Phillips has been trying to sell a parcel for three years now. Not one offer.” Chantal tipped her head and folded her arms under her chest, making her br**sts swell, then glanced at James to make sure he noticed. How could he not? She winked.

“So what’s your advice, Chantal?”

“Well, her best bet for a quick sale is to make it pretty. Strip it down, slap on some new flooring, new roof, new shingles, paint the inside. Market it as a tiny jewel of a hideaway. Maybe we can get enough to cover the back taxes and give her a little nest egg besides, little being the operative word here. The place isn’t even winterized. But curb appeal, you hear? Make it adorable. You might get a family or a retired couple looking for a cheap summer home.”

“Okay. We’ll shoot for that. Thanks, Chantal.”

“You’re welcome.” She gave him a sunny smile. “How’s your family? Dewey says everyone’s doing about as well as can be expected.”

“Yep. Everyone’s fine.”

She shaded her eyes and looked him up and down. “You turned out awfully nice, James Cahill.”

“And you’re just as beautiful as I remember.”

“Aw. Give me a kiss. On the cheek, now. I’m extremely faithful to my young stud of a husband.”

“How’d he get so lucky?” James asked.

“He knocked me up. Let me know if I can help, okay? I’ll probably see you at Dewey’s, and you have my number.”

“You bet. Thanks for coming out, Chantal.”

“Nice to see you again, honey,” she said. She got back in her car and backed out of the overgrown driveway. No sign of Parker, who’d been at the hardware store for a couple hours now. Or she’d fled.

In the truck he’d borrowed from Chuck, one of his basketball buddies—who’d been more than happy to take the Lexus off his hands for the summer—was James’s own stuff. Some tools, left over from his summertime work as a construction worker, not from his father, God knew—Frank Cahill wouldn’t give James a staple, and James wasn’t dumb enough to ask. A few boxes that he’d found in Grayhurst’s attic. He wasn’t sure if Parker had meant to leave them or not, but the Feds hadn’t wanted them.

And his laptop. The old résumé would need brushing up. Unfortunately, there seemed to be more unemployed lawyers in the world than Chinese, and getting a job that paid him what Harry had…not gonna happen.

Speaking of Harry…James reached into the cab of the truck and pulled out his cell phone. A few minutes later, he had Harry on the line.

“How you doing, boss?” he asked.

“Not bad, James, me boy,” Harry said. His jocular tone told James that someone else was nearby, so Harry would be keeping up appearances. “Where are you?”

“Up in Maine. About four hours away from you, give or take.”

“I appreciate you going up there.”

“No problem, Harry.” Playing along with Harry’s mood—because it was one of his few talents—James added, “You’ve paid me enough to go to the Black Hole of Calcutta for the summer, let alone the coast of Maine.”

Harry burst out laughing. “True enough, true enough.” He paused. “I’m trying to get in touch with some of my former associates about a job for you, kid.”

Whatever James had done to earn Harry’s affection, he didn’t know. “I’ll be fine. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“Well, I’ll let you know if something turns up. How’s my daughter?”

“She’s okay.” James paused. “The house isn’t worth much.”

“No?”

“No. And it’s a mess.”

Another lengthy pause. “So what’s the plan?” Harry asked. There was some noise over the PA about visiting hours.

“Well, we’ll fix it up as best we can, try to sell it.” He paused. “You doing okay, boss?”

There was a long silence from the other end. “It’s not bad,” Harry said in a low voice. “I have a lot of time on my hands. Not much to do. Plenty of time to consider my sins, right?” He gave a halfhearted chuckle.

“I guess so,” James said. “Did you get the books?”

“I did. Shogun and Moby-Dick, huh? Trying to educate me? Afraid I’ll join a gang while I’m in here?”

“Yep. I also figured you could use them as weapons if a riot broke out.”

“Good thinking. All right, I should go. I have a meeting. Take care of yourself, son. Talk soon.” With that, he hung up, sounding much like the corporate wheeler and dealer he’d been.

A meeting. That was good. One good thing about prison—Harry would have to sober up.

Well. Back to work. Parker’s room was almost clear.

He had to admit, it was more satisfying than Nerf basketball.

* * *

“OKAY, FOR MOLD KILLING, this here’s what you want, little lady,” said Ben, one of the three senior-citizen gentlemen who’d pounced the second she’d walked into the tiny hardware store.

“Mold killer. Got it. Thank you so much, really.”

“Oh, my Lord, it’s a pleasure,” Rolly said. “Pretty ladies who don’t know nothin’ about home repair…it’s what we live for.”

“You guys are angels.”

I resent that, said Spike. A totally overused word.

“You’re sweet, dahlin’,” said Stuart. “It’s our pleasure. You ever painted a room before?”

“I haven’t,” she admitted, and the men charged the paint-chip wall.

Almost three hours after she entered the hardware store, Parker left, the three guys carrying her packages to the Volvo. “Oh, Rhode Island,” said Ben, glancing at her plates. “I went to Providence College.”

“A wonderful school,” Parker said, making him blush.

“You need any more advice, we’ll be happy to help,” Stuart said.

“I absolutely will, and thanks a million, boys. Really.”

She realized she was smiling as she started the car. The guys had advised on mousetraps—the thought made her cringe, regardless of this morning’s little incident, which she’d relayed to her new pals to their howling delight. They’d shown her what she’d need: sponges, brooms, mops, bleach and lots of it, Murphy’s wood oil, razor-blade scrapers, gallons of Windex, six pairs of thick rubber gloves, two pairs of work gloves, megasize trash bags. Not only that, but the boys had a box of doughnuts from Joe’s Diner—no Starbucks up here, that was for sure—and they’d made her eat two, bless their hearts.

Parker had never been in a hardware store before. Nope. It was her new favorite place, though—all those mysterious thingies, the pleasant smell of metal and wood smoke from the stove in the middle of the store. All those solutions for her troubles.

Glancing at her watch, she saw that, at last, it was late enough to call Nicky. She pulled over to the side of the road. Cell service, thank heavens.

“Mommy! Guess what? I love sourdough bread! I hated it yesterday, and now I love it! You have to smear it with jelly. That’s when it gets good. Guess what else? We’re going to the Golden Bridge today! And some gardens…Lucy’s making me go but I want to see the jail! It’s on an island and me and Daddy—”

“Daddy and I.”

“Daddy and I are gonna go to jail like Grandpa, but I’m gonna break out! And I’m gonna bring Elephant, and he’s gonna break out, too. And guess what? I’m gonna jump in the water and swim all the way to Maine, Mommy! We’ll take you out for lunch.”

Man, her boy was the best kid ever. Parker felt a bit as if she’d swallowed the sun, so warm and bright his chirpy little voice made her feel. “Well, don’t swim yet. The house isn’t quite ready, and you have to go see the giant trees and rocks, remember?”

“I know. But I miss you.”

The vise that had gripped her heart since Nicky left tightened a notch. “I miss you, too, sweetheart.” I miss you so much I cried in the car last night. “I can’t wait for you to get here. It’s so pretty. I can see lobster boats from the house.” Well, she could if the windows weren’t boarded up. “And there’s a really cute diner where we can go out to eat.”

“Do they have sourdough bread?”

“I don’t know. I’m going there tomorrow.”

“Did you know there are earthquakes in Fran Francisco?” Nicky said.

Parker smiled again. “I did, actually.”

“I’m gonna lay on the floor—”

“Lie on the floor.”

“—and see if I can hear one. Here’s Lucy! Bye! I love you! I got you a present! It’s a necklace and it’s a rainbow.”

“Bye, baby. I love you! I’ll call you later,” Parker said.

There was a smile in Lucy’s voice. “He’s on the floor. Every time a bus goes past the hotel, he tells us to get in a doorway. Go brush your teeth, okay, pal?” she said to Nicky. “So how are you, Parker? What’s it like up there?”

“Oh, it’s pretty. It’s very pretty,” Parker said.

“And what’s the house like?”

“Well, um, it’s right on the water. It’s pretty small, very cute. It needs some work. But it’ll be great.” No need to worry her two best pals on their vacation. She’d save the stories for later, when the horror wasn’t so fresh.

“How’s the real-estate market up there?” Lucy asked.

“I haven’t checked yet. It’s on my list.” Right after I kill Snuggles the Mouse, of course.