With Baited Breath (8 page)

“What’s your next project?” Kathy asked.

“After clearing the house? Painting it, and then maybe the boathouse—but not the same color as the shop.”

“Of course not, you want them to stand out in contrast to the shop. White is probably best for both.”

“That’s what I was thinking.”

“I’d like to take a look at the boathouse,” Kathy said. “I saw a wonderful renovation on HGTV and they were able to rent it for top buck.”

“Really?” Tori said.

Kathy nodded. “You need to think about doing anything that will bring revenue to your Cannon brand.”

“Brand,” Tori repeated and laughed. “You make us sound like Nabisco.”

“It’s a powerful brand. There’s no reason you can’t have one in this area, either. Why not rent to high-
and
lower-end customers?”

Tori frowned. “I never gave it a thought.”

“Well, you should.”

They finished their drinks in companionable silence before Kathy called Noreen back and settled her tab.

“Will we see you again later this evening?” she asked.

“Maybe. Maybe not. But I’ll be back to stay for a few days—and probably next week, so maybe you could save me a room,” Kathy said as she and Tori rose from their seats.

“Sure thing,” Noreen said, and waved goodbye as they headed out the door.

“I’ve been thinking,” Tori began as they looked both ways before crossing the road. “That house across the road was locked when we got there. Anissa and I walked the whole perimeter. No windows were broken. Whoever got in there to hide the wallet had to have had a key.”

“That occurred to me, too,” Kathy said. “But who says the wallet hadn’t been there for months? Despite what Anissa said, the cops can’t just assume it was Mr. Jackson’s current wallet.”

They crossed the lawn heading for the house. “It didn’t seem like the police had made any headway in solving the case,” Kathy said.

“So I noticed.”

They stopped in front of the sign Kathy had already finished painting. It pleased her. “You should keep your eyes and ears open.”

Tori turned to face her. “What are you saying? That I should snoop around and try to find out who killed Michael Jackson?”

“Not at all. But, presumably, his friends and neighbors also patronize the bait shop. Everybody likes to talk about scandals. Maybe they’ll say something to your Gramps that they wouldn’t say to the police.”

“Good point. Okay, I’ll keep my eyes and ears open. But, in the meantime, I feel so bad for Anissa. She’ll never feel better about her father’s death, but she’ll at least get some kind of closure when the police solve this.”

“I feel crummy about leaving you guys tomorrow,” Kathy said.

“Hey, at least one of us is gainfully employed. I’ve got a lot to think about during the next couple of weeks. I may bend your ear so much that it’ll hurt.”

“I’m here for you,” Kathy said sincerely.

Herb rounded the corner of the bait shop, looking ornery. “Are we ever going to have supper?”

“Looks like it’s gonna be breakfast, instead,” Tori called. “I’ll get some waffles going and call you when they’re ready.”

He nodded and headed back for the shop.

“Waffles?” Kathy asked.

“Nobody’s shopped since before Grandma died. The truth is, I think they’d been living on scrambled eggs and toast for quite a while. That’s all Gramps knows how to cook. I’ll have to start introducing some healthy food back into his diet.”

Kathy grinned. “Better you than me.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Oh, damn,” Kathy said, looking down at her dress. “I forgot to stop back at my room to change clothes. We have a lot to do this evening.”

“Change and come back for waffles. I think there’s some bacon in the freezer, too.”

“I never say no to bacon. I’ll be back in a jiffy to help.”

Tori went to the house and Kathy started back across the grass for the highway and her room at The Bay Bar. She hadn’t wanted to say anything to Tori, but she’d already decided she wanted that house. It was foolish. It would be a ton of work and cost a boatload of money, but she wanted it more than the racing bike she’d coveted as a tween.

Her family would be unhappy. Tori would be unhappy, and Kathy knew there’d be days when she’d curse the idea of even looking at the place. But at that moment all she could think about was transforming that ugly duckling of a house into a beautiful swan she’d love and treasure.

Now all she had to do was buy the place. There was a tiny problem with that—how to pay for it. She had to keep her job until her inheritance came through and she hoped it would equal what her brother had received three years before.

She crossed the road and headed toward her tiny rental room. She’d never done anything so impulsive in her life—especially without a feasibility study, but her gut was telling her this was the right decision.

She just hoped she wouldn’t regret it.

CHAPTER 7

It had sounded like an easy plan to pop the lawnmower into Tori’s hatchback and head up Resort Road to the Jackson bungalow, but it had taken Tori, Kathy, and Herb to lift it in, and four bungee cords to secure it—they hoped. Tori drove like a little old lady, very slow and with her hands gripping the steering wheel for dear life, while Kathy twisted like a pretzel in her seat, keeping an eye on the mower.

At last, they pulled the car up to the edge of the lot. If there was ever a gravel driveway, it had long ago been taken over by grass and weeds. They got out of the car. “Think the two of us can get this mower out of the car?” Kathy asked.

“No. We’d better get Anissa.” But they didn’t have to move a foot, for Anissa was already heading across the weed patch toward them.

“Aw, you girls didn’t have to come out here.”

“No, but I’ll bet you’re glad we did,” Tori said and laughed. “Can you give us a hand?”

“Sure thing.”

They each grabbed a part of the mower, but it was obvious Anissa took most of the weight, and set it gently on the ground. “Who gets to run it?” she asked.

“Me,” Tori said.

“We brought along some clippers, the weed whacker, and a couple of rakes. I figured you and I could hack at the landscaping while Tori cuts the grass. We’ll have this place looking like a palace within the hour.”

“It’s going to take a new coat of paint and probably a new roof to do that, but that can happen on another day,” Anissa said. She and Kathy gathered the tools while Tori started the engine. She thought Kathy’s time estimate was optimistic, considering how high the weeds had grown, but the lot wasn’t nearly as big as the Cannon compound. They’d be finished before dark.

Tori had to cover the same ground over and over again to chop down the sturdy weeds, but after a couple of rows the yard began to resemble a lawn instead of a meadow. She looked up as she started another row and saw a woman dressed in white slacks and an orange blouse standing in the driveway of the big house on the hill, watching them work. From that distance, Tori couldn’t discern the woman’s expression, but with arms crossed over her chest, her body language conveyed impatience—or perhaps it was annoyance. Lucinda Bloomfield had been angling to buy the property and obliterate the bungalow that for years had been a visual blight next to her property.

Kathy and Anissa hacked at the overgrown bushes around the front of the house and in no time had dragged the debris to a pile at the side of the road. The front of the house was in desperate need of paint, but as Anissa had said, it could wait for another day.

Tori was still attacking the grass/weeds when Kathy and Anissa grabbed the rakes and started on the rows that Tori had already finished. She continued to cut the grass and with each new row looked up at the house on the hill where the woman stood watching. Kathy and Anissa had noticed her, too.

Once the lawn was cut, Tori pushed the mower aside and started working the weed whacker. By the time she finished with that, the others had just about finished raking and were only a step or two behind her. She found a stick to clear out the matted grass that clung to the bottom of the whacker.

“What’s going to happen to all the brush?” Tori asked.

“I’m gonna burn it,” Anissa said. “I’ll wait a few days for it to dry out, then I’ll plant some grass seed where it scorches the earth.”

“Are you allowed to burn brush?” Kathy asked, aghast. It certainly wasn’t allowed where she lived.

“Hell, I’m gonna burn my trash, too. It’s legal out here in the sticks.”

“Yeah, and lots of people do it,” Tori agreed. “But Gramps has a garbage pickup.”

They stood back to appraise their work.

“I’m astounded,” Anissa said. “What a transformation. The house almost looks like how I remember it as a kid.” She turned to face her new friends. “I don’t know how to thank you.”

“You just did,’ Tori said and laughed.

“Uh-oh,” Kathy muttered. Tori and Anissa turned to follow her gaze. The woman from the house on the hill approached. A rigid smile covered her mouth, and Tori got the impression it was an expression she didn’t often sport.

“Hello,” the woman called.

“Hi,” Tori and Kathy said in unison. Anissa said nothing, but her back had stiffened.

The woman offered her hand. “I’m Lucinda Bloomfield. Nice to meet you.”

Tori made the introductions. “And this is Anissa Jackson.”

Anissa still said nothing, but her expression in reaction to the woman’s greeting said ‘
I’ll bet
.’

“You ladies have been working hard. Going to put the house up for sale?” Lucinda asked hopefully.

“No,” Anissa answered. She offered no other explanation, so Tori jumped in.

“Anissa and I have similar plans to do a cosmetic refresh.”

“Cannon,” Lucinda said thoughtfully. “You’re related to the people who own the Lotus Lodge?” She said the words with a hint of disapproval. No doubt, she considered the shabby and shuttered motel to be yet another eyesore at the foot of the road that led to her elegant mansion.

“Yes.”

“Will you be reopening the motel or demolishing it?” Lucinda asked. It sounded as though she’d prefer the latter.

“I’d like to reopen it,” Tori bluffed. She’d actually talked herself out of the notion, but her seldom-seen ire had been tweaked.

“The brewery fishing derby is just six weeks away. Surely you can’t get it ready for occupancy by then.”

Tori shrugged. “I’m going to try. Anissa is a contractor. She’s going to help me.”

Anissa cocked her head to one side but said nothing. This time her expression said,
I am?

“A contractor?” Lucinda repeated, as though in disbelief. She eyed Anissa critically.

“Anything a man can do, I can do better,” Anissa said finally.

Lucinda took in Anissa’s chiseled muscles. “I don’t doubt it.”

“Why did you want to know if I was going to sell my father’s house?” Anissa asked, her voice sharp.

Lucinda shrugged. “It’s in need of a lot of repair. I just thought…”

“Wrong,” Anissa asserted. “My daddy said you badgered him to sell. Why?”

“Badgered?” Lucinda repeated. “That’s an antagonistic word.”

“That’s what he said. Why would you want this house?” Anissa repeated.

“Not the house, the property. My grandparents bought the land where my home resides over seventy-five years ago. They weren’t interested in water access. I am.”

“You gonna buy a party barge or something?” Anissa asked, her words sounding like a taunt.

“I have a sailboat. It’s currently berthed at Parkland Marina. I’d rather not have to travel that distance when I want to sail her.”

“Gee, that’s too bad,” Anissa said, not sounding a bit sorry.

“Cannon’s is a lot closer,” Tori suggested, knowing full well that it was far too shabby, and with no amenities, for an expensive sailboat to be moored. Kathy gave her a stern glare.

“You have a beautiful home,” Kathy said, sounding desperate to steer the conversation in another direction.

“Thank you. It’s been featured in Architectural Digest, Home Beautiful, and Country Living magazines.”

“I’m sorry I missed it,” Kathy said with sincerity. It was Tori’s turn to glare at her friend.

“Well, I’d better get back home. It’s time to feed my dogs,” Lucinda said.

“Dobermans?” Anissa asked.

“No, Yorkies.” If Lucinda was offended by Anissa’s suggestion, she didn’t show it. She smiled, and this time it seemed a little more genuine. “Welcome to the neighborhood.” She turned and started back toward her driveway.

“Thank you,” Kathy called after her.

Tori and Anissa turned their gazes on Kathy. “You don’t live here,” Tori reminded her.

“And technically you don’t, either.”

“You haven’t decided to buy that crappy old house, have you?” Tori accused.

“Of course not, I mean, not just after one viewing.”

“Kathy,” Tori admonished.

“We’d better finish up here. We can still get a few hours of work in on your grandpa’s house tonight.” She looked toward the bungalow. “I’ll collect the rakes.”

Tori waited until she was out of earshot. “Can’t you convince her that buying that house would be a huge mistake?”

Anissa shrugged. “I’m not convinced it would be. If you’re gonna stay with your Gramps, why wouldn’t you want your best friend nearby?”

“I would love it, but I don’t want to see her go broke trying to resurrect that wreck.”

“I never got a chance to check out the basement for her. I can’t give her a yay or a nay until I do.”

“Thank goodness for that.”

“Shhh—here she comes,” Anissa warned.

Kathy struggled to hold onto the rakes and the weed whacker. “Grab the loppers and we can load up the mower.”

Tori did so and joined the two women by the car. Kathy looked disappointed. No doubt, Anissa had told her she couldn’t comment on the house. Good.

Tori placed the loppers in the back of the car with the other tools and the three women hefted the mower into the back once more. They secured it with the bungee cords and then turned back to examine their work one last time.

“What color are you going to paint it?” Tori asked, hoping it wouldn’t be the same mustard yellow.”

“I don’t know. Maybe hot pink. That might annoy old Lucinda,” Anissa said with a smirk

“You’re bad,” Kathy scolded.

“Maybe—maybe not,” Anissa admitted. She let out a long breath. “I can’t thank you guys enough, and not just for helping me with the yard. I feel like I’ve made a couple of new friends today.”

“One new friend,” Tori said indicating Kathy, “and got reacquainted with an old one.”

Anissa laughed. “Yeah.”

“If you get lonely, I’m going to be staying with Gramps through at least the weekend. Then I need to go back to Rochester to start shutting down my apartment.”

“So, you weren’t shitting old lady Bloomfield. You really
are
going to reopen the Lotus Lodge?” Anissa asked.

Tori shrugged. “I don’t know. It was terrible of me, but I just felt the urge to bug her by telling her yes.”

“You bad girl, you,” Anissa said and laughed.

“Yes, you’re very bad,” Kathy said with disapproval.

“Don’t tell me you like that old bat,” Anissa accused.

“I don’t know her well enough to make that kind of judgment,” Kathy said.

Instant shame gushed through Tori, making her blush. One of the things she admired most about her best friend was her honesty and sense of fairness. “We’d better get going,” she said to hide her embarrassment.

“Yeah,” Kathy agreed. She turned to Anissa. “Any chance you can come with me to look at the basement of that house tomorrow morning? That is, if I can get Jerry to come back and show it.”

“Sure thing.”

“Great.” They exchanged phone numbers. “I won’t be leaving until lunchtime, so I’ll call you later tonight or tomorrow morning.”

“Okay.”

Kathy followed Tori and got in the car.

“See you,” Tori said, and started the engine. Kathy waved as they pulled away.

They drove in silence back to the Cannon compound. Tori finally broke the quiet. “So, you’re serious about that house?”

“I won’t know until Anissa tells me about the basement. There could be all kinds of problems that would be deal breakers; from dry rot, to termites, to foundation issues. Seeing the condition of the rest of the house, I’m pretty sure all the mechanicals are shot and in need of replacement. It might be that the place is only fit for demolition.”

“But you hope not,” Tori stated.

Kathy shrugged. She opened the passenger door. “Come on. We’ve got a lot to accomplish tonight.”

“Including your call to that real estate agent,” Tori said with disapproval.

“Yeah,” Kathy agreed. She got out of the car and shut the door, then headed for the house.

Tori got out of the car, but instead of following her friend, she walked up to the road and then along the shoulder until she could see the front yard of what she was already beginning to think of as Kathy’s Folly. The police had departed, but there was no sign of crime tape. They must have either determined that finding the wallet was a fluke or a plant, or that there was no reason to believe it was a crime scene.

If
she ended up living with Herb, and
if
Kathy bought the house across the street, life could be pretty damn nice. So why was she against the idea of Kathy buying the place?

She needed to think long and hard about that—including questioning her own motives, because just when life had handed her a giant stinking turd with the loss of Billy and her job, Kathy might be on the cusp of fulfilling a long-held dream. Was a green-eyed monster lurking deep within her?

Yeah, she had a lot to think about.