Mariah Stewart - Coming Home

“Her version of room freshener, I suppose.”

“Miss Grace could probably tell you more about it. She grew up right around the block there.” He pointed out the back door toward the rear of the property. “That’s the old Abernathy place right through there. You can see the back of the carriage house right beyond those trees. I believe Miss Grace’s mother may have known Miss Ridgeway.”

They’d already been in the house for over an hour, and there was no mistaking the fact that Ham was more than ready to leave. With great reluctance, Vanessa followed him out the door and watched him place the key back into the lockbox. She’d wanted to grab it from him so that she could stay awhile longer, but she was supposed to meet Hal and Beck at Lola’s for dinner and she was already late.

She’d been almost hyperventilating by the time she reached Lola’s.

“So what did you think of the old Ridgeway place, Ness?” Hal had asked after Vanessa had taken a seat at the table.

“It’s so… perfect. Just… perfect.” The words came out in a rush. “There’s a fireplace in the living room and maybe another one in the dining room but that one’s boarded up so it’s tough to know for sure if there’s a fireplace there or not, but there’s a chimney outside so it could be.” She turned to Beck and grabbed him by the arm. “It has bay windows… I always wanted to live in a house with bay windows. And this funky kitchen with old cabinets but I could paint them and maybe do something with the floor in there because it’s-”

“Ness.” Beck waved a hand in front of her face. “Take a breath.”

She did.

“So I guess you liked it, then,” Hal said.

“Oh, I loved it.”

“I knew you would.”

“Fat lot of good it does, but yes”-she sighed-“I love it. If I were in a position to buy a house, I’d be back in Ham Forbes’s office signing the papers right now.”

“Well, now, maybe we could give you a little help with that,” Hal said gently.

“What are you talking about?”

“Ham probably mentioned that the house is held by an estate. It passed to a niece of Miss Ridgeway’s who came down here once, for the funeral, and hasn’t been back since. I heard she isn’t hurting for money, but still, she has to keep up the taxes, keep the house heated so that the pipes don’t freeze, and she pays one of the Morton boys to keep the lawn mowed.” Hal rested both arms on the table in front of him. “Add to that the fact that the market’s slow and we’re headed toward winter, and I’m thinking we could make a low offer and see what happens.”

Vanessa stared at him as if he were mad.

“Hal, we can’t get the price down low enough for me to cough up a down payment. I have savings but not that much.”

“I doubt the mortgage payments would be more than what you’re paying in rent for that apartment you’re in now,” Beck noted.

“That may be, but like I said, I don’t have…”

Hal and Beck exchanged a conspiratorial look.

“What?” she asked.

“Beck and I have been real proud of the way you put that business of yours together,” Hal told her. “You have a real fine work ethic, Ness, and a real head for business. You pay your bills on time, and from what I hear from the ladies in St. Dennis, you carry real nice stuff there in the shop. Classy, they tell me. You contribute to the community in a lot of ways, and you’ve made a place for yourself here in St. Dennis.”

“Thank you.” Her eyes welled. “It’s the only place where I ever felt I belonged.”

“Of course you belong here.” Beck patted her on the back. “You’ve earned your place.”

“Now, as you know, I’ve bought up properties here and there in town. Like the building your shop is in, and the ones on either side. I have a lot invested in St. Dennis, so I don’t like to see vacant buildings. It’s bad for the town’s image, especially since we’re trying to establish ourselves as a tourist destination. We’ve come a long way in the past five years, but we have a lot more to clean up before we can compete with some of the other Bay towns. That’s why I bought some of those old warehouses over by the marsh. I’m thinking maybe something like an antique mall would be good in there, once I finish the renovations.” Hal stopped and turned to Beck. “What do you think of that idea?”

“I think it’s a good one,” Beck replied, “but I also like the idea of a boatbuilding venture.”

“That’s another thing altogether, and a conversation for another day,” Hal said. He turned back to Vanessa. “So I’m thinking that I’m going to buy Miss Ridgeway’s property from the estate myself, then sell it back to you for whatever I pay for it.” He took a sip of the one beer he limited himself to each evening. “That is, if you want it.”

Vanessa’s mouth moved, but nothing came out except a squeak.

“Nod if that was a yes.” Beck elbowed her.

She nodded, her eyes as big as dinner plates.

“You’ll make the mortgage payments to me,” Hal continued. “I’m thinking a fifteen-year mortgage at four percent would be about right.”

Still no intelligible sound from Vanessa.

“Cat got your tongue, Ness?” Beck teased, and she burst into tears.

Hal made his offer, and after some brief and halfhearted negotiations on the seller’s part, the offer was accepted. They’d agreed upon a thirty-day settlement, much to the seller’s delight. Vanessa moved in the day of settlement, and as soon as all the paperwork cleared, Hal resold the house to her just as he’d promised.

That had been last fall, and she hadn’t missed a payment to Hal or an escrow payment for her taxes. Once a month, she took Hal to dinner, and she handed over her mortgage payment right before dessert and coffee. Sometimes Beck joined them, but more often than not, it was just Hal and Vanessa. In him, she’d found the father she’d never known. In her, he’d often said, he’d found the daughter he’d always wanted, the daughter he might have had if Maggie had stayed with him when she brought Beck those many years ago, instead of turning tail and running away again.

Even now, six months later, Vanessa’s heart lifted when she drew close enough to see the pink and purple tulips she’d planted along the front walk and around the porch right after she moved in. From inside, a soft light glowed, the timer having turned on a lamp in the living room’s bay window.

“My house,” she whispered to herself as she unlocked the front door. “Mine.”

Vanessa never once crossed the threshold of the house on Cherry Street without feeling immensely grateful that Maggie had sent her to meet Beck. It was the one truly good thing her mother had ever done for her. In coming to St. Dennis, Vanessa had found so much more than a half brother. She’d found herself.

AS far as Hal was concerned, any day that started out with him on the deck of the Shady Lady was a fine day indeed. His only wish was that this day had started earlier. When he’d invited Mia’s brothers to spend a few hours on his boat, fishing with him on the Bay, he figured on leaving at his regular time, which was sunrise. There was something about watching the sky wake up and turn on the light that got to him, every time. Unfortunately, he’d made the mistake of asking, “What time’s good for you?” And so he’d been stuck there, the boat still in its slip, till close to eight that morning waiting on the Shields boys, while the fish were running for someone other than him. When Grady showed up-ten minutes early but alone, because Andy had gotten a call on one of his cases and had to send his regrets-Hal was just as happy. If he’d had to wait another twenty minutes for someone else, he’d have fallen asleep.