Windswept Way (Hope Harbor #9)(14)
Author: Irene Hannon

 

But no way was she bringing that up.

 

“Well, you may find out why he was so forthcoming if you end up hiring him. You’ll leave the house key under the mat by the front door for me?”

 

“Yes. I’m meeting with Rose this afternoon, and I’ll alert her you’ll be stopping by.”

 

“Watch for a report and preliminary estimate by the end of next week. It may take me a while to get final numbers, depending on how fast vendors respond and how much work I determine has to be done after I give the place a thorough inspection.”

 

“I understand. Thanks for stopping by today.”

 

Grinning, BJ pulled her truck keys from her jeans. “Believe me, it was my pleasure. I’ve been curious about this house for years. It was a treat to be able to see it up close, inside and out. Take care, and safe travels home tomorrow.”

 

Ashley followed her to the door and continued onto the porch as the other woman strode down the walk and slid behind the wheel of her truck. Once it disappeared from sight around the bend that led to the leafy tunnel, she dropped onto the top step and wrapped her arms around her legs.

 

The past three days had been busy but productive. All that was left on her agenda before driving north to the airport early tomorrow morning was her meeting this afternoon with Rose, who’d kept herself scarce since their first chat over tea and scones.

 

Strange how fate had brought them together. A recluse and a woman on the rebound, separated in age by almost fifty years yet both wanting to start a new chapter in their lives.

 

Ashley propped her elbows on her knees and rested her chin in her palms as two seagulls circled overhead.

 

In many ways, Rose was as much of an enigma as Jon Gray. What did she do with herself here, day after day, with no one for company but seagulls and pelicans and the dolphin that liked to frolic offshore?

 

Such a solitary, lonely life.

 

Her solitude was on the cusp of evaporating, however. The place would be buzzing with activity if the deal went forward.

 

A big if at this point, though, and becoming bigger by the day. Assuming the house passed BJ’s inspection, the necessary changes to bring it up to ADA commercial code would be expensive. And her potential landscaper had already warned her his work didn’t come cheap.

 

Maybe she’d bitten off more than she could chew.

 

Wouldn’t be the first time, as Mom liked to remind her.

 

The two gulls swooped lower, as if eager to get a closer look at the strange creature with hope in her heart and stars in her eyes who could be setting herself up for an epic—and very expensive—fail.

 

Except she hadn’t signed any contracts yet. If the numbers were too intimidating, she could pass on the deal. Find work somewhere else. Give up the fanciful dream the Herald article had breathed life into.

 

Spirits drooping, she pushed herself to her feet.

 

A job that had gone up in flames.

 

A romance that had crashed and burned.

 

An opportunity that had blazed brightly but could be poised to fizzle out.

 

How depressing was that?

 

“Ashley, honey, don’t ever let anyone take away your dreams. They’re worth more than gold. Remember what Thoreau said. If you’ve built castles in the air, that’s where they should be. Now put foundations under them.”

 

As the encouraging words her father had once shared echoed in her mind, Ashley straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin.

 

Dad was right. She was not going to give up.

 

Yet.

 

So she’d march into that meeting with Rose with all the confidence she could muster.

 

And hope the woman didn’t see through her façade of optimism to the doubts undermining the excitement that had sent her on a cross-country trek in pursuit of a dream that might fade away like a Hope Harbor mist.

 

 

 

Her potential partner was worried about money.

 

As Ashley waved goodbye from the loop drive and climbed behind the wheel of her rental car, Rose wrapped one hand around the carved post that supported the porch and leaned against it.

 

The young woman who’d spent the past few days consulting with experts and soliciting bids hadn’t voiced her concern, but subtext was easy to read if one listened with the eyes and heart.

 

How sad that the fate of so many dreams rested on the almighty dollar.

 

Thank goodness the trust fund Grandfather had left her—set up to prevent a husband from ever touching a dime, praise the Lord—and the sizeable bequest from Papa ensured she would never have to worry about money for the rest of her life.

 

Not to mention the extra buffer provided by her other source of income.

 

Ashley waved out the window as she approached the exit, and Rose’s lips curved up as she responded.

 

Such a lovely young woman. And she didn’t have to fret. If the vendors she’d consulted, all checked out and approved by David after a quick email from his favorite client, came back with bids that were out of her range, the agreement could be adjusted.

 

The rental car disappeared into the greenery, and Rose returned to the foyer. After locking the front door and detouring to the drawing room for her sweater, she continued through the house to the back, where the view was always a balm to the soul.

 

Pausing in the middle of the stone terrace, she surveyed the velvet-green lawn that dropped off sharply to the water, the ever-present boom of waves against the sea stacks muted behind the caw of seagulls soaring on the thermal wind currents overhead.

 

Perhaps she was being foolish, not creating a nonprofit entity that would assume control of the property under her management until her death, as David had advised. But if she’d chosen that course, the home to generations of Fitzgeralds would be run by strangers who came and went after she was gone. Who had no personal investment in or connection to Edgecliff. Who regarded their work here as a job and Edgecliff as their employer.

 

In the end, of course, it could come to that if Ashley got cold feet.

 

But she’d do everything in her power to pave the way for their partnership. Then she’d place it in God’s hands. For as Papa had always said, if something was meant to be, it would happen.

 

A few dark clouds scuttled across the sky, obscuring the setting sun for a moment and adding a chill to the breeze.

 

Rose shivered and pulled her sweater tight around her body. The capricious coastal weather appeared to be on the verge of turning.