Windswept Way (Hope Harbor #9)(17)
Author: Irene Hannon

 

That kind of darkness could suck you in if there was no one to extend a lifeline, as Laura had for him.

 

Of course, there was also a downside to having a loving sister.

 

Now she thought she had carte blanche to butt into his life and offer advice.

 

Lips flexing, he soaked the plants. His kid sister was one of a kind.

 

Much as he loved her, though, no way was he ever mentioning Ashley during their conversations, whether he got the job or not. If Kyle had picked up on his interest, Laura would home in on it like metal to a magnet. In matters of the heart, she had weird ESP.

 

After stretching out the watering as long as he could, he rejoined the crew.

 

Thankfully, Kyle didn’t bring up the Edgecliff job again or make any further insinuations about Ashley.

 

Yet Jon couldn’t get either out of his mind.

 

Winning that job would be the break he’d been hoping for. The one that would put Greenscape on the map, draw in new clients, and set him up for long-term success.

 

As for Ashley—any man would have a hard time forgetting her. Beauty aside, she radiated energy and enthusiasm and hope. Her animation as she’d talked about her plans for Edgecliff had set off sparks in the air around her, and in her vivacious presence, impossible dreams had seemed within grasp.

 

Like finding a woman to love who could overlook all of his liabilities.

 

As if.

 

Gritting his teeth, he grabbed a hand trowel. Dropped to his knees. Jabbed the pointed blade into the garden soil.

 

If Greenscape got the job, Ashley would be his client. Nothing more. To hold out hope for anything beyond that was foolish. A beautiful woman would never want a man like him. He’d made his peace with that long ago, and letting a chance encounter disrupt his hard-earned serenity just because a bout of loneliness had left him vulnerable would only make his life miserable.

 

He plucked a lantana from the tray of annuals, set it into the hole, and mounded soil around it. With a bit of TLC, it should thrive here on the Oregon coast.

 

As he had, for the most part. Even without much TLC.

 

Yet as he watched Kyle pause to smile at his cell and take a quick call, it was impossible to deny the truth of what the man had said last week.

 

Having a special woman to come home to would brighten his days.

 

But wishing for things that could never be was an exercise in frustration. It would take a miracle for someone like Ashley to notice him for the right reasons.

 

And miracles had been in short supply since the horrendous day in Kandahar when life as he knew it had changed forever in the blink of an eye.

 

 

 

 

 

7

 

 

Ouch, ouch, and ouch.

 

Ashley lined up the three documents on the table in front of her, one beside the other.

 

BJ’s bid, which had arrived an hour ago.

 

The three-day-old bid from Greenscape.

 

Her latest bank statement, showing the current balance.

 

Bottom line? Her grand plan wasn’t going to work.

 

Even with Rose’s 50 percent contribution for repairs and improvements, she didn’t have the money to take this on. Close, but not quite—especially after factoring in living expenses. Granted, they’d be minimal if she took up residence in the apartment over the carriage house. Only food, gas for her car, adequate insurance. But she had to keep a modest amount in reserve to cover those items until Edgecliff was up and running.

 

So much for the fragile dream that had led her on an expensive wild goose chase to the West Coast.

 

Vision blurring, she gathered up the printouts on the table. Staring at the numbers wasn’t going to change them, and there was nothing to question in BJ’s thorough report or Jon’s detailed and cost-conscious plans. Nor was there any obvious fat to trim.

 

Time to break the news to Rose.

 

Fighting back a wave of dejection, she opened her email, positioned her fingers over the keys, and—

 

Her cell began to vibrate on the table beside her, and she glanced at it.

 

Mom.

 

Dang.

 

Could her timing be any worse?

 

But on the plus side, a brief chat with her mother would give her an excuse to put off writing the thanks-but-no-thanks note to Rose for a few more minutes.

 

She picked up the phone. “Hi, Mom.”

 

“Is that contract you sent me on the level?”

 

Ashley squinted at the blank email on her screen. “What?”

 

“The contract with the Fitzgerald woman. I had my attorney review it, and his comments landed in my inbox ten minutes ago. The terms spiked his suspicion meter as much as they did mine.”

 

Double dang.

 

She should never have sent her mother the agreement Rose had proposed, despite Mom’s insistence that more eyes on it were better than less.

 

“Why would you be suspicious? Everything’s weighted in my favor.”

 

“Exactly. Why on earth would this woman leave a stranger her half of a valuable property upon her death?”

 

“She doesn’t have any family, and she wants the legacy of Edgecliff to continue with someone who has a vested interest in the estate.”

 

“Oh, Ashley. No one does that. I think you’re being played for a sucker. Like in that old movie . . . what was it? Oh yes. The Money Pit, with Tom Hanks. Have you ever seen it?”

 

“No.”

 

“Well, this seemingly respectable older woman sells him and his girlfriend a house that appears too good to be true. And it is. It looks wonderful from the outside but is crumbling on the inside. She gives them a sob story about hating to part with it, which they fall for hook, line, and sinker, only to have one disaster after another hit. It was a total scam.”

 

“This isn’t a scam, Mom. Rose isn’t like that.”

 

“Tom Hanks and his girlfriend didn’t think that older woman was either.”

 

“That was fiction.”

 

“Life imitates art. And it would be worse if it happened in real life.”

 

Ashley leaned back and studied the crack in the kitchen wall of her apartment. The one her landlord had been promising to fix for months. “The house isn’t falling apart. I’ve got the report in front of me from a very qualified contractor who did a thorough inspection. And while the attorney I consulted in Hope Harbor agreed the contract is unusual, he saw no red flags.”