I grinned internally. I liked that Mark was trying to play hardball, but I’d already anticipated that and had an easy answer. “That’s why my client is prepared to offer a bonus for accepting his offer now and closing so quickly.”
“Bonus?” Mark asked, leaning forward.
I nodded. “He’s willing to offer an additional million dollars if you accept the offer by the end of the day, and another three million if you close by the end of the month. For every week delay beyond that point, the bonus amount drops by five hundred thousand.”
Sawyer shot forward in his chair. “You want an answer today?”
I winced at the sound of his voice. It wasn’t just the anger, it was the panic and despair laced underneath.
“What about inspections and appraisals and all that kind of thing?” Sawyer asked.
“My client is willing to take the property as-is.”
Mark and Brian frowned, looking toward Greg for an explanation. “That means no inspections, no repairs, no nothing,” he told them. “If there’s something wrong with the place, it’s not our problem. They assume all the risk, and we cash the check and walk away.”
Mark seemed dubious. “That sounds like a good thing for us, right? Why would they do that?”
Sawyer glared daggers at me. “Because he plans to tear it all down.”
He spat the word he, like it would be me personally coming out here with a bulldozer and sledgehammers.
I glanced at the table, unable to meet Sawyer’s eyes. I couldn’t stand the anger and disgust radiating from his every pore. This was exactly what I knew would happen the night before if I’d told him who I was, exactly why I’d stopped things between us before they could go too far. As badly as I’d wanted to haul him upstairs and spend the night with him, I’d known that doing so would cause nothing but trouble.
Even so, a small part of me had hoped that maybe when Sawyer found out who I was and how much we were offering, he’d see the benefits of the deal and he wouldn’t hate me for being the one who closed this chapter of his family’s history.
I’d hoped that even after all of this, he’d still be interested.
Clearly that wasn’t going to be the case.
Sawyer’s nostrils flared. “The Sea Sprite’s been in my family for eighty years. It’s where my parents got married and my grandparents before that.” For a minute, it looked like one of his uncles was going to stop his rant, but then he kept his mouth closed. Sawyer continued. “My great-grandfather actually bought the land in the 1940s and built the original house to give my great-grandmother a place to escape to when she became overwhelmed during World War II. They’d lived in Rhode Island where so many of the naval groups were based, and I guess it was constant death notices and whatnot. Plus, she had babies during that time and maybe it was postpartum depression. I don’t know. But my grandfather thought bringing her out to the shore in the middle of nowhere would help protect her from the worst of it.”
“Sawyer,” Brian warned quietly. His tone was full of affection and understanding, but I could tell that he’d already come to terms himself with selling off the family’s property.
Sawyer ignored him. His face was red with emotion, and my teeth began to hurt with the effort to keep from taking back Dick Sr.’s offer. “They started with a small house here. Then in the fifties they decided to build a kind of bunkhouse to hold all of the friends and family they’d begun hosting for vacations in the summer. By the time my grandfather became an adult in the mid-sixties, this area was booming with tourists because of the Kennedy compound in Hyannis. Grandpa took it over from his father and turned it into a proper motor inn to take advantage of the spike in tourism.”
Mark shot Brian a pleading look, and Brian finally clapped a hand on Sawyer’s shoulder and squeezed. “Enough, son. If you think it isn’t breaking our hearts to sell Mom and Dad’s place, too, you’re wrong. Please don’t make this harder on everyone than it already is.”
Greg patted Sawyer’s arm from the other side of him. “Sawyer, my brother would come back and haunt me from the grave if I didn’t insist that you consider what this money could do for your future. Right now we’re just talking, okay?”
“Where’s the catch?” Mark asked, tearing me from my thoughts. “There’s got to be a catch.”
I could understand his hesitation. It was a good offer. Better than good—it was an offer they couldn’t refuse. That had been the whole point. Dick Sr. had made it clear to me he wanted this property and he wanted it now. Delays would be considered unacceptable. His nemesis and rival had recently purchased a strip of land several towns over and had begun construction on an opulent, top-of-the-line resort. It was to be the crown of his real estate empire. Dick Sr. refused to be outdone and was willing to pay handsomely to beat his rival to market with his own resort.
“There’s still a lot of paperwork involved,” I told them, clearing my throat. “I’ll need to stay in town for a few days, go through the books, check through old records, conduct due diligence.” I couldn’t stop myself from glancing toward Sawyer, wondering if he’d react to the news that I’d be sticking around for a while.
He stared straight ahead, jaw clenched and lips pressed tight with anger and hurt.
I cleared my throat, trying to ignore the pang in my chest at his expression. “Otherwise—” I spread my hands wide. “—the offer is pretty straightforward.”
Mark glanced at his brothers before letting out a laugh. “Sounds good to me. Where do we sign?”
“Uncle Mark—” Sawyer began.
“I’m sorry,” Mark told him, his voice more gentle than I’d have expected. “I know you have fond memories of this place—we all do. But with Karlie being due soon and business slowing…” He didn’t need to finish to make his point known. I could tell he was fighting back emotion himself, but if the pregnant woman from the bar last night was his daughter, I could understand his desire to give her the financial stability a quarter share of a shabby motor inn wasn’t going to provide.
“You said you were going to give my plan a chance,” Sawyer argued. “That you were going to keep an open mind and at least hear me out.”
Mark gestured toward me. “That was before this man offered to make us millionaires.”
Sawyer slammed a hand on the table. “But they’re going to tear it down! Everything the Gilleys have built over generations will be gone. All the memories and history and—” He cut himself off, clearly overcome with a storm of emotions.
Brian, the owner of the pub, spoke up. “Mr. Allen, if you don’t mind, I think we’d like a moment of privacy to discuss this amongst ourselves?”
“Of course.” I gathered my things and started from the room. I tried one last time to catch Sawyer’s eyes and wished I hadn’t the moment I succeeded. It wasn’t the anger or the sadness I saw in them, it was the betrayal.
I ducked my head and pushed through the doors, letting them fall closed behind me. I let out a sigh as I made my way to the lobby to call Dick Sr. with the good news.
The Gilley men could talk all they wanted, but I already knew what the answer would be. I’d known it the moment I’d seen their reactions to the offer amount. They’d basically won the lottery, and already I could see them mentally spending the money.