Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 100713 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100713 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
But I didn’t want her to know what I was thinking—her comment about the jerks who only wanted skin from her was still in my head—so I kept my hands to myself.
We drove over to her mom’s, and for the next few hours, we worked alongside each other under the sun, weeding, mowing, trimming, and cleaning up years’ worth of neglect.
We poured sweat. We slapped at bugs. Maddie reapplied sunscreen to her face and shoulders three times. I took off my shirt.
“I should have worn a hat,” she said. “My face is going to be pink.”
“I can go get you one.”
“No, that’s okay. But you should let me put some sunscreen on your back,” she said, coming over to where I was crouched down, digging out some stubborn, overgrown shrubs in front of the porch.
“My skin is used to it.”
“Beckett! You should take better care of—oh, my.” She put a hand on my shoulder blade. “Are those marks from me?”
“What marks?”
“These scratches.” Her fingertips brushed over my skin. “It looks like you were clawed by a lioness.”
I grinned at her over my shoulder. “Good.”
A car pulled into the driveway, and I stood up. “Moretti’s here. He texted me earlier he might come by.”
“Oh my God! Put your shirt on,” she whispered frantically.
“Why?” I laughed. “So he doesn’t feel bad about himself?”
Flustered, she gestured at my upper body. “So he doesn’t see those marks! Oh God, they’re on your chest too.”
“He’s not going to see the marks,” I said under my breath as Moretti got out of his SUV. “Guys don’t notice that stuff.”
“But Bianca’s with him,” she said as Bianca got out of the passenger side. “And women do.”
I glanced around for my sweaty T-shirt but didn’t see it anywhere, and ten seconds later they were approaching us.
“Hey guys. How’s it going?” Moretti called. “Looks like you’re making some progress.”
“It’s going,” I said. “Slowly but surely.”
“I think it looks much better already.” Bianca smiled brightly. “You guys are working hard out here in this heat. We should have brought you some cold drinks.”
We moved into the shade of a birch tree and made small talk for a couple minutes, and then Moretti spoke seriously. “So listen, it’s going to be a little bit before I can get a crew over here. This is a really busy time for us.”
“I understand,” said Maddie, looking a little crestfallen.
“You can always look around for another company.” He shrugged. “There’s some other guys who do good work around here.”
“He doesn’t really think that,” Bianca said, shaking her head.
Maddie tried to smile. “I’d rather have your company do it. So are you thinking late summer?”
“Probably. But there’s another option.” Moretti exchanged a look with his wife. “Bianca and I have been talking about it since we left here.”
“What is it?” Maddie asked.
“We’ll buy it from you,” Bianca said eagerly. “We’ll give you a fair price for the condition it’s in now and pay cash up front. We’ve been thinking about taking on more rental properties, and both of us think this one will be popular, given its size and location. It’s not right on the water or anything, but it’s not far from the public beach.”
“Really?” Maddie brightened considerably. “You’d be interested in buying it?”
“Sure,” Moretti said. “That way, you’d get the money right away and you wouldn’t have to worry about the timeline or the work being done.”
“Wow. That would be amazing.” Maddie smiled at them both. “Where do I sign?”
Moretti laughed. “I haven’t even mentioned a price yet. Don’t you want to negotiate?”
“Should I?” Maddie looked worried. “I mean, I trust you.”
He looked at me. “This is not a businessperson.”
I shook my head. “Nope.”
“Well, now you guys are making me nervous.” Maddie twisted her hands together. “Would there be a reason not to sell it to you?”
“Only if you were thinking you’d get more money out of it once the renovations were complete,” Moretti said. “And you would, of course, but this would save you the cost and trouble of doing the work.”
“Right.” She nodded, her brow furrowed.
Remembering what she’d told me last night about doubting her ability to make the right choices for herself, I touched her shoulder. “We’re just teasing you,” I said quietly.
Our eyes locked, and I knew she understood.
“Okay,” she said with a nod. “My gut instinct is that this is the best way to go.”
“Great. Let me write up the offer, and you can take a look at it,” Moretti said. “I’m still working on the numbers, but I think somewhere around eighty-five to ninety thousand is about right, given its square footage, the size of the lot, the location, and its condition.”
“Sounds good to me,” Maddie said more confidently.
Moretti laughed again. “I wish all deals could go down this easily.”
I laughed too, but I realized when she sold the house, it might mean goodbye forever. What reason would she have to come back to Bellamy Creek? Would she come just to see me?