The Chesapeake Diaries Series by Mariah Stewart Page A

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 morethan 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.