Page 56 of Hometown Girl

Beth had been racking her own brain with the same question, though she didn’t like to think about it. She had her trust, but that was like her security blanket. She never touched it. But with her savings spent on the purchase of the farm and still not built back up to where they were before she’d tried to bail the company out of the mess she’d made, she would have to get into it. Otherwise, she didn’t have her share of the money at all.

But she wouldn’t tell Molly that.

“Let me talk to Ben. And after Drew gives me his list, I’ll have a better idea. I think we prioritize and do what we can, then worry about raising the rest of the money.”

“There was someone else interested in the property,” Molly said. “A real estate investor or something.”

“What do you mean?”

“Last week, a couple of days after the auction, this really tall guy I’d never seen before came up to me and handed me a business card. He said to call the number when I realized I was in over my head—his employer would take the place off my hands. Made me kind of mad, actually. I told him I was doing just fine,thank you very much, and tried to hand him his card back.”

“And?”

“He said, ‘Keep it just in case.’” She did her best impersonation of a cranky man.

“You’re just mentioning this now?”

“I didn’t want to tell you. I was afraid you’d call the guy and sell the place out from under me.”

“I probably would’ve.”

“And see all the fun you would’ve missed out on.”

“Are you kidding? I would still be sheepless.”

“Exactly my point.” Molly grinned.

“Who was this guy?”

“No idea. After he gave me the card, he walked over to a black Cadillac and talked to someone sitting in the back seat. The tall one glanced back at me, said something else to the mystery man, got in the car and drove away.”

“Did you see the guy in the car?”

“Just for a second as he rolled up the window.”

“What was his name?”

“Davis something. Davis Biddle?”

Beth jotted the name on her legal pad. She’d have to look him up when she got home.

“That doesn’t make any sense. If he wanted to buy Fairwind, why didn’t he just come to the auction? He could’ve bid one dollar more than you and been the new owner.”

“He was vacationing in the Caribbean. That was the other thing the tall guy said.” Again, she put on a male voice, only this time, she sounded snooty: “‘My employer would’ve bought the place himself if he’d known about the auction, but he was vacationing in the Caribbean.’”

“Was he British?”

Molly looked confused. “No, why?”

“Your impression of him sounded like a cheeky British guy.”

“Funny. Maybe he’d invest? Another silent partner—like Ben.”

Beth didn’t like the idea. Ben was their brother. This guy would come in and tell them what to do and how to do it. And even if that was exactly what they needed, she didn’t want a boss right now. “I don’t know, it all seems a little strange to me.”

Molly shrugged. “Yeah, and a little creepy. Not the right kind of person to buy Fairwind—even if he could probably bankroll the whole thing.”

A silence fell between them.

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