Page 51 of Your Every Wish
“She died. Had a heart attack while driving around in her golf cart. Harry called 911 but by the time the paramedics got here it was too late. She was pronounced dead at Ghost General. ”
“She didn’t have family?” I gaze around the kitchen at all the household goods she left behind: a toaster oven, pots and pans, cleaning supplies, dishes, glassware, the furniture, all the things we’re making good use of.
“Not that I’m aware of. I’m sure someone at the hospital would’ve notified them if she had.”
“Sad.”
He hitches his shoulders. “Yeah. Harry was pretty broken up about it. He’d performed CPR on her until the paramedics came; it’s probably what kept her alive until they got her to the hospital. But there wasn’t much more he could do.”
I get two mugs down from the cupboard and pour us each a cup of the simmering cider. The room smells of apples and spices, like fall. And just like that I’m transported back to a Christmas spent in Twain Harte with Mom. She’d gotten a bonus that year from Dr. Kumar and we decided to splurge on a cabin in the Sierra. It was my last year of high school, and she wanted the holiday to be special, our last hurrah before I went off to Santa Cruz. It snowed and we spent three glorious days inside by the fire, reading and watching old movies.
Liam sips his cider. “This is nice. Thank you.”
“It’s the least I can do after you slayed the lizard.” Well, at least relocated it as per my wishes. It’s not its fault that it’s creepy as all get out. Besides, I’ve been told they help keep the bugs down.
“Misty says you have a boyfriend who lives in San Francisco.”
“Mm-hmm. He works for Charles Schwab. Most trading is online now, so technically he can work from anywhere, but he needs to be close to the Financial District and the Pacific Exchange. ”
Liam nods. “It must be tough maintaining a long-distance relationship. ”
“It’s not that far. And he comes up often.” The lie just slips out because the truth is Dex hasn’t come here once since he dropped me off. “And I was just down there, so it all works out. What about you? Are you seeing someone?”
But before he can answer, the screen door slams and Kennedy rushes in like a winter storm.
“That son of a bitch!”
“Who?” I say.
It takes her a moment to notice that I’m not alone. “Hey, Liam.”
“Hi, Kennedy.”
“What’s going on?” I pull out a kitchen chair for her and pour another cup of cider.
She looks winded and her face is all splotchy and red. Clearly, something has happened to make her angry. My mind immediately goes to Brock Sterling. Had he called off the deal? Were the police involved again?
Liam is pretty good at reading a room because he gets up, puts his mug in the sink, and suddenly remembers that he has somewhere else to be.
As soon as he is well out of earshot, I make Kennedy tell me what’s going on.
“Bent McCourtney is a piece of crap.”
I sigh with relief. This has nothing to do with Sterling and the thirty thousand dollars. Well, now forty thousand. “Did you fight about his rock wall again?”
“No. He thinks this place is only worth twenty thousand dollars. Can you imagine that? Twenty thousand dollars. You can’t even buy a new car these days for twenty thousand dollars, let alone eighty-six acres in California.”
“Did he make an offer or something on Cedar Pines? Why would he give you an unsolicited value of our property?”
She sniffs the cider, then takes a sip. “I may have mentioned that we might be interested in selling.”
“Why did you do that, Kennedy?” She promised to give me time and not make any rash decisions concerning the park. One year is the time I tell my readers to give themselves after the death of a loved one before making any big decisions in their lives, such as selling a house, changing careers, or moving out of the country. I may not have been close with Willy but I’m still in mourning. I need time. Time to grieve and time to parse my relationship—or in this case my nonexistent relationship—with my late father and this gift he left us. “You said you would wait until I was ready.”
“That was before I had twenty-five days to come up with what may as well be an impossible fortune. I only threw it out there to see his reaction, to see if he would bite. I wasn’t going to do anything without you.”
“I don’t care, you still shouldn’t have given him false hope. You heard what Misty said. This land is his family’s legacy and you dangled it in front of him without my permission.”
“Okay, first of all, he’s a complete and utter asshole, so don’t go feeling sorry for him. And second of all, you want to get back to your old life and Dex as much as I want to resume my old life. We can’t do that from here—or in my case from a prison cell. We can’t do that while managing a run-down trailer park. All I wanted to see is if we were willing to sell, would he be willing to pay a good price for the place. That’s all, so relax.”
