Page 55 of Sunset Tides
“Almost,” Lucy said. “None of the offices were open this weekend, but I’ll call today.”
“Good. They can work with you from there.”
Jade turned to her and smiled. “It seems like you have a good plan, Lucy.”
“I hope so.”
“I’m sorry this is happening,” Angie said. “But I can’t tell you anything more, and I can’t show bias. So, I guess what I’m saying is – ”
“Show up prepared,” Lucy said with a nod. “I understand.”
“Thanks again for your help!” Jade said.
“Yes.” Lucy followed her lead and forced herself to smile like she was on Rob’s dad’s yacht and her life depended on it. “Thank you so much!”
They parted ways and on the ferry ride back, Lucy managed to schedule video meetings with three attorneys.
They would be ready. She would make sure of it.
Chapter Twenty-four
It didn’t sound like Lucy knew he was behind the condemnation of The Grand Madrona. Or at least he was confident she wasn’t a skilled enough of an actress to hide it if she did.
That was good. Yet the rest of the situation was bad.
No.
Disastrous.
How had the letters gone out without Rob knowing about it? While he was off in California, selling his heart out to the entire Grippy team, the world had been falling apart behind him.
He left the farm shop and called Rick, who answered right away. “Talk to me, baby.”
Way too cheerful. Not a good sign.
“Hey,” Rob said. “I thought we were moving past Orcas Island?”
“Business moves fast, baby!”
Rob shut his eyes. That was two baby’s in a row. Rick had to be drinking or something.
“How can it move that fast? I just presented to Grippy two days ago. They were happy with our new plans. They liked the alternative sites and – ”
“Yeah, but then we got approval to move forward with our revitalization plan for Orcas Island. The letters were overnighted to the property owners. Didn’t Cherry tell you?”
Oh, Cherry. Rick’s ever-negligent secretary. “She failed to mention it.”
“Then I’ll break the good news to you: we got lucky. It turns out we have a friend out there.”
“What kind of a friend?”
“A judge. Don’t worry about it; just focus on securing the condemned status. We’ve basically got it in the bag.”
This was not happening. Rob needed to take a seat. “I don’t know, Rick. There are a lot of reasons to push Grippy to another location. After I looked at the – ”
Rick cut him off. “No. They liked your other ideas, but nothing beats that island. They were thrilled when I told them our eminent domain should go through. I heard they announced it at their shareholder meeting this morning.”
Rob’s stomach dropped. “They didwhat?They shouldn’t be sharing that with anyone yet.”
