Page 21 of Spotted at Lighthouse Bay
They walked to door number six. Addy knocked.
“Coming!” a voice called out.
The door creaked open, revealing an older man in a white button up shirt and black slacks.
He grinned. “For a second there, I thought you were Marilyn!” He stuffed his hand into hers. “Spitting image of her.”
It was the first time she’d gotten that. Addy wasn’t going to take it personally. “Hi, Lawrence. I’m Adelaide.”
“Come in, come in! How are you? Can I get you something to drink?”
They all declined, but he fussed with an electric teapot balanced on a nightstand anyway. “How’s Marilyn? You’ll have to tell her I miss her.”
“She’s good.” Addy paused. He didn’t seem like a man who wasn’t trying to keep in touch with her mother. “I’ll pass your message along to her.”
“Please, sit,” he said, motioning to the neatly made bed.
Addy, Rick and Mia sat down. The bed sagged under their weight, with Rick in the center.
“I hope you’re hungry!” Lawrence picked up a paper plate and handed it to Addy.
The Ritz crackers nearly spilled over, some topped with hummus or thick cut yellow cheese, some with a pink spread and dill.
Addy balanced the plate before any escaped, selecting a cheese cracker before passing it on.
“She’s a real firecracker, your mom,” Lawrence said, beaming. “Why would she want to stay with me when I didn’t have anything? I don’t blame her.” He shook his head. “Oh, but I love her. I still love her. You have to know that.”
Addy glanced at Rick. He was staring at the plate. She cleared her throat, and he passed it to Mia without picking anything up.
“I have no doubt, Lawrence,” Addy said with what she hoped was a gentle tone.
The creases on his face broke into a smile. “I never meant to lose the house. This whole mess…”
“I’m hoping I can help both of you,” Addy said. “My mom tried to tell me about the deal you made for your house, but she didn’t know the details. Do you have the paperwork?”
“Yes!” He disappeared behind a door, reappearing with a manila folder. His hands shook as he handed it over. “I’ve got everything from Flex Knock here.”
“Flex Knock,” Addy repeated, opening the folder. There was a stack of papers, all legalese.
The tea kettle steamed and beeped. Lawrence talked on. Addy flipped through the papers, making sure to look up and nod occasionally.
Sheila had told her what to look for, and when she reached the end of the first stack, it was clear it was just what Sheila thought it was: a sale-leaseback. Flex Knock had bought the home from Lawrence and paid him a lump sum of fifty-eight thousand dollars.
Fifty-eight thousand for a home worth at least three hundred thousand!
The catch was with the lease. Lawrence was supposed to be able to pay back the fifty-eight thousand plus interest, along with rent, and eventually reclaim his home. There was a rental agreement that followed, spelling out the cost of renting the home during that period. In small, complicated language, it said rent was fixed for only the first three months, then it was to be increased “by market value.”
Hence the stack of overdue notices that followed. The company had increased Lawrence’s rent from one thousand dollars the first three months to twenty-three hundred in month four. Then twenty-five hundred by month six, and three thousand a month by the end of the year.
Criminal.
“Do you have the names of the people you worked with for this? Or who first came to the house?” Addy asked.
“Afraid not. It was always someone different. Though I did see the guys I first talked to walking around the neighborhood again last week. I went back to get a memorial stone from my garden. Luckily, they didn’t see me.” He spun around with a tin in his hands. “Would you like a cookie?”
“That would be lovely, thank you.” Addy had to get out of there before her heart broke in half. She took a butter cookie and popped it into her mouth. “Thank you so much for your help. I’m going to try and talk to the people at the company and figure something out.”
“Thank you, sweet Adelaide, you’re a lifesaver. Please send Marilyn my love.”
