Page 14 of Paradise West
Charli groaned and leaned her elbows on the table, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples. “Can today get any weirder?”
Jack barked a laugh. “Are you kidding? This is Key West. This is the capital of weird.” He was quietfor a moment. “But in all seriousness, I believe the stories and...I believed your aunt.”
Charli looked up at him. “I stayed in that compound for over two months when I visited before college. I can assure you that I never saw a ghost.”
“Mmmmm.” His face twisted in a thoughtful frown. “Amelia’s not like that. She’s really subtle. You’d have to be looking for her to notice anything and if you did see something, you probably wouldn’t realize it was her.”
Charli pursed her lips and breathed out. “Okay, enough about that. How do you tie in to all this and why did Aunt Dottie want us to do this together?”
Jack cleared his throat and eyed her cautiously, as if he were worried how she’d take his response. “Well,” he started, “I can’t answer why Dottie wanted us to do this together. I’m as shocked as you are about this arrangement. But aside from the fact that I’m a direct descendent of Amelia’s older sister, I’m also the most qualified person on the island to handle the restoration. My crew can accomplish in a few months what would take a normal contractor a year or more.”
He took a deep breath and continued. “The house was sold out of my family near the turn of the century and then it was turned into a resort. The surrounding buildings were added a few years after that, then the wall, and the exclusive compound was born.” Heshrugged. “My family has wanted to buy the original house back since the seventies, but Dottie couldn’t bear to part with it. She’d always say that it wasn’t the right time.”
Charli’s eyebrows shot up. “Wasn’t the right time?” She stared at the wall for a moment and then looked back at Jack. “And now it is? The right time, that is?”
Jack shrugged again, giving her an awkward grin. “That’s the only thing I can think of. Dottie didn’t spell everything out for me, she just spoke about it very cryptically. It’s as much of a shock for me as it is for you that she left it to us together. But knowing Dottie, I’d guess she had this planned out for quite a while.”
With a rough breath, Charli stood and began clearing dishes from the table. Jack followed suit by placing his plate in the sink. He rested a hip against the countertop, standing dangerously close to her. His hand came up to lightly touch her shoulder. “All I can ask is that you give this some time. Don’t try to process everything at once.”
Charli stepped back and his hand dropped to his side. She pressed her lips together, audibly swallowing as she held his gaze. “I have a favor to ask.”
His brows shot up. “Sure. Name it.”
Charli gestured toward the white box sitting on the countertop and sighed. “Those are Aunt Dottie’s ashes and she’s requested that I spread them for her off the fort wall on the Dry Tortugas. But—” She hung her head, her eyes burning as they filled with tears. She sniffed and glanced up. “I don’t know how to get out there. Will you help me?” she asked, internally cringing at the quaver in her voice.
A gentle smile slowly spread across his face. “I’d be honored to help.”
Charli nodded, a lump forming in her throat. “Thank you,” she choked out, trying desperately not to cry.
4
Key West, Florida
“I’m so glad you two were able to meet with me today,” Art commented, smiling at them from across his desk. “We have a lot to go over.”
“It’s no problem,” Jack answered, glancing at Charli who sat calmly on his right. His eyes dropped to her crossed legs bared today by the brilliant blue sundress that came to mid-thigh and lingered despite his best intentions.
Art sprang from his chair. “Let’s do this in the other room where we have the maps and other drawings laid out.” He walked to the door and held it open for them to proceed. “Would either of you like some coffee or tea?”
“I would love some coffee if it wouldn’t be too much of a bother,” Charli replied as she passed him.
“Oh, it’s no trouble at all,” Theresa piped in, jumping up from her desk. “I’ll make a fresh pot. I get the beans from a little Cuban place down the street and grind them myself. You’re gonna love it!”
“Jack, how about you?” Art asked.
“Huh?” Jack forced himself to pull his gaze from Charli’s legs. He hadn’t been able to glance away from her since she walked into Art’s office several minutes ago.
Her sundress was cut in a deep vee perfectly framing her breasts, and the cut hugged her waist before flaring around her butt and thighs. The platform sandals she wore put her just a few inches below eye-level, which was no small feat given his 6’4” frame. Her honey hair was down in a loose french braid that made his fingers ache to unravel it even more than the tight bun from the day before. In short, she’d walked in looking like the woman of his dreams.
Art gave him a knowing smirk and raised his eyebrows. “Coffee? Tea?”
“Oh. Yeah.” Jack cleared his throat. “Coffee sounds good.”
His eyes followed Charli’s backside as she strolled to the far conference room. A good night’s sleep had clearly worked wonders on her because this afternoon she was relaxed, confident, and gorgeous. It was sucha noticeable contrast from yesterday when she had seemed so overwhelmed, so sad and had cried on his shoulder.
Art chuckled and smacked him on the back. “She’s so much like Dottie, it’s scary.”
“What?” Jack asked, frowning. Charli didn’t seem anything at all like Dottie to him.
