light but which you realized was probably a decade older once you saw it in daylight. Happy was clearly a regular at one of the local medi-spas. “You missed the part where she explains what she’s going to do to clean up this monstrosity. It’s a mess! It has rats! I saw one crawl out from under that dead oleander bush two weeks ago. It was big as a cat!”
Calvin’s eyes glittered. Felicia squeezed my hand.
“I have never seen so much as a mouse in Calpurnia’s garden,” she said evenly. “Maybe it was a cat.”
“Well,” Happy sputtered, “all I know is that this house is destroying property values for the entire block.”
“Funny, you didn’t seem to mind that when you bought your place,” Beau said, jerking his chin toward Happy’s house.
“Beau,” Felicia said gently.
“What? She knew the condition of the Fairchild house when she decided to move here; it’s not like she could have missed it,” Beau said, throwing out one of his hands. “So I don’t see where she’s got a lot of business griping about it dragging down prices now that she’s here.”
“Beau,” Felicia said again, this time in a slightly firmer tone.
Beau wasn’t taking the hint. “If anyone’s to blame, it’s her! Everybody knows what she paid for her place. She got it for a song!”
“And did a wonderful job with the renovation,” Felicia enthused, deftly changing the subject. “I’ve been meaning to tell you how much I like those new entry sconces. Do you carry those in your shop?”
Happy shot Beau a look before answering. “They were a special order. I can see about finding another pair if you’re interested.”
“I might just do that. My goodness but it’s warm standing out here in the sun!” Felicia said, fanning herself with her hand and then gesturing toward the pink Italianate house with the black shutters near the end of the block that she and Beau had lived in since before I was born. “Would y’all like to come over to our house for a glass of tea? It’ll be so much cooler on the piazza.”
Happy begged off, saying she needed to get to work, which is what I suspect Felicia was hoping would happen. Keeping Happy and Beau in close quarters didn’t seem like a very good idea. When Felicia shooed Beau off home, saying he looked like he needed to sit down, which was true, I made my apologies, explaining that I had paperwork to deal with.
“That’s all right,” Felicia said with a smile. “We’ll have plenty of time to catch up and drink tea now that you’re back home. Mr. Holcomb, I can’t thank you enough for tracking Celia down. It would have been a shame to see the house turned over to the state and then passed into other hands. Times change, of course. There are so many new people moving into the neighborhood,” she said, her gaze drifting down the street. “But I can’t remember a time when there weren’t Fairchilds living here. No one in Charleston can.”
Before I could respond, Felicia draped her arm over my shoulder again, giving me a farewell squeeze before tottering off after Beau. As she walked away, she looked at me over her shoulder, beaming.
“Celia, sugar, I’m just so thrilled that you’re home. I’m so happy we’re going to be neighbors again!
Chapter Nine
A waiter appeared carrying a tray loaded with sweet tea, deviled eggs, miniature lobster rolls, and a cheese platter.
“I thought we needed a snack,” Calvin explained. “Aren’t you hungry?”
Of course, I was. Emotional upheaval always brings on an appetite.
Trey had given Calvin and me a lift back to the hotel. Trey and I had some paperwork to fill out, so the three of us found a table in the palm tree–shaded courtyard where guests could enjoy lunch, dinner, or drinks when the weather was fine. Dana Alton came in her own car, arriving shortly after the food. I caught sight of her walking down a brick path toward the courtyard and waved for her to join us.
She smiled and started toward us but was waylaid by an absurdly tall man with wavy black hair, a jaw chiseled enough to slice cheese, and shoulders so broad they looked like they were about to burst the seams of his blue linen sport coat. He and Dana seemed to know each other; they talked for a few minutes, Dana nodding now and again and casting glances toward our table. I was too occupied with the paperwork to pay