And Joy deserved the best someone had to give. Paul needed to step up, or Grace had a feeling he was going to lose her. But she kept her commentary to herself and said, “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Joy glanced down at her menu and said, “Cinnamon rolls?”
“Definitely. We deserve it.”
“I’ll get them.” Joy slipped out of her chair, and within a few minutes, she was back with warm pastries and two lattes. “Eat up. We’re gonna need the carbs if we’re gonna get through this research.” She tapped the large folder she’d brought with her. “I found records of all possible people who might be related to Emma and Jenny. Time to find someone who might want to buy that place.”
“You’re the best. Thank you.”
Twenty minutes later, full of sugar and caffeine, Grace and Joy were busy poring through Joy’s detailed research and making a list of who to contact about the house. So far, the closest relatives they’d found were three of Emma’s second cousins, all of them on the west coast, and all of them in their early twenties. There were a couple more back east, but they were distant relatives, and from everything they were finding online, they didn’t look like they had any ties to the west coast other than a bloodline.
“Look at this, Grace,” Joy said. “Didn’t you say you had a client named Matt who was looking for a house here recently?”
“Yeah. His wife died, and she’d always said she wanted a place in Premonition Pointe. He was looking for something that would be great for his kids and grandkids. Why?”
Joy handed her a piece of paper. “The parents of two of these twenty-somethings are McKenzie Summers and Matt Dahl. Do those names ring any bells?”
“Matt Dahl! Holy crap. That’s my client.” Grace stared at the paper and then frowned. “I tried to show him the house, but he wasn’t interested. He told me he knew it was haunted, and he didn’t even want to go inside.”
“You know, I think the house wouldn’t have welcomed him anyway. He’s not the one who is related by blood. But his sons are because of their mother’s bloodline.” Joy looked up at her. “You could try the family-ties angle with him. See if he can get his kids to come take a look. If it’s ultimately for them, he might change his mind.”
“It’s worth a shot.” Grace took the paper from Joy just for reference and then called Matt. “Hey, Matt. It’s Grace Valentine. How are you doing?”
She listened to him talk for a few minutes about maybe having to wait on buying the beach house. He said his kids had come into town for a few nights, so he’d taken them by a couple of the ones she’d shown him, but none had come close enough to being what they were looking for. “Maybe you can email me as homes come on the market? Keep me in the loop?”
Her heart had started racing when he said his kids were in town. It was the perfect opportunity to make something happen. Her stomach got that tingling feeling it always had before when she knew she was right on the verge of making a deal happen for Bill. But the fact that this deal was all hers made her giddy with anticipation. She just needed to hold it together long enough to see it all work out. “Actually, I was hoping we could look at one more before you go. I think I’ve found the perfect property. It has everything you’re looking for.”
“Really? Where? On the beach or off?”
“On. Gorgeous view. Plenty of space. How about we make an appointment and you can bring your kids along? See what they think, since they’re here.” She only felt mildly guilty that she was misleading him. She’d heard him when he said he wasn’t interested in a haunted house. Grace could hardly blame him. But that feeling she had… she just knew this was the right move. If they didn’t like it after the second attempt, she’d drop it. Until then, she was going to give it everything she had.
“Well, if it’s that good,” he said. “Sure. But we can’t do it today. We’re headed out on an overnight fishing trip. Can we do it tomorrow night? Six-thirty? We’ll be back by then and will have had enough time to get cleaned up.”
“Six-thirty it is. Meet at the realty office?” she suggested. “I’ll drive you over.”
“Sounds good.