the connection she and the boys have to the place. After hearing about the curse and all about their cousins, Jenny and Emma, those two boys don’t want any other place. And that’s fine by me. The home is exactly what I asked for.” He placed a hand on Grace’s arm and squeezed lightly. “You really came through for us. But I’d love to know how you did it.”
Grace told him about the ghost-whisperer, the neighbor, and the research Joy had done for her. “I know it sounds creepy and stalkerish, but in order to do my job, I had to find a way to reach out to the remaining family, no matter how distant, to figure out who might be interested. You just happened to be the one I knew already.”
He laughed. “Lucky me.”
Hayden and Hunter appeared from inside the house, both of them smiling and chattering animatedly about the house, the beach, and spending their summers there with their wives. When they spotted their dad and Grace on the porch, Hayden grinned down at Grace. “You’re an angel. Thank you for this. We know dad had already vetoed this place, so thank you again for your tenacity. Seeing Mom again…” He sucked in a steadying breath. “You have no idea what that means to me.”
Grace had a vague idea, but her relationship with her own mother had been challenging. She wasn’t sure how she’d feel if her mother’s ghost just appeared. Overwhelmed? Sure. Grateful? It was hard to say. “I’m just glad I was able to play a small role in all of this. Congratulations on the house. Should we get going so we can start the paperwork?”
A half hour later, Matt and Grace were in the Landers Realty office and she’d just sent the offer to Mr. Saint. Not even two minutes had gone by before her phone rang. “Excuse me,” she told Matt as she got up to take the call in one of the private conference rooms.
“Mr. Saint. Hello. Congratulations on the full-price offer. Did you have questions?” she asked him.
“Is this for real, Ms. Valentine? The guy is really offering cash at full price?”
“It’s definitely real. The buyer isn’t interested in playing games. He wants the house. The house wants him and his family. It turns out they have family ties to the previous owners, so they’ll be keeping it in the family, so-to-speak. This one is a no-brainer, Mr. Saint. I can’t tell you what to do, but if it were me, I couldn’t sign fast enough.”
“There’s not the potential for a bidding war, is there?” he asked, still suspicious.
Grace barked out a laugh. “Absolutely no bidding war. Just a man who knows what he wants. You’re not having second thoughts about selling it are—”
“No. No second thoughts. Tell Mr. Dahl it’s a deal. I’m sending the electronic contract as we speak.”
“Perfect. And congratulations again.”
“I’ll believe it after closing. But Grace?” he said, using her first name for the first time.
“Yeah?”
“If this is what I can expect from you as a Realtor, I think we might be able to build something special together. I look forward to working with you.”
The line went dead, and Grace pumped her fist and let out a cry of victory. Mr. Saint spent an enormous amount of time buying properties and fixing them up. Some of them he rented out, others he flipped. But either way, he was the type of client Realtors salivated over. This was a huge win.
Grace walked out of the conference room with a happy grin on her face. “Congrats, Matt. You are now under contract.”
“Excellent. That was easy,” he said.
Sure it was, she thought. Full price on a property that had been vacant for so long that the cobwebs in the ceiling corners were multiplying by twelves.
“How about I take you to dinner to celebrate?” Matt suggested. “You know, since my kids bailed on me. It would be nice to have the company of a smart and beautiful woman.”
“You’re on,” Grace said, hooking her arm through his. “Lead the way, Matt Dahl. I’m starving.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Grace tapped away at her computer at Landers Realty. Mr. Saint had accepted Matt’s offer on the cottage, and now that she had everything set in motion for the appraisal, inspections, and coordinating with the title company, she’d moved on to thinking about the Victorian. She knew Gigi wanted that house. But she couldn’t just sit back and hope an offer came in. That wasn’t her style.
Since the house