with you.’
‘It’s alright Philippa,’ a deep calm voice intruded, ‘I have a few minutes.’
Ava looked across and got her first look at Dennis Pearson and unlike Baz, he actually looked like a lawyer with his carefully parted salt and pepper hair, his neatly groomed beard and well-tailored dark blue suit.
‘Ava,’ he crossed the room and held out a hand, ‘it’s nice to finally meet you.’
‘Thanks,’ she shook his hand. ‘Sorry about Bailey, it really is too hot to leave her in the car.’
‘It’s no problem,’ he waved his hand. ‘Why don’t you both come on back to my office, Philippa is a little uneasy around large dogs.’
‘Sorry,’ Ava muttered contritely as she passed by his flustered assistant. As he closed the door to his office, she caught a glimpse of the small woman as she flopped back into her chair, her hand pressed to her rather ample, heaving bosom.
‘What can I do for you Ava?’
She watched as he retrieved a bottle of water from his desk drawer. He set an empty coffee mug down on the floor beside Bailey and filled the cup so she could drink. Bailey, being the unladylike slob that she was, simply stuck her nose in the cup, following it as it moved slowly across the floor, causing the water to lap up and over the sides like a miniature tsunami and making a complete mess of his pristine floor.
‘Sorry,’ Ava winced.
‘It’s alright,’ he chuckled good naturally, ‘I have dogs of my own.’
‘Oh?’
‘Labradors,’ he grinned, ‘big, bouncy and boisterous, so compared to my heathens she’s actually very well behaved. German Shepherd?’
‘Yeah,’ Ava replied looking down at her dog who sat back on her haunches watching them, her long, wet pink tongue dripping slobber and water, ‘although given the size of her I sometimes wonder if she’s half werewolf.’
He laughed loudly.
‘You’ve just arrived on the island I assume?’
‘A few hours ago,’ she nodded, ‘I’ve been up to the house and had a quick look at the place. I met one of the realtors.’
‘Which one?’
‘Courtney Keller.’
‘Ah yes,’ he smiled in amusement, ‘she went to school with my daughter. She’s only just recently got her realtor’s license; it’s so new it still squeaks if she turns around too quickly.’
‘I think she was a little disappointed when she found out I already owned the house.’
‘I’m not surprised. Marv who owns the realtors has been trying to off load it since he took over the business from his daddy back in the late seventies. I believe he was offering a hefty bonus to anyone who could sell it. I expect Courtney was seeing dollar signs the minute you drove up.’
‘Something like that,’ Ava agreed, ‘she didn’t seem to happy when I told her to take it off the market.’
‘You’re not selling?’ he replied in surprise. ‘You’re going to keep it?’
‘I honestly don’t know yet,’ she shook her head, ‘but as we’ve already seen, it won’t sell in the condition it’s in now. So, I either have it rehabbed and flip it, I fix it up and live in it or I bulldoze it to the ground and sell the land.’
‘Is the last a serious contender?’
‘What the bulldozing part?’
He nodded.
‘No,’ she replied after a moment, ‘it’s such an old house and although it’s in a bit of a state you can see how beautiful it must have looked in its glory days. Although it would be easier and infinitely cheaper, I can’t bring myself to knock it down, not unless it’s too far gone to save it.’
‘I see,’ he leaned back in his chair and studied her. ‘You look a little like her you know.’
‘Who?’
‘Caroline,’ he answered simply.
It was a jolt to hear her mother called by her birth name, she had only ever known her as Serenity.
‘You knew my mom?’
‘I did, although I was a few years older, we went to school together,’ he told her softly. He wasn’t going to tell her that everyone knew who the Wallaces were because of their wealth and connection to the Lynch House. ‘I suspect you favor your father more, but I can see a little of her in your features,’ he continued. ‘She always was a free spirit, the island never sat well on her. I wasn’t surprised when she left as soon as she turned eighteen.’
‘Yeah, sounds like mom alright,’ Ava replied, ‘she was never big on responsibility.’
He heard a tiny trace of bitterness coloring her tone, but he politely chose not to mention it.
‘Anyway,’ Ava changed the subject, ‘Courtney mentioned you