The Ivy House - By Drea Stein Page 0,38

and Leland Harper. Phoebe scrutinized the pictures carefully. Now that she knew what to look for, she could see Chase in Leland. Leland had been a good deal older than Chase was now when he had married Savannah, but still you could see physical similarities, in the height, the dark hair, and the strong cheekbones, between the two men.

“So, I had drinks with Chase last night,” Phoebe said, trying to keep her voice casual.

Lynn looked up, her eyes narrowing. “Just drinks?”

“Why do you sound so surprised?”

Lynn shrugged. “I don’t know. When I last saw the two of you, I found it hard to believe that you could sit down and have anything as civilized as a drink with him. Though there’s not many around here who wouldn’t have a drink with him. He’s kind of a local celebrity.”

“Celebrity?” Phoebe asked.

“Yeah, I mean for Queensbay. He’s some sort of champion sailor in Europe. Grew up here, sailing with Noah Randall.”

“Noah Randall, the tech entrepreneur?” Phoebe swallowed. Noah had made a boatload of money selling his company and had showed up on the Hollywood scene for a while. Phoebe figured everyone was trying to get him to invest in movies, but apparently, he’d had the good sense not to.

“Yeah. Noah’s from Queensbay too. He lives here with his wife, Caitlyn. Noah and Chase go way back. Anyway, Chase sailed for a while, and then he came back to help his dad run the family business. Basically, it was ship’s chandlery down by the marina. Anyway, Chase jazzed it up and before you knew it, they were sending out catalogs and had a website. You know, North Coast Outfitters. They sell fancy boat stuff to rich people.”

“I see,” Phoebe said, though she had figured most of that out last night.

“Yeah, he’s super-yummy. Oh, and supposedly, he loaned Noah the money to start his company.”

“What?” Phoebe said.

“Oh, yeah.” Lynn nodded.

That explained a few more things. Probably owns the restaurant too, now that Phoebe thought about the way the bartender had called him boss.

“Do you know what else he is?” Phoebe asked.

“Batman?” Lynn joked. “Or Bruce Wayne?”

Phoebe laughed. “No, a total horndog. He tried to come on to me.”

Lynn’s mouth dropped open. “Shut the front door. No way.”

“Way.” Phoebe flopped down on one of the folding chairs. She really needed to get some furniture in here. There were a few things in storage in California that she had managed to salvage from the estate, but perhaps an actual shopping trip was in order.

“Whoa. So you’re crushing on Leland Harper’s grandson. It’s like the romance of the century all over again.” Lynn’s eyes were alight and her hands were clutched to her chest.

“Don’t go all romantic. I am not crushing on him. It was just a drink. One,” Phoebe said, though she recalled it had been two. And they had spent most of the time head to head, baring their souls. Or, rather, she had provided him with a great deal of information.

“So a drink with Queensbay’s resident hottie. I am sooo jealous. I mean, not really, since he’s kind of a player.”

“A player?” Phoebe asked.

“Oh, yeah. He’s a really generous guy, shows up at all the benefits around town, which my dad goes to since he’s chief at the hospital and my mom makes me go to since she figures I’ll meet an eligible guy there, but he always, and I mean always, has a different girl on his arm. And they are all lookers. I think he actually brings the models from his catalog.”

“The foul-weather gear ones?” Phoebe asked, hopefully.

“Nope, definitely the swimsuit ones.”

“Oh. Well, anyway, it wasn’t a date. It was…” She paused. What had it been? A date? A question about business? A “Hey, how about we get to know each other since our grandparents shagged each other” meeting?

“It is so totally romance of the century, part two.”

Phoebe shook her head. “Please, I think it was more like the scandal of the century, and I’m not quite sure it’s something that should be repeated.”

“But all that passion. I mean Chase is so hot, way hotter than Leland. I mean Leland was kind of an old fogey when he and Savannah hooked up. Never quite sure what she saw in him.”

Phoebe rolled her eyes. “It was probably the money. Savannah was excellent at self-preservation. Remember, she had a young child to support.” Phoebe couldn’t remember her dad talking much about his childhood, at least not anything serious. Fun, light stories about living with