Then you’re going to tell me all about it while we rustle up something to eat.”
“You know I’m not even competent in the kitchen,” she said.
“Just do what I tell you for a change and we’ll manage.”
Lubricated by her second stiff rum, she’d confessed to being flat broke and terrified. “It’s not too late for me to get back in,” she said. “Somewhere.”
“And give up all this?” he said.
“I can no longer afford all this.”
“Look,” he said. “Everyone here lives by their wits and their luck. You’ve got plenty of the first and you have to make your own luck, like the rest of us.”
“I’m at my wits’ end and I’m shit out o’ luck,” she said. Her vegetable chopping had become vengeful.
Liz took the chef’s knife from her and gave her the job of whisking the eggs. He finished mincing onions, tomatoes, and herbs from Finney’s garden, and when they hit the hot olive oil, they filled the kitchen with an aroma that made Els feel cosseted, and hungry.
When he saw her clumsy whisking, which produced only globs of egg white wobbling like jellyfish in a lemony sea, Liz took the bowl from her and whisked energetically, then poured the mixture over the vegetables. A few minutes later, he was dishing out an inviting scramble.
She took a bite, sucked air to cool it, and nodded her approval. “I mean, a type-A workaholic like me can handle only so much paradise.” She ticked off her accomplishments with her fingers: “I’ve hiked Nevis Peak, tramped up to Montravers, visited Philippa’s grave, poked about the Hamilton and Nelson museums, put in a massive number of plants, adopted a local mutt, painted every shell, flower, and fruit on the island. What else is there for an unemployed person to do here?”
“Become a drunk.”
“Working on that,” she said, and sloshed a bit more rum into her glass. “Tony had the cheek to tell me a few days ago that he has a buyer for the house, as long as I swear I’ve never seen the jumbie.”
He looked up, the fork halfway to his mouth. “You’ve put it on the market?”
“It was just Tony fishing for a deal. Maybe he thought my plan was always to flip it for a profit and run back to the UK.”
“Jason thinks the same thing. I told him you were putting down roots.”
“Jason can go fuck himself. This is my home now.” She ate another bite of eggs. “Ye’re not bad in the kitchen fir a water rat.”
“The way to a man’s heart is through his ego.”
“Lauretta has been all over me to let her turn the house into a special events place,” she said. “Venue, she calls it. Weddings and such. Thinks she and I can make a business of it.”
“There you go,” he said. “Daddy walks his princess down the steps to get hitched in the court. Wedding photos with a perfect sunset as backdrop.”
“I hate the idea.”
“You could charge a big price for letting people in for a few hours.”
“As usual, ye’re awfully free with someone else’s privacy.”
He sat back in his chair. “I’m just saying you should deploy your assets. You’ve taken one fantastic house and made it even better. And the garden, the way you sort of paint with plants and how the sun shines through them.”
She looked at him. “Thank you for noticing.”
“It’s my job to notice, remember?” He finished his beer. “Look, if you have something like this house or Iguana, that’s one of a kind, people will pay up for it, and talk about it for the rest of their lives. You can be choosy, exclusive. Get into the right circles, and word of mouth takes care of your advertising.”
“So now ye’re a marketing whiz.”
“Jason and I run a good business, and yes, I’m the marketing whiz and he’s the money man, and I bet his investment record could give yours a run any day.”
“Kick her when she’s down, why don’t ye?”
“Who had all her eggs in the same basket?” he said. He got himself another beer. When he sat back down, she thought he might reach for her hand, but he only leaned forward on his elbows.
“Do I detect Mr. Marketing Whiz cooking up a package deal—storybook wedding at the Jumbie House and romantic honeymoon aboard a ‘piece o’ history’?” she asked.
“Hadn’t thought of it, but it’s not a bad idea. One plus one equals four, isn’t that investment banker math?” He did take her hand now, and sought her