choice didn’t sit too well with the upper crust onPalm Beach, but Melinda and Jonathan had worked together for years, so he supported her devotion to those ill-bred children. They did agree that Melinda would limit herself to four children at any given time. It was Jonathan’s way of trying to avoid trouble with the neighbors.
“Unfortunately for them, the society types couldn’t very well take action against Jonathan. Can you imagine the bad press if they attempted to ban a foster mother from the island? Look at the fallout when Donald Trump raised a large American flag. They sued him, but the public sided with patriotism. The old money residents are not fond of publicity, especially when it shows them in a bad light.”
“Why am I only hearing about this rental thing now?”
“It was none of your business. Other than the occasional Christmas card, I had no interaction with Melinda. Beyond that, you’d have to ask my accountant or the property management company if you want more details. I’ve never paid much attention to business affairs.”
Unless it was how many shares of stock were put into her portfolio by a soon-to-be-ex husband. “So what changed?”
“What do you mean?”
“If you were getting a huge tax break, why did you stop renting the place?”
“It was turning into a headache. The neighbors were complaining more and more frequently, that sort of thing. Seven months ago I had the property manager give Melinda notice.”
“Out of the blue?” I asked. “No wonder she stripped the place.”
“You got a house out of the deal,” my mother reminded me.
I had a sinking feeling she’d be reminding me of that a lot. “And a skeleton,” I said. “Let’s not forget that hidden perk.”
“If you want to renege, Finley, I suggest you—”
“I don’t want to renege; I just want to know how a gift I gave my stepfather ended up in the hand of a skeleton.”
“Maybe he left it in the house.”
“But you said it was stolen.”
“I assumed it was. My insurance company asked me for a list of missing items after the break-in. It wasn’t with Jonathan’s things, so I assumed the burglars took it. Obviously, he lost it in that house and the vagrant found it. I think your recent crime-fighting spree has warped your mind. There’s nothing untoward about that medallion turning up in a house Jonathan visited occasionally.”
I wanted to press her for more details, but when she stood up, I knew I was being dismissed. The cops got tea and canapés. I got the old heave-ho. Before she showed me to the door, I was able to wrangle out of her the name of the property management company. Marc Feldman would be one of my first calls in the morning.
I T TOOK A WHOLE lot of MAC concealer to cover the dark circles I was sporting after a fitful night of being chased by skeletons that morphed into my mother and back again. Pretty scary dreams. On the plus side, since I’d gotten up just after 4:00 a.m., I’d already downed a pot of coffee, so my energy level was pretty high as I pulled into the parking lot of Dane, Lieberman, and Zarnowski.
I noticed two things right off: (a) I was still five minutes late, and (b) one of the hottest guys I’d seen in all twenty-nine years of my life was parked one car away. Maybe there was life after Patrick and Liam after all. If not life, I mused as I watched him lift a box out of the trunk of a sleek black Porsche, definitely sex.
Of course, he turned and caught me staring at him. With that face and that body, I didn’t much care that I’d been caught with my eyeballs in the cookie jar. He was the anti-Patrick—tall, slightly muscular, jet-black hair and eyes to match. He smiled back, making him the anti-Liam.
I reapplied lip gloss just to kill time. I wanted to make sure I headed for the door at the same time as Gorgeous Guy. A completely intentional, accidental meeting might just cure my dating dry spell. He smoothed his tie out of the way, then pulled a
“Unfortunately for them, the society types couldn’t very well take action against Jonathan. Can you imagine the bad press if they attempted to ban a foster mother from the island? Look at the fallout when Donald Trump raised a large American flag. They sued him, but the public sided with patriotism. The old money residents are not fond of publicity, especially when it shows them in a bad light.”
“Why am I only hearing about this rental thing now?”
“It was none of your business. Other than the occasional Christmas card, I had no interaction with Melinda. Beyond that, you’d have to ask my accountant or the property management company if you want more details. I’ve never paid much attention to business affairs.”
Unless it was how many shares of stock were put into her portfolio by a soon-to-be-ex husband. “So what changed?”
“What do you mean?”
“If you were getting a huge tax break, why did you stop renting the place?”
“It was turning into a headache. The neighbors were complaining more and more frequently, that sort of thing. Seven months ago I had the property manager give Melinda notice.”
“Out of the blue?” I asked. “No wonder she stripped the place.”
“You got a house out of the deal,” my mother reminded me.
I had a sinking feeling she’d be reminding me of that a lot. “And a skeleton,” I said. “Let’s not forget that hidden perk.”
“If you want to renege, Finley, I suggest you—”
“I don’t want to renege; I just want to know how a gift I gave my stepfather ended up in the hand of a skeleton.”
“Maybe he left it in the house.”
“But you said it was stolen.”
“I assumed it was. My insurance company asked me for a list of missing items after the break-in. It wasn’t with Jonathan’s things, so I assumed the burglars took it. Obviously, he lost it in that house and the vagrant found it. I think your recent crime-fighting spree has warped your mind. There’s nothing untoward about that medallion turning up in a house Jonathan visited occasionally.”
I wanted to press her for more details, but when she stood up, I knew I was being dismissed. The cops got tea and canapés. I got the old heave-ho. Before she showed me to the door, I was able to wrangle out of her the name of the property management company. Marc Feldman would be one of my first calls in the morning.
I T TOOK A WHOLE lot of MAC concealer to cover the dark circles I was sporting after a fitful night of being chased by skeletons that morphed into my mother and back again. Pretty scary dreams. On the plus side, since I’d gotten up just after 4:00 a.m., I’d already downed a pot of coffee, so my energy level was pretty high as I pulled into the parking lot of Dane, Lieberman, and Zarnowski.
I noticed two things right off: (a) I was still five minutes late, and (b) one of the hottest guys I’d seen in all twenty-nine years of my life was parked one car away. Maybe there was life after Patrick and Liam after all. If not life, I mused as I watched him lift a box out of the trunk of a sleek black Porsche, definitely sex.
Of course, he turned and caught me staring at him. With that face and that body, I didn’t much care that I’d been caught with my eyeballs in the cookie jar. He was the anti-Patrick—tall, slightly muscular, jet-black hair and eyes to match. He smiled back, making him the anti-Liam.
I reapplied lip gloss just to kill time. I wanted to make sure I headed for the door at the same time as Gorgeous Guy. A completely intentional, accidental meeting might just cure my dating dry spell. He smoothed his tie out of the way, then pulled a
Similar Books
