"No, I'm afraid not. I just had a very bad day."
"Really? What were you doing?"
"Contemplating."
He raised another eyebrow. "What a strange hobby.”
"I was thinking about a house I'm hoping to buy. I want to put in a glass roof, and I was wondering if I could make it open up."
She hadn't expected him to be listening, but apparently, he was, because the effect of her words seemed to bemuse him somehow.
"A glass roof," he repeated. "For a conservatory?"
"Not exactly, no. It's more like a winter garden."
"A winter garden, yes, that rings a bell. And this house of yours is where?"
“You’re sitting in it,” she replied boldly.
"So, you're the one who made an offer on this place! How did you know it was for sale?”
“I didn’t. I brought the realtor by here as an example of a house that I had really liked and there was a sign in the yard. Of course, it is gone now, and it was gone when I came here before.”
“Yes. I took it up when I met you here so that you’d assume it was where the Bryants lived, until I had a chance to vet you.”
“And now that you have? You’ve selected me, so why not put it back after the fact?”
“Saul took it up. He was angry because he wants this place off his hands but can’t bear to part with it. He’s conflicted.”
“And you? Are you conflicted?”
“Me? No. Why would I be?”
“You aren’t upset that I’m trying to purchase the house owned by you and your brother? It doesn’t interfere with your charade?”
“Brother? Oh, no. It’s not like that at all. Saul’s brother, Compton, is in The Hell’s Fangs. Those two are like night and day. Compton thinks I borrowed his keys to this place to, uh, well . . .”
“Get laid?”
“I was trying to be more delicate.”
“Why wouldn’t you just do that at your own place?”
“I don’t take women back to my place. They get ideas,” he replied.
Jo understood all too well. He might seem charming, but he was a womanizer by most standards. One of those bad boy bikers who liked to play, but well under the radar so that the town folk didn’t lock up their daughters and wives and condemn his motorcycle gang. It was a sharp reminder to keep her distance while they went through the motions in the coming months.
“I see.”
“Good. It’s always good to have a clear understanding with one another.”
If Jo had been having any warm fuzzy feelings toward him, they quickly dissipated. He was no one to toy with, emotionally or otherwise. This, for him, was all business and nothing more, a means to an end. She shifted in her chair uncomfortably and began to make her excuses.
“Well, that is all I came here for. If it’s not a problem, then I’ll continue with my efforts and see you in a few days at the bar, as scheduled.”
He didn’t try to stop her, instead showing her to the door and saying a hasty goodbye. It made her wonder if he was expecting a visitor once she was gone and she found that something about the idea he might be actually having some woman over in a house she deemed hers already bothered her. Or was there more to it than that? Either way, she’d have to shake it off and move past it.
She was surprised to find her phone ringing when she stepped out of the car and headed down the small trail that led to the houseboat.
“Hello?”
There was no return greeting, merely a launch into the business at hand from the other end.
“This is Saul Turner. I wanted to tell you that if you're still interested in the house, I'm prepared to sell it for the price you offered."
"Oh. Will you? Really?"
"Are you still interested?"
"Oh. Yes. Thank you. I- I wasn't expecting this."
"Neither was I."
Jo didn't know what to make of that. "But what about your brother?" she asked, unsure of why she was questioning anything, but hapless to stop herself from asking.
There was a short silence from the other end and then, "Excuse me?"
"I, um, I thought . . . I understand that you have a brother involved in this as well."
"My brother," he replied coldly, "has nothing whatsoever to do with this. Are you interested or not?"
A cold breeze rustled through the trees, practically cutting her in half. She drew in a breath sharply and began making her way closer to the houseboat again, realizing she had stopped short in the path when she heard his voice.
"Hello?" he barked. "Are you still there?"
"Yes. Yes, I am," she replied, hurrying into the small door of the boat and sitting down to catch her breath.
"Is everything all right?"
"Yes. I'm so sorry. I was just outside. I’m in now."
He sounded nonplussed, as well he might. "Do you wish to buy the house or not, then?"