Wednesday morning
Carole retrieved the mail and the Smith Mountain Eagle from her mailbox. She would read the Eagle while waiting for eager clients to rush to her door. Ha! I wish, she thought. Even though she didn’t like Win Ford, if she could sell him a house, she’d be able to pay her bills the rest of the year and into next year. The commission on a $1,000,000 plus house would be significant. Until he’d shown up, she’d worried about making her payments. Now if Win would just buy a house….
Carole had seen the for-sale sign on the real estate property a year ago when she drove home after work. Never had she dreamed of owning a real estate agency, but teaching high school math had lost its appeal. Seemed like most of the kids these days had no desire to learn. And what had happened to students’ manners?
Owning a real estate agency appealed to her. She liked challenges, enjoyed taking something that didn’t work and fixing it. Now she wondered if buying this nearly bankrupt business had been a good choice. She’d made a few sales and rented some vacation homes. But now it was October. Sales and rentals wouldn’t pick up again until late spring, perhaps not even then. Because of the economy, prospective buyers were having trouble getting mortgages. No, the slump in the housing market wasn’t helping. Could she hang on? Probably not if Win didn’t buy a house.
And where was Win? It wasn’t like him not to call or be pounding on her door by 9:00 a.m. at the latest. He hadn’t called yesterday, either. He’d been furious when she’d refused his unwanted advances on Monday. But what else could she have done? He’d acted like a jerk. No, she told herself, I did the right thing. If he called her again, she’d insist they take her car from now on. That way she would have more control over any situation that arose. She dialed his number. No answer.
That should make Aurora happy, she thought. Her friend had called Monday night, warned Carole to stay away from Win.
“He’s bad news, Carole, dangerous. What does he do for a living? He must have a lot of money to be looking at such expensive houses.”
“He told me that he deals in big ticket commodities. I don’t know what specifically.”
“Like I said before, he’s dangerous. I should have warned you sooner. Please don’t do business with him.”
Carole unfolded the newspaper, checked to see if her real estate ad was correct, read about the progress on the retirement complex under construction near the lake. She looked at the picture of the Fountain powerboat on the front page. The caption underneath read, “Have you seen this boat? New Jersey resident discovers boat missing when he returns to lake home.”
Carole opened the magazine insert and sighed. So many homes for sale. So many real estate agents competing for clients. So many bills to pay. She jumped when the phone rang. The sound of Win’s voice excited—and scared—her.
“Hi, Carole,” he said.
“Win. It’s you.”
“Carole, I’m sorry. I owe you an apology.”
Carole said nothing.
“I acted like a jerk Monday evening. I’m so sorry.” He waited. When she said nothing, he continued. “It’s just that you are everything I want in a woman: smart, gorgeous, sexy, and I love the way you smile, and …. Sorry. I’m not helping matters, am I?”
“‘I’m sorry’ was a good start.”
“I’m relieved. At least you’re speaking to me. I came on too strong. I didn’t take into consideration that you’re engaged to Luke, that you have feelings for him.”
“Win, do you plan to purchase property or not? I need to know. There are other clients who need my services. To put it bluntly, if you have no intention of buying, then we can end this conversation right now.” Carole crossed her fingers. She needed his business desperately.
“I intend to buy a house in the next couple of days, and I want to purchase it from you. Unless you say otherwise, starting now, you and I will be on business terms only.”
Whew, she thought. “Okay, Win, I can work with that. But from now on we take my car. Agreed?”
“Agreed. Can you pick me up here at the bed and breakfast at 11:30? I’ll treat you to lunch. And if you bring your laptop, I’ll even swallow my pride and take some of those virtual tours while we eat.”
“Yes!” she wanted to shout. She’d be able to pay her mortgage in November. Instead she answered in a calm voice that she’d see him at 11:30.
“Thanks, Carole. I really appreciate it. You won’t regret it.”
Carole checked the clock on her desk. She had just enough time to brush her teeth and go to the bathroom before leaving to meet Win. This time when she pulled her purse out of the file drawer, she added her .22.
Just in case, she thought.