Chapter Seventeen #2
“Are you trying to cheer us up?” Rob asked, as the three headed for the sidewalk to the building entrance. “If so, it’s not working.”
“No, I’m just being realistic,” Tammy grumbled and slung her purse strap over her arm. “And I just thought of something else.” She stopped dead. “What if the Code Enforcement manager doesn’t show?”
Lily stared at her, feeling as though a hundred-pound weight had just descended on her shoulders. “He has to,” she said softly. “He promised. I’m banking everything on it.”
Rob and Tammy exchanged worried glances.
Lily’s gaze shot to Rob. “What if I miscalculated? Hells bells, Rob, what if the manager really doesn’t show?”
Rob put an arm around her and gave a squeeze. “Look, you had every reason to believe the guy. We just have to be realistic and be ready for anything.”
“Realistic is the fact my cottage is already gone, and I may not be allowed to rebuild. I have nowhere to go but up.” Lily pulled on a tough smile for her friends. “But you two are wonderful to come down here with me. I’m going to give this my best shot, and then we’ll just have to see.”
She turned toward Town Hall and spotted three suits, all elegantly attired and striding toward the government building from the opposite direction, each carrying a briefcase. One suit peeled off from the other two and strode toward Lily, halting a few feet in front of her.
“Ms. Foster?” he said.
“Yes?”
“I’m Carstairs Whittenhurst the Third.”
He didn’t extend a hand. Neither did Lily, but she stiffened in anticipation.
“I’m prepared to make you a more than generous offer prior to this hearing.
A figure which exceeds the appraised value of your business and includes the title to an equal number of acres inland in a section of Palm Beach County where you can live on site.
We can thus avoid the need for this—” He gave an idle wave at Jupiter Town Hall. “—hearing.”
He said the word as though it left a sour taste in his mouth. “Otherwise, I’ll have no choice but to proceed as I explained to you previously,” he informed her, looking down the length of his rather long nose.
“You mean sic your dogs on me, right?”
This time Whittenhurst stiffened. His gaze narrowed on hers. “What is your answer, Ms. Foster?”
Lily said very loudly and very clearly, “As I explained to you previously, my property is not for sale.”
He sniffed. “We shall see.” He swiftly joined his two companions and entered the building.
“What did he mean by that?” Tammy asked indignantly.
“Lawyers play dirty,” Rob said flatly. “I ought to know.”
“Come on,” Lily said, trying her best to smile. “Let’s go inside. We have a hearing to win.”
~ ~ ~ ~
Two long tables sat before the large dais at the front of the Jupiter Town Council meeting chamber. “One for code violators and one for code enforcement officials,” an attendant told Lily, when she peered through the open double doors into the Council Chamber.
On this particular morning, only the center chair on the massive dais was occupied, and that by the reigning Code Compliance Special Magistrate, Mr. Lawrence Bealer.
The other four chairs sat empty. White-haired with a scholarly look, Mr. Bealer had reading glasses perched on the edge of his nose and perused a number of files spread out in front of him on the enormous semi-circular desk that took up the entire dais.
Lily knew one of those files belonged to her nursery, and she wondered if a note about the recent cottage fire had been tucked into the file.
She wished she knew Lawrence Bealer, but she didn’t.
The man probably had a landscaping service buy his plant material for him. She would be flying blind today.
Tammy nudged her away from the door to let a group of three casually dressed men proceed into the chamber. Rob had peeled off to take a cell phone call as soon as they had entered Town Hall and hadn’t reappeared.
“Do you need a couple minutes to catch your breath?” Tammy whispered. “We passed a ladies’ room on the way in.”
“I do, but it won’t help,” Lily whispered back with a wry smile.
Whittenhurst and his suits approached the Council Chamber entrance, the leather briefcase clutched in each man’s hand probably cost more than Lily’s weekly salary.
Whittenhurst remained a step in front as before, his carriage almost regal, right up to the aquiline nose stuck high in the air.
Steel-gray hair lay perfectly coiffed against his head, the part on the side engineered with perfection.
Lily waited for the men to pass her and enter the chamber, but Whittenhurst stepped aside to let the other two men by, then turned to face her.
“There is still time to change your mind, Ms. Foster,” his nasally voice intoned.
This man made Lily’s blood boil. Whittenhurst was after the nursery Hank had built from nothing, and the nursery provided work for dozens of people who were the only family she had left.
To Lily, his offense was unforgivable and made the man a monster in her book.
She locked gazes with him for several long moments.
He stiffened.
“Do you know anything about the fire that burned down my cottage last week, Whittenhurst? My propane tank exploded,” she said, never breaking eye contact.
His eyes widened. “Why would I know anything about that?”
The man was either one hell of an actor, or her question had truly surprised him. She would bet on his acting skills.
“You’re the only one with an interest in my property,” she said pointedly.
“Are you accusing me, Ms. Foster?” His eyes glittered dangerously.
“Just asking what you know about the fire.”
“What I know is that you should have taken better care of your propane tank.” He turned on his heel to enter the chamber.
“You mean like posting a guard to keep you away from it?”
He halted mid-step and slanted a glance at her. “Be very careful, Ms. Foster,” he said softly and proceeded into the Council Chamber.
Tammy leaned in and whispered, “Like poking a tiger when the cage door isn’t latched, don’tcha think?”
“I couldn’t help it. I think he was just acting surprised, Tammy. I didn’t like the look in his eyes when I accused him.”
“Well yeah!” Tammy agreed. “Odd that he didn’t ask any questions about a fire on property he is interested in purchasing.”
“I don’t like him,” Lily said indignantly, “and I won’t let him force me out.”
“I’m not sure we can stop him.”
“If I have to spend every cent of my trust fund to fix every code violation, then I will.”
Tammy frowned. “That’s what worries me. You’ll fix everything, and he’ll find something new or ruin something else or worse.”
Lily grabbed her arm. “You’ve cheered me up enough. Let’s go inside.”
They took seats in the second row, and Rob joined them moments later. “Sorry I’m late.” He reached over and patted Lily’s hand. “Everything will be fine.”
She sighed. “I hope so.”
She didn’t have long to wait. Bealer handled the first two cases in short order, first a rundown rental property with inoperable air-conditioning units followed by a corner market on a side street off Federal Highway that installed a non-compliant electric sign without a permit.
Both defendants left with frowns and consent orders.
Magistrate Bealer picked up a file, glanced at the cover, and announced, “Bloom & Grow Nursery. Is the owner here?”
Lily took a deep breath and stood up. “I’m here, sir.”
“Well, well, well,” drawled a feminine voice behind her.
Lily turned and saw Delia Armstead slide into a seat behind Whittenhurst and his cohorts.
Good Lord! Is Delia Armstead the buyer?
~ ~ ~ ~
Garrett reached into his pocket and offered Rhett his comb. “Looks like you raked your hands through there a few hundred times.”
Rhett scowled, ran the comb through his hair, and handed it back. “Watch the road.”
Garrett was pushing ninety in Rhett’s Navigator and prayed his friend’s radar detector worked properly.
A ticket could make them too late. He had already prayed Lily wasn’t one of the first cases on the agenda for they were cutting it too close as it was.
He also knew from experience that the agenda was set ahead of time and walk-ins came last. His mole had informed him Lily’s spot in front of the Code Compliance Magistrate had been set for at least two weeks.
“Did Lily ever mention having code enforcement problems?” he asked Rhett.
“Not a word.”
“Or that someone was trying to buy her property?”
“We have only been back together a few days.” He winced. “Were back together.”
“I don’t suppose you want to tell me why you think you’ve lost her permanently?” Garrett glanced over his shoulder and signaled to change lanes. “You might be wrong, you know. It’s not like you cheated on her or anything.”
When Rhett didn’t answer, Garrett glanced over, saw him grimace, and felt his own jaw drop. “You didn’t! You asshole! If I wasn’t driving this car, I’d beat you senseless.”
“You could try,” Rhett snarled. “And no, I didn’t cheat. But Lily thinks I did.”
Garrett alternated his glare between the turnpike lane and his friend. “You want to explain that?”
“No,” Rhett growled.
A moment later, he let loose a disgusted sigh. “Lily walked in when I looked in flagrante delicto with Delia.”
“Dammit!” Garrett exploded. “You just said you didn’t cheat!”
“And I also said I looked in flagrante delicto.”
He dragged both hands through his freshly combed hair, and Garrett shoved the comb back at him. Rhett buzzed down his window and threw the comb out on the highway.
Garrett scowled. “Nice.”
“I was coming out of the shower, towel around my waist, and walked right into Delia in a see-through negligee. My damn bed was strewn with rose petals.”
“Holy crap! A total seduction scene.”
Rhett nodded grimly.
“I’m gonna kill Delia myself. So what happened?”