Chapter Six
Trey
Before Callie blew into town, and whether intentionally or not brought the maniacal cat recordings into their lives, Trey had intended to spend the day installing cabinets in one of the former offices he’d designated to be a bedroom.
He’d been hoping to show the two finished suites—his own, and the one Callie was currently in—to Khaki when she visited in the fall.
She’d always talked about turning the library into a unique rental experience and he’d wanted to show her it was possible.
Of course, that visit would never happen now, and Callie’s arrival had ruined any plan he might have of buying the property from his cousin Julie.
Now that Callie had seen what kind of work he could do, he hoped she’d consider allowing him to complete the entire project.
Though he’d been paying for the materials out of his own trust fund—his grandfather, Khaki’s brother, had made his fortune in the offshore oil industry before Trey was even born—he couldn’t afford to do that indefinitely.
And he was hopeful that Callie might consider selling the place to him and then deducting the cost of the renovations from the selling price.
Before he could even broach the subject, however, he needed to talk to Julie and find out what the hell she’d been thinking to let her mother leave the library—a place that held so many memories for not only him, but also for Julie and her husband and kids—to a stranger.
He’d always known Aunt Khaki was eccentric.
The woman had lived in a converted college library, after all.
But there was something hinky about this whole thing.
So, once he’d gotten back upstairs and found his phone, he headed to his office, found his cousin Julie’s number, and hit the green call button.
“Trey,” she said, a hint of amusement in her voice, which, after so many years of living in Ohio was a blend of flat Midwestern and New Orleans twang. “I wondered how long it would take you to call. Honestly, I thought I’d hear from you sooner. Didn’t Callie get down there last night?”
Ah, so his cousin had known Callie had been on her way down here. “You could have given me a heads-up, Jules,” he said, not bothering to hide his annoyance at the omission. “Especially since you knew very well Khaki had promised this place to me.”
He heard her let out a long breath of exasperation.
“Trey, I know you and Mama had a close relationship. Which is why I think it hurt her so much when you dropped off the face of the earth after your split with Monica. She knew you were hurting, and I know she didn’t resent you staying in the library while you were getting your head on straight. But you know how impulsive she was.”
Now it was Trey’s turn for frustration. “I put a year’s worth of work into this place, Julie, which you know since you apparently have as many spies down here as Khaki did.
You should have told me as soon as you knew she was thinking about leaving it to some Cincinnati librarian she barely knew and you know it. ”
“Callie’s not a stranger, Trey,” his cousin said sharply.
“For the past year she’s been the closest thing to a friend Mama had up here.
And if you must know, I felt guilty as hell for making her move up here with us, when all her friends were on the island.
Callie was kind to her when she needed some kindness.
And I think Mama wanted to do something for her. ”
“You mean she manipulated a lonely old woman into giving her a fortune and some beachside property worth more money than God,” Trey said bitterly. “And you let her because it made you feel better for taking her away from here.”
“That’s not fair,” Julie snapped. “And stop making it out like you were somehow robbed of your inheritance. You aren’t hurting for money. Not if you can afford to hole up on the island for over a year to do renovations on a place you don’t even own. Why did you really call, Trey?”
Then, in a softer, kinder voice, she continued. “Because if you want me to tell you Callie didn’t really inherit the library, then I can’t do that.”
Deep down, that was exactly why he’d called.
And the fact that Julie had guessed it only meant that she understood him better than he’d known.
She was fifteen years older than he was, and by the time he’d sought out Khaki and Remy’s library home as a refuge, Julie had already been married with kids and living in Cincinnati.
But somewhere along the way—whether from talking to her mother about him, or just from their infrequent interactions—she’d figured out how much the library meant to him.
And she knew what a gut punch it had been for him to find out Khaki had left it to someone else.
He sighed. “Yeah, I guess that’s exactly what I wanted. But like you said, you can’t tell me that.”
“You should give her a chance, Trey,” his cousin said, in the same tone she probably used to get her kids to eat vegetables when they were little. “Mama was a good judge of character. And she wouldn’t have chosen to leave the library to her if she didn’t think she’d fit in down there.”
That was probably true, but it didn’t make him feel any better about the fact that a stranger owned Khaki’s library now.
“Look,” Julie continued. “I can talk to her if you want me to. Let her know you’re not a creeper or anything. I probably should have done that before she left Cincy, actually.”
“Yeah, why didn’t you?” he asked dryly. “Or, you know, you could have let me know that I was about to be descended on by a snotty librarian and her demon cat.”
“Are you forty or four?” his cousin asked with a laugh in her voice. “And what’s the matter with Stella? I’ve met her and she’s a total sweetie.”
“Maybe she was to you,” he groused, knowing he sounded just like the child she’d accused him of being. “Besides, it’s not the cat I’m really worried about. It’s her human owner, who will probably turn around and sell this place the first chance she gets.”
“And clearly you’re big mad about it.”
“I’m not mad,” he said resentfully, though he knew he sounded exactly that. “I just think it’s a waste to leave this place to a woman who probably won’t even last more than a week here.”
“She’s going to have to if she wants to keep the money,” Julie said wryly, and Trey dropped his feet from where they’d been propped on the windowsill. “It’s in the terms of the will.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, wondering if he’d heard her right. “What are the terms?”
“She has to live in the library for an entire year before she can have access to the full million,” Julie explained. “But because she’d need to be able to get by for that year and pay for the move on top of expenses and things, Mama saw to it that she’d receive a monthly allowance.”
Trey’s heart sank. He’d been hoping he’d be able to convince her to go back home after last night’s cat recording shenanigans. But if she had to remain on the island in order to receive her full inheritance, then no amount of teenage hijinks would make her go back to where she came from, damn it.
“Look, Trey,” his cousin continued, sounding very tired suddenly.
And he was reminded that he’d lost a beloved aunt, but Julie had lost her mother, to whom she’d been extremely close.
“I know you weren’t expecting this to happen with Mama’s will.
But I promise you she had her reasons. And whatever you might think about Callie, I can assure you that there was genuine affection between her and my mother.
She didn’t trick her or anything like that.
She was just as sad as anyone when Mama died.
And if you’re worried about Callie kicking you out or something, she agreed to let you stay there as long as you needed to. Mama knew what she was doing.”
The heck of it was, Trey thought, Julie was likely right. Khaki had always been generous to a fault. And she’d likely seen some vulnerability in the librarian and wanted to do something to assuage it. Even if that meant leaving the library to her instead of to her once-beloved nephew.
“Fine,” he said at last, recognizing that as much as he resented Callie, the matter was out of his hands now. “But I warn you, I plan on convincing her to sell this place to me once her year is up. Because I have no doubt she’ll be ready to run by then. Or even before that. Money or no money.”
“I dunno, cuz,” Julie said wryly. “I think Miss Callie Jameson might surprise you.”
But as he wrapped up his chat with Julie and hung up the phone, Trey wondered if there was something Julie wasn’t telling him.
At least, he thought, getting ready to bike into town to meet Callie, he’d have time to figure out just what it was about the librarian that had captivated his great-aunt to such a degree that she’d decided to turn her into a millionaire.