Chapter 32
32
M onday morning Margo was in her office at the real estate company. She was researching, preparing, and making notes.
Carley stepped in. "Good morning. What are you doing here so early?"
"Hi, I came in to do some research for Jace. I wanted to put together a list of businesses that have less than a thirty-foot buffer from the beach. Actually, two-story buildings with less than a thirty-foot buffer near the beach. In this section of town, there aren't many, but when you go down the beach past where Sid and Grace's bluff is, and Jamie Hart's barn, there's more beach along the way and there are two-story buildings over there. I wanted him to be armed with that information tonight when he goes before the Town Council.
Carley smiled at her. "Oh, you're so sweet. You really like him, huh?"
Margo stopped looking at her computer screen and folded her hands before her. "I really like him a lot, Carley. I more than like him."
Carley's mouth dropped open. "Do you love him? Are you in love with him?"
She huffed a little bit and took a deep breath. "I don't know. I think so. I feel so insecure about even knowing what love is after Logan and that whole thing."
"Well, don't sell yourself short. You know when you're happy. You know how you feel. Don't get knotted up over what you maybe refused to see before. And if your heart tells you that you love him, don't fight it. It doesn't come along very often, Margo."
She smiled at her sister. "Thanks, honey. I do appreciate that. How are you doing?"
"I'm doing all right. I just popped in here to tell you that I got a call and I'm going to meet a seller. I'd like to try to do it on my own. I know I don't fully have my license yet, but do you mind?"
"Not at all. I've got my phone right here. Remember to put the name, address, and contact information in the computer. It's for safety. If you don't check in after an hour, Addison will try calling you."
"I did that already. Thank you."
She patted her phone next to her. "Call me if you have any questions or you need help with anything."
"Thanks, Margo. I love you."
"I love you too, dear."
She finished her research, compiled her list, made a few copies, and her phone rang. "Margo Price."
"Hello, Mrs. Price. I'm calling you from the funeral home. Just letting you know that we just received Mr. Price's ashes back from the cremation company today, and they are here for you to pick up anytime."
She swallowed the lump that formed in her throat. Her heart raced a little bit. That's right. His ashes. "Thank you. I appreciate it."
"You're welcome, ma'am." He hung up the phone.
She sat back in her chair and stared out the window of her office. Mixed emotions. That's how she would describe what was going on in her stomach right now. Mixed emotions. She'd been fully prepared to hate him after she found out about Sierra. And then she hated him after she found out about the shares of the company he tried to give away. Then when she saw Sierra wearing her necklace, she full-on hated this son of a bitch. But he didn't deserve to be murdered if that's what happened.
She went back to her research. She wasn't in any mood to pick up his ashes, and she thought if the police contacted her, she would just have them go pick them up. If they thought they could get useful information out of those ashes, the police could have them. Right now, her focus was on the present. She had a new life starting here, and she loved it. She looked forward to seeing Jace. They had a nice way with each other, and not that she wanted to be boring and sedate, but they both worked really hard. The downtime together was special. She looked forward to it. Who wouldn't? He was handsome. He was a business owner. He was responsible. He was reliable. He was everything that she would ever want. She just hoped she could be everything he would want.
She picked her lists off the printer, tucked them in her briefcase for tonight, and decided to go home and take a shower. Her phone rang again, and she answered it.
"Hello, Margo Price speaking."
A chuckle came over the speaker. "Hello, Margo. My name is Thomas. I'm selling my house, and I'd like you to list it if you don't mind."
"Oh, sure. What's a good time for me to come over and speak with you about it?"
"I'm available today. Actually, I'm available every day. I'm ready to just sell."
"Okay. I can be over in about half an hour."
"That works."
She pulled her notepad toward her. "Okay, give me your address."
He rifled off his address, and she wrote it down quickly. "All right, Thomas, I'll be there in about half an hour."
She logged on to their software and typed in her appointment along with Thomas' phone number and address. She packed up her briefcase, added her laptop, and exited the office.
She stopped at Addison's desk. "I left an appointment time on the calendar in case you need me. Carley may be calling me, or you, with help if she needs it. I do have my phone of course. And I should be back, I don't know, within an hour or maybe two. Do you need anything before I leave?"
Addison smiled. "Nope, I'm fine here. I'm just pulling together documents from the title company for the closing that Logan had in the books this week."
"Thank you, Addie. I'll look that over when I get back if you want to put it in a folder on my desk. I'll go over it with Carley, so she's familiar with what we're doing as well."
"Sounds good."
"Have a great afternoon."
Margo left the office, jumped in her SUV, and drove to Thomas' house. She spent about an hour looking at what he had. It was a nice little house, a little ranch. It'd work great for a single person or a newly married couple, maybe a little dated, but somebody with some decent design skills would be able to make it a really cute house. She was excited to list it. She worked through the listing contract with him and had him fill out the property condition report and other documents that he needed. What was included with the house and what wasn't. She told him she would get everything finalized, read through everything before she left, and then she would have him sign it electronically.
He looked over the documents and nodded. "It looks good."
She gave him the hand-held electronic document signer, and he signed his name with his finger.
On her way back home, she was excited. She was going to make this real estate company a cash cow. They were doing well, especially with Quinn's barracks. It all seemed to work really well.
She was doing what she loved with her sister. She had a new man. Life was looking alright.