Chapter 2 #3
He smirked. “I can’t say for certain. I’m not a parent myself. But I was Milo’s age once upon a time, and I know I did a lot of stupid things for the girls I loved.”
“You think it’s love?”
“Sure,” he said, smiling. “Mostly because love makes you stupid, and hiding your girlfriend in a creepy basement room without your mom knowing she’s there is pretty stupid.”
“That’s one word for it,” she said with a snort.
Dominic continued to survey the greenhouse. “Before I get onto the news from the historical society, my lawyer had a quick look into your aunt’s Will. He made some calls and looked it over himself to confirm its legitimacy.”
Ruby turned to face him. “Oh, my God, really? I’m so glad to hear this. It’s been on my mind a lot since I got here. You know, not knowing if I should really move forward or wait.”
“Well, you can rest your mind now.”
“Thank you so much. I appreciate this.”
“You’re welcome, and also, I spoke to some of the other members of the historical society. Everyone is pretty eager to help you restore the property. When I mentioned that the greenhouse could be used for events as well, that really got them talking.”
“You clarified that I wouldn’t just be opening up the land to just anyone.”
He nodded. “I think that’s what they liked most about the idea. They were actually thinking it could be a good marketing plan—to sell the venue as a place for locals to celebrate. No destination weddings unless at least one of the parties getting married is from Sanibel.”
“I agree we should make that a rule,” Ruby said. “But when you mention ‘marketing,’ that makes me think the society is expecting to make money off this or something.” She shook her head. “We can’t expect to bring in that much money if we only allow such a small number of people to use the space.”
“Right, but if the society can get this place officially registered as a historical landmark, which we would also be working on throughout all of this, then the money you charge people to use the space could go mostly to the upkeep of the land and the rest would be donated to the society. It would take a handful of events, but over time, that would recoup any costs the society currently invested in fixing this property up.”
This all sounded a little too good to be true.
Ruby, who had bent down to start clearing some of the bigger weeds around the outdoor bench, took a beat to think about it.
“I guess I would just have to see how these sorts of decisions would be made and who has the power to do what, you know? That all could be great, if I knew I could trust the society to hold up their end of the bargain.”
He smirked. “You don’t trust me?”
“I trust you're fine,” she said. “But you’re just one member.”
“I’m the lead committee member,” he reminded her.
“Yes, but it’s a democracy, isn’t it?” she asked. “So, it wouldn’t be that crazy for your opinion to be out-voted if push came to shove.”
“I don’t think anyone in the committee would be out to get you if that’s what you’re worried about. They’re good people.”
She sighed and stood up, her knees creaking a bit as she straightened her legs.
“I’m sure they are. I probably just need to hold off on agreeing to anything until after I meet more members.
I’m sorry if I’m coming off a little overly cautious.
I just want to make sure I do right by Edith.
I get the sense that she left me this land because she trusted me to protect it, so that’s what I have to do. ”
“For sure. That makes perfect sense.” He smiled easily.
“And in the meantime, I’m going to have a buddy of mine who used to work as a window installer come over to check out the damage here.
I don’t think either of us should try to guess at workload or cost, unless you secretly know a lot about greenhouse glass panels. ”
“I don’t.” She laughed. “Please, call your friend. I’ll take any help I can get.”
“I wasn’t going to call him,” Dominic said. “I was going to go to his cafe down the street and talk to him in person. Care to join?”
Ruby hesitated. She’d shared a meal with Dominic before—when somebody on the unofficial ‘restoration team’ had ordered something after a long day on the property—but this was different.
Milo and Lonnie wouldn’t be there. It would just be the two of them, like it had been when they went to retrieve the futon.
“Uh—I can’t today,” she said, not quite sure why. “I need to talk some more with Milo and figure out how long Carrie is staying. If they’re back from their walk, I’d like to sit down and chat with both of them sooner rather than later.”
Dominic made a face. “Good luck with that.”
“Yeah, I know, it doesn’t sound fun to be either, but it has to happen. Raincheck?”
“Tomorrow?”
Wow. He was ready with that request.
“Yeah, okay,” she said, hoping she sounded unsure enough to justify bailing at the last minute the next day without making Dominic feel too bad. “Maybe.”
As if he read her mind, Dominic pointed at her and winked. “I’m going to hold you to that.”