“Maybe.” Nat shrugged, restless and edgy. “When he showed up at the Hideaway, he told me he was in real estate now, remember? I wouldn’t put a stunt like this past him.”
Celeste frowned. “This isn’t from your ex-husband. Unless somehow he’s tied to Indigo Reef Capital."
“Why would anyone make an offer on the Hideaway? It’s not for sale,” Veronica pointed out. “Unless you made queries we don’t know about.”
“Not even,” Celeste said. “We’re in this together. Which is why we’re here, with great food, to talk this out in a place where we can argue without fear of becoming gossip fodder.”
“What’s to argue about?” Roni stabbed a grilled shrimp with her fork. “None of us want to sell.”
“You might change your mind when you see the offer,” Celeste murmured. “As far as I can tell, this is random. And common practice. Investors don’t wait for the for sale sign to go up.” Celeste dipped a hushpuppy in Parker’s famous sauce.
“Indigo Reef?” Natalie studied the logo on the envelope. “They’re one of the partners in that mess of condos going up next door?” She didn’t like any of this. Mostly because she got twitchy whenever someone brought up Jackson’s name.
“Yes,” Celeste confirmed. “It seems they are handling most of the labor on site. The foreman was polite enough to give us a heads up about possible noise issues and working hours.”
“According to this, they’re the sole funding for the offer on the Hideaway.” Veronica was scowling at the first page. “No other partners are mentioned.”
Natalie reached for the envelope. The offer had been sent to the post office box they used officially for Hideaway business. The postmark was from Georgia, dated two days ago. A chill skated across her shoulders. She had to look into this, and she couldn’t keep it from her sisters. Better if she called Jess Billings, a friend who worked as the regional coordinator for the elite Guardian Agency. Jess had resources to track her ex-husband even if he didn’t want to be found.
“Jackson’s last known address is Georgia. It was on his business card.” Roni kicked her under the table. “I’m not afraid.” What a lie. “I’m just not willing to take any chances. We all know he’s a snake and I don’t want him anywhere near us or our business.”
“On that we’re in full agreement. And we need to be in full agreement about the Hideaway,” Celeste said. “Once you’ve both read the offer, we can discuss it.”
Veronica flicked away any concern. “You don’t want to sell.”
“Not doing that.” Celeste shook her head. “Read it all. This isn’t about one of us, it’s about all of us and our business.”
Natalie kept quiet, choosing to be the good example. After stuffing her mouth with fried shrimp, she blotted her hands and started reading the offer letter page by page.
Big mistake.
She choked when she saw the number on offer. At first glance it was worth consideration, especially since it spelled out an all-cash offer with a thirty-day closing. When she could breathe again, she ate more carefully before picking up her phone and opening the reports her sisters didn’t know she kept. From their first month in business, Celeste paid each of them from the profits of the B&B. For a time, Natalie simply enjoyed having steady money in the bank. But then it didn’t seem fair for Celeste to be carrying all the burdens of the Hideaway, so Nat had started paying attention. And when they changed the business model from by-the-room to full-house rentals, the profit margin increased. Quickly and exponentially.
“This is a lowball shot in the dark,” she blurted. “Damned insulting actually.” Feeling the stares, she looked up. Veronica gaped at her and Celeste set down her fork way too carefully.
“What? I’m not an idiot.” Her sisters knew she was intelligent, though she often leaned into the assumption that she was flighty and didn’t have a head for business details.
“No one said you were,” Celeste said, recovering first. “And yet, you routinely dodge business discussions. Why do you think it’s a lowball offer?”
Veronica nipped the offer pages from Natalie, reading it for herself.
“Well first up, it’s postmarked the day the body washed up on shore. That’s sketchy. Would anyone offer us top dollar after that? And second, private beach. It’s our claim to fame around here and a huge rental value boost.”
“You’re right,” Veronica said. “Cash or not, this barely covers the value of the house itself. Why didn’t you just toss this out with the junk mail?”
“Again, I say, togetherness.” Celeste glared at her plate. “My first inclination was to file it away and never think of it again,” she admitted.
“Pitch it and forget it is my vote,” Roni said. “Why bother to file it?”
Nat tapped the envelope again. “Agreed. I don’t want to sell, either. But I do want to look into this address and make sure Jackson isn’t behind it.”
“Lowballing us would be his kind of move.”
Natalie agreed. “It’s on me if he is involved. When he showed up at the Hideaway, I was clear that he shouldn’t return. Not that he ever takes no for an answer the first time.”
“Nobody is blaming you for this,” Celeste said.
She forced a smile for her sisters. “That’s not what I’m hearing,” Nat assured her. “It’s only…” She shook off the dark thoughts racing through her head. Jackson wasn’t worth any more lost sleep. He’d conned her, stolen her confidence, and nearly destroyed her career before it started. Marrying him had caused significant damage to her relationships with her parents and sisters.
