“I don’t believe I got your name originally.” There’s something there that makes me wonder if she’s digging for information,or just needing to verify before handing out privileged details about my properties.
“I’m Max Luca. I work for Bauer.”
“Perfect. I did find the keys. They were in a box in our materials room. I have to head home to check on my son. Would you mind meeting me there?”
“Send me the address and I’ll head over now.”
The walk takes me about fifteen minutes. I’ve passed through the more run-down part of Penrose Beach and have entered into a section where there are larger beach homes.
The one that matches the address is a bigger model of the one just a few houses down.
I knock on the door, and it opens to a woman with an early 2000s hairstyle and a gray business suit. She looks familiar, but I can’t pinpoint from where. It could’ve been a chance meeting at one of the restaurants in town.
“Are you Max?” she asks.
“That’s me. You have a nice home here.”
She grins and turns toward it. “Thank you. It went on the market around the time your sales went through. I was able to buy it with the commissions.”
Well, she must’ve gotten quite a bit for selling so many buildings in town at the same time.
“That’s great,” I say. I reach out for the keys and it’s a mess of them. “These are all the keys?”
She smiles brightly. “Yes, To all four buildings the company owns. I know there are some duplicates and some that we never figured out what they went to. I didn’t worry about it, but Rusty complained when he was working on the project.”
Did he give up because he couldn’t open the doors?
The door behind her opens, and a teenage boy pops his head out. “Mom, I need food. When are we eating?”
“Give me a minute, Joey. I’m helping a client. We’ll figure it out.”
Joey frowns before slamming the door shut.
That doesn’t look like it’s going well, but I’m sure teenagers are a twist to life as it is. The only other teenager I can think of right now is Lila, and I’m sure she does similar things with her mom and Avery.
“Sorry about that. He’s been through a lot in the past week.” She looks like she wants me to ask why, but I’ve got keys in hand, and I’m ready to get things rolling. More specifically, to see what I have to work with.
“Thank you again, Mrs. Matthews. I appreciate your help locating these. You’ve saved me a lot of pain.”
She smiles, but it has a predatory vibe. “Of course. If you need any help with your next purchase, don’t be afraid to ask.” She hands me a card.
“Of course. Have a good day.”
I turn and walk back toward town. I’ve got a handful of keys I need to start trying on the doors of the buildings I own, and at this point, I wonder if it would be easier to just have everything rekeyed. But we’ll start here.
Avery
I love Sunday mornings. They’re slow. Peaceful.
“What are we doing today?” Lila asks, padding into the room and climbing into bed. I realize how much our lives have changed this past year. There’s a peace now, and life is good.
“Let’s just stay in bed all day,” I say, pulling her closer.
She wiggles free. “No, Avery. Let’s do something fun. When will my mom be home?”
I turn in the bed and pick up my phone off the nightstand, opening the text thread I have with my sister. “It looks like they extended her contract. But maybe she’ll make it home this week,” I say, leaning over to brush some hair out of Lila’s face.
“Why is she gone a lot now?” Lila asks, her voice wobbling abit. The girl has a lot of spice in her, but there are these small moments when she shows that pineapple interior.
