Sandee looked pitying. “But there are plenty of homes rented through Airbnb now, and nice inns in the neighboring towns. And if Tides isn’t full right now at peak season, then I doubt your balance sheet is favorable. You have to look at this realistically, Janey, because that’s what a buyer will do.”
The page crinkled as Jane stuffed it into the folder and snapped it shut. “Well, Tides isn’t for sale.”
Sandee took the folder. “No? But you asked for the appraisal.”
“I changed my mind. I’m not selling, especially not for that price.” She couldn’t afford to. That would only pay for a few years of Addie’s care, and what would she do after that? Never mind the question of what she, herself, would live on. She’d lost money on the sale of her own house when she’d had to let it go to live here, and her retirement savings were pitiful.
“Oh, well let me know if you change your mind.” Sandee grabbed the folder and made off toward her car.
Jane blew out a breath as she watched the blonde fold herself back inside the small car.
“You okay?” The voice came from the corner of the porch up near the ceiling, and Jane looked up to see Sally Littlefield standing atop the second-to-last rung of a ladder with a caulking gun in her hand as she fixed the sealant on a window. Sally, the town handywoman, was in her seventies but still spry in both body and mind. Her expression grim, the woman set down the caulking gun on the top of the ladder and quickly descended to the bottom. She wiped her hands on her overalls as she turned to Jane.
“I’m fine,” Jane said, not wanting to burden Sally with her problems.
“I heard what Sandee said to you. You really aren’t thinking about selling, are you?”
“Not really. But it’s expensive to have Mom in Tall Pines, and I just wanted a number in case things don’t pick up here at the inn.”
“I don’t know what number that wicked woman put in that file you’re holding, and it’s none of my business, but if I were you, I wouldn’t trust her.”
“No?”
Sally shook her head. “She isn’t good people. My guess is she’s up to something sketchy.”
“That doesn’t make sense. She’s a real estate agent. She makes a commission. Shewantsme to sell for the highest price because then she’ll get a bigger payout.”
Sally narrowed her eyes. She shoved her hands in her pockets and rocked back on her heels. “Ah-yuh, if you say so.”
“You don’t sound convinced.”
“I’m not. That woman always has something up her sleeve. Besides,” Sally added as she swept her arm toward the whitewashed Victorian house, “you can’t sell. Tides has been a pillar of this town for decades. You used to be booked well in advance for all three good-weather months and some guests in the winter too. I wouldn’t give up on it just yet.”
Jane didn’t want to. For one, it looked like selling wasn’t going to gain her much anyway, and for two, she’d promised her mother. But how in the world was she going to get business to pick up? This wasn’t her area of expertise.
Sally added, “And if you ask me, the repairs aren’t so extensive. Ah-yuh, you might have to replace those pipes or furnace eventually, but they’re still in good working order. It’s the weatherproofing that I think is the most important, and there’s a lot of little cosmetic things. But I have to tell you, I’m not sure I can handle it all myself.”
Jane had a sinking feeling. “You can’t? It’s too complicated?” The work of finding a trusted contractor and negotiating a price and payment plan she could afford was another straw on her back. One she didn’t need added right now.
“I can do it, but it would take me a while. Maybe months.”
It was still summer. Surely, she would be able to finish before the snow set in.
Sally patted Jane’s hand with a smile. “But you’re in luck. I happen to know that Shane Flannery is back in town.”
Jane opened her mouth then shut it again. “Shane Flannery?” A face flashed in front of her mind’s eye, dulled by the years since high school. Surely it couldn’t be the same…
“Retired from the navy,” Sally confirmed. “And he’s looking for carpentry work in the area. I’ve seen his work, and he’s very good. Inexpensive, too, since he’s just setting up his business.” She winked. “Plus, he’s not too sore on the eyes, if you understand me.”
Jane smiled weakly. “I bet he isn’t.” The Shane Flannery she had known, back when her sister had dated him in high school, had been the athletic type. Filled with energy and smiles, radiating a magnetic sort of charm, and so head over heels for Andrea that it had been adorable. Jane seemed to recall that he’d wanted to get married, but Andie had gone off to greener pastures. Broke the guy’s heart, from what she remembered.
“I’ll look him up,” she promised Sally.
And she meant it too. Obviously Shane and her sister had a history, but that had been decades ago, and Andie wasn’t here. Jane needed help from somewhere, and she couldn’t afford to be picky.
“Good.” Sally turned back to the ladder. She paused with her hand on the rung and looked over her shoulder, her white braid obscuring half her face. “Don’t you give up on this place, Jane,” she said fiercely. “It’s your family legacy. Family is everything.”
Jane knew that. Family was everything to her too.
