Damien nodded but looked disappointed that Shane had given the right answer. He ascended onto the porch, making a show of checking the spindles and marking things on his clipboard.
Shane looked at Andie and shrugged. She could tell he shared her low opinion of Damien, but then who didn’t?
Shane continued, “As you can see, I’ve replaced most of the rotted boards and will replace the spindles. I plan to finish up by the end of the day so it will be all done well before the auction.”
“I wouldn’t rush if I were you.” Damien came back down the stairs and stood beside them.
“Huh? Why not?” Andie asked. “We can’t have the attendees getting hurt on the porch. I wouldn’t want anyone to sue the Thompsons.”
“There aren’t going to be any attendees. Or any auction. At least not this week anyway.” Damien’s tone was almost gleeful.
Andie refrained from punching the smug expression off his face. Fury built in her chest. “What do you mean? Everything is in good shape here.”
“I’m afraid not. There are over fifty items on our safety checklist.” Damien tapped the clipboard. “And I’m afraid you don’t pass some of them.”
Shane frowned. “What do you mean? My work is up to code and would pass any inspection.”
“Yes, your work is fine. It’s the tenting area and the yard slope. We don’t require that all of the items pass, just a percentage, and I’m afraid I must be a stickler in this case.” Damien feigned regret.
“Can’t we fix them? What are these items?”
Damien ripped the paper off the clipboard and handed it to her. “It’s all written here. You’ll see it’s all within guidelines.”
Andie studied the list, getting madder as she looked at the items. They were ridiculous and things that could be easily remedied, like the chairs. “Most of these are easy fixes. Can’t we just put them right now and you can pass it?”
Damien pressed his lips together and shook his head. “I’m afraid not.”
Andie narrowed her eyes. He was being purposely inflexible. “Why not? Surely we can move a few chairs and adjust some tent stakes. You wrote down the most minor things here. This isn’t fair.”
“Fair? Oh, you want to be fair. How about stealing clients? Is that fair?”
Andie was too stunned to reply. He was flunking the inspection because of that?
“I’m going to appeal this. Who do I talk to?”
Damien nodded, his dark, beady eyes gleaming. “You have every right to appeal. But it won’t happen in time for the auction. We have an appeals process, and appeals are only heard the last Friday of every month. You just missed the one for this month.” Damien gave her a look of fake sympathy. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have another appointment to get to.”
They watched him leave in silence, fury, disappointment, and failure blooming in Andie’s chest.
“What a jerk,” Shane said. “Can I do anything to help?”
“I don’t know. I’m so mad I’m not even sure what to do.”
Emily came walking back down the driveway as Damien drove off. She didn’t look very happy either. “How did the inspection go?”
“Not very well, I’m afraid. Damien’s playing hardball. He wrote up some stupid minor violations.” Andie showed her the list, but she only glanced at it, looking as if she was going to cry.
“Don’t worry. I’m going to figure something out. Maybe we can move everything to Frank’s auction hall, or I could pay you for the items I’ve picked out for my shop now.” Andie did a mental calculation. So far what she’d picked out wouldn’t even cover the cost of the month at Tall Pines. Maybe she should bump up her offer price.
“That’s nice of you, but don’t waste your time. It’s not going to help.” Emily’s voice was shaky.
“What? Why?” Andie asked.
Emily held out an envelope, her hand shaking. “This came in the mail. It’s a foreclosure notice. I didn’t realize that Mom took out a second mortgage. We owe four months already. There’s no way I can come up with the money for Tall Pines and for this house.”
Andie looked over the notice. Emily would have to come up with more money than Andie could pay for the items. Would the auction even net her that much? There was no way to know. Even if they found important antiques like the painting, it would be months before Emily could get the money unless they could find a buyer right away.
“I know the house is falling apart, but it’s mostly the only thing Mom remembers these days. She always lights up when I take her back for a visit.” A tear spilled out and ran down Emily’s cheek. “She begged me to keep it in the family. I was trying to figure out how to sell my place and move in, but I’m underwater on my mortgage. Now what am I going to do?”
