The old seafarer’s home sat atop a cliff with nothing but sweeping dunes separating it from the sugar-sand beach and cobalt-blue ocean. A faint breeze kicked up, bringing salty sea air. Andie could hear waves crashing on the beach below and imagined sitting in a rocking chair on the porch with her morning coffee and just watching the sea. Had Sadie done that?
There had been many times she and her grandmother and sister had sat on the back porch at Tides when she was little. The view wasn’t quite the same because Tides was set right on the beach but was still stunning nonetheless.
As she picked her way up the broken wooden steps, her trepidation about working with Emily was replaced with worry for their situation. If they didn’t have any money to pay the bill at Tall Pines, then how were they paying the property taxes on the house? It had been in the family for generations, so they probably didn’t have a mortgage on it, but with this waterfront view the taxes must be steep.
Would they have to sell? Andie and Jane had almost been forced to do that, and she felt a newfound sympathy for Emily and what she was facing. Someone would love to tear this place down and build a hotel here. As a lover of history and antiques, Andie hated that thought. Hopefully they’d find some good, expensive antiques inside that Emily could use to pay for Sadie’s care and any bills they owed on the house.
“Thank you for coming.” Emily looked more wary than thankful as she opened the front door for Andie.
The foyer was spacious. A large area on the left revealed a living room loaded with carved mahogany furniture including two curio cabinets stuffed to the brim. The view out the windows of the ocean beyond was stunning. On the right was a dining room that boasted tall windows with faded velvet drapes, a modest chandelier, and more furniture than was necessary. The three sideboards were loaded with knickknacks from every generation. A set of stairs led up, and Andie could see more furniture on the landing.
“You sure have a lot of antiques,” Andie said.
Emily looked around as if only just noticing. “I suppose. My family isn’t much for throwing things out. You should see the attic.”
Andie would love to. Her imagination went wild as to what might be up there.
Emily led her down the hallway, pointing out a library, bathroom, and kitchen. One section had a wall that looked out of place. Emily saw Andie eyeing the wall.
“Mom had the house sectioned off a while back. Said it was too big for just her and she didn’t want to pay the heat. There’s a lot of things in there, too, but it’s probably pretty dusty.”
“Okay.” Andie looked around. Where to start? “I’d like to spend some time evaluating the items so I can give you a general idea of what to expect for value.”
“Okay.” Emily’s green eyes were filled with the wary resignation of someone who didn’t want to be in the position they were in but knew they had to be. Andie just hoped she wouldn’t balk at selling the good stuff and expect to make a lot from the broken and lesser-value items, as clients often did.
Andie spent the next few hours under Emily’s watchful eye assessing the antiques in the living room, library, and dining room. They had a lot of good items, nothing overly important, though. The common was mixed in with some rarer finds.
“So how does this work? Would you give me a price for all of it or…”
“I could. I do have a budget to work with.” The urgency in Emily’s voice gave Andie pause. She’d only allocated so much per month for acquiring new stock. It cost several thousand dollars a month to have someone at Tall Pines, so she knew Emily needed at least that, and that was just forthismonth. What about next month? And what other bills had the family accumulated?
“Oh, of course.” Emily looked around the room, disappointment evident on her face.
“How about we look a little more, try to find the most valuable items, and figure out how to sell them the fastest way that will get you the most money?” Andie suggested.
For the first time since they’d met, Andie saw a glimmer of a smile tug at Emily’s lips. “That sounds like a good idea.”
An hour later, she found an item that might help their cause. It was an oil painting of a field with cows that had been hanging in the back hall. Andie recognized the simplistic primitive style as a popular art form called folk art. She wasn’t an expert in paintings, but she knew someone who was.
“That’s been hanging there since before I was born.” Emily eyed the spot on the wall where the painting had been hanging. The wallpaper was much darker there, as the rest of it had faded over the decades. “Do you really think it’s valuable?”
“Possibly. If it is, we’ll probably have to send it to one of the big auction houses to get the best price, though, and unfortunately, that could take months for you to wait for it to be placed in an auction.”
Emily was visibly disappointed. “I suppose there aren’t too many people in Lobster Bay who collect expensive items.”
“Most of the collectors with deep pockets go to the auctions in the city for the important items but…” Andie looked around at all the stuff crammed here and there. Maybe they could make it up in volume. “That’s foronebig, important item. You have thousands of lower-priced items. What if we had an estate auction right here for those items and you could get the money right away?”
Emily looked cautiously interested. “How would that work?”
“I know an auctioneer in the area, Frank Fowler. He would set up a tent with chairs. We’ll choose the items to be in the auction. People can come and inspect them the morning of the auction, then everything sells, and he takes a commission. People love estate auctions, especially from a home like this where the items have been in the family for generations, so you should get a good turnout.”
“Well, I’m not sure I want to get rid ofeverything…”
“Of course not. We can pick and choose and put the items you want to keep out of sight.”
“Is it expensive?”
“Nope, he’ll set everything up, and he works on commission so you won’t need to pay a dime.”
