CHAPTER 1
Natasha Baldwin shoved one of the coveted truffles she’d been saving into her mouth and tried to concentrate on the rich mixture of dark and milk chocolate rather than the irritating voice of her co-worker. The woman had interrupted their boss a good ten times during the weekly staff meeting and it had only been half an hour. She glanced up at the wall clock and sighed. At this rate, Natasha would never get to her appointment on time. “Do you know how long the meeting’s going to go, George? I’m meeting with a prospective client in an hour,” she said, hoping to speed things along.
George Lambert sent her a grateful smile. “We should be done in about twenty minutes, barring any other interruptions.” George had headed up Firefly Lake’s real estate office for as long as Natasha could remember. He was fair but also no-nonsense when it came to selling real estate in their town of fewer than two thousand residents. “Moving on to the subject of the upcoming condominium project, I’ve decided in order to keep confusion to a minimum, there will be one exclusive Realtor. As always, the bigger projects are given to the Realtor with the best sales record for the preceding quarter.” He paused and glanced at each of the four people seated around the conference table.
Natasha’s heartrate kicked up. She knew she’d sold well, or as well as one could when living in a small town. However, she also knew that at least one of her co-workers hadn’t done too bad, either.
“I think you should go by the Realtor with the most experience,” Kathleen said, lifting her chin.
Natasha barely stifled an eye roll. Kathleen never missed an opportunity to call attention to the fact that she had been with the company the longest. In Natasha’s mind, if Kathleen spent more time building relationships with prospective buyers and less on trying to show up everyone, she might have a point.
George shook his head. “The policy hasn’t changed since the doors of this place opened and won’t now. Okay, with four sales, the exclusive Realtor will be Natasha Baldwin. Congratulations.”
Inside, Natasha did a little two-step dance move, complete with a shimmy, but kept her outward calm and just smiled. “Thank you so much.”
“Thanks for all your hard work. We can talk this afternoon when you get back. All right, people, let’s get moving.” He came to his feet and walked out of the small conference room.
Natasha stood, and the young woman who’d joined the office a year ago congratulated Natasha before leaving.
Kathleen pushed back from the table with such force, her chair hit the wall. She shot Natasha a nasty look and stormed out.
“I would’ve had you if it weren’t for you closing the sale of the print shop two weeks ago. I wasthisclose,” Brett Henson said with a laugh, holding his thumb and index finger together. “Congrats, Tasha. It’s well deserved.” He leaned closer and whispered, “Thank goodness it wasn’t Kathleen. Some days I think that woman needs to retire.” Brett had started working there a few months before Natasha, and the two got along well.
Laughing, she said, “Thanks. I knew you’d done well, too.” She couldn’t have been happier that the print shop sale had gone through earlier than expected and wholeheartedly agreed with his sentiment about Kathleen. As of late, the woman had a habit of trying to bully prospective buyers into purchasing properties that far exceeded their budgets, and more than one person had complained to George. But Natasha didn’t have time to dwell on that mess. She had a meeting and a celebration to think about. “Well, I’d better get going.”
“No doubt to solidify your spot as Top Realtor.”
“Don’t hate. You had to give it up sometime.” Until three months ago, he’d been the Top Realtor in Firefly Lake for over two years and always said he loved the friendly competition.
“Yeah, yeah.” He straightened from the table and followed her to the door. “I’ll see you later.”
Natasha threw up a wave and almost floated to her desk. She grabbed her iPad, stuffed it into her tote, and headed to her car.
It took less than fifteen minutes to arrive at the house that had been one of the original homes built behind Crystal Lake. The place where, as a child, she imagined living in the stately two-story home with its wrap-around porch, large backyard, and open layout. Natasha got out of the car, and her gaze roamed over the property, which had seen better days. A smile curved her lips as she recalled the countless hours she’d spent with Mrs. Ward. The older woman had two sons but had always wanted a daughter and welcomed having tea parties and allowing Natasha to help “decorate” the different rooms. Natasha could trace her love of interior design to Mrs. Ward and this house. Retrieving her cell from her tote, she sent a text to her best friends, Dana Stephens and Terri Rhodes, to share her good news and invite them to a dinner celebration.
A moment later, Dana replied:As long as you don’t expect me to cook, I’m free any night this week.
Natasha chuckled and sent back:Lol! No, I’ll throw a little something together. It won’t be as good as Serenity’s, but it’ll be edible.
A friend of hers since childhood, Dana had never liked cooking, but she could make the best margaritas or any other mixed drink. Natasha did okay in the kitchen, but nothing fancy. She left that to their other friend, Serenity Cunningham, who’d started what the friends lovingly called Serenity’s Supper Club. They got together at least twice a month and caught up over great food, wine, music, and lots of laughter. However, since Serenity had just gotten married and was on her honeymoon, they were on their own.
Terri’s response popped up:I’m free tonight. Hubby is working late, and I’m in need of some supper club fun!
Natasha:Great! Tonight around 7 at my place.
Dropping the phone back into her tote, she turned at the sound of a car pulling into the driveway. A broad grin spread across Natasha’s face as she watched the tall, lean frame of the man exit the car and start toward her. She met him halfway, and he grabbed her up in a bear hug.
“It’s so good to see you, Tasha.”
Laughing, she said, “Put me down, you nut. It’s good to see you too, Chase.” Two years her senior, Chase Ward had been greeting her this way since she was a kid.
He set her on her feet and glanced over at the house, his smile fading.
“I’m so sorry about your mom.”
“Thanks. Never thought we’d be selling this place. It’s been in our family for over fifty years, but with Mike working overseas and me in the military, we just don’t have time for the upkeep or worrying about trying to rent it out. And neither of us has plans to move back.” Chase shook his head. “I didn’t know it had gotten this run-down since I was here. I fixed a few things the last time, but now it looks like the house is going to need a complete overhaul to sell.” He hadn’t been home in over two years.
Natasha could feel his pain. His mother had suffered a major stroke a couple of months ago and was also in the beginning stages of dementia. Chase planned to move Mrs. Ward to a care facility near his home in North Carolina, where his wife would easily be able to keep an eye on her. She ran a comforting hand down his arm. “Well, come on and tell me what you want done.”
