“If you hung around, it might be,” Freret said.
“Well, I can’t blow off one of the best jobs in the art world for something that may or may not happen with a man who may or may not be over his late wife.”
Freret’s eyebrows rose. “So Christine’s the issue?”
“Nottheissue, but I guess she’sanissue,” I said. “The biggest issue is that I have a great new job in Chicago.”
The bell over the front door rang. Kirsten stepped down from the ladder. “Well, my issue right now is tending to the customer who just walked in.”
“And I need to get back to the bank,” Freret said.
“Thanks for dropping off those photos,” Kirsten said.
I drew a breath of relief when they left. But the mention of a future—or was it the lack of one?—with Matt left me restless and unsettled.
52
hope
The next ten days passed in a frenzy of activity. Eddie and Ralph flew in and set to work making the house look like an HGTV makeover. They put the furniture I wanted into storage, shipped the furnishings they and Gran had selected to California, and filled in the gaps with rented modern pieces and paintings, which gave the place a hip, eclectic look.
“This place looks absolutely stunning!” Lauren said when we took her on a tour of Gran’s home so she could photograph the place for the real estate listing.
“You can thank Hope for handling all the decluttering, packing up, and repairs,” Eddie said.
I swept my hand toward Eddie and Ralph. “And these two are the maestros of design.”
“There’s only one little thing you might want to fix.” Squinting, she held her thumb and index finger about a half inch apart.
“What is it?” Eddie asked.
“Well, there’s a missing section in the fence between your yard and the neighbors’. It’s hidden behind the shrubbery and I don’t think it’ll make or break a deal, but it’s a little... odd.”
Eddie looked at Hope. “It wasn’t there when I was growing up.”
“I don’t remember it from my childhood, either, but it was therewhen I arrived this spring,” I said. “The neighbor’s daughters use it to visit Gran.”
That night at dinner, Eddie asked Gran about it.
“Oh, that.” Gran laughed. “It’s so the good-looking man next door could come over and visit without the neighbors seeing.”
“You built that for Matt?” Ralph asked.
“Heavens, no, dear! Although I’m sure it’s come in handy for him and Hope.”
I felt my face turn fifty shades of red. How on earth did Gran know?
“They’ve been dating?” Ralph looked at me with raised eyebrows.
“That explains the candle I found in the potting shed,” Eddie whispered to me. “Or should I call it the love shack?”
“Stop it!” I roughly elbowed him.
“You have me intrigued, Miss Addie,” Ralph said. “Who took out the fence?”
“There was a gentleman who lived there in the seventies, whose wife had Alzheimer’s.” She turned to Eddie. “Do you remember him?”
“Vaguely,” Eddie said. “Glen something, wasn’t it?”
