“This is so far away!”Carter complained as we drove to Harrogate. There was an estate sale out there, and the website advertising it had said steamer trunks would be for sale.
“We have to get in and get out,” I told them once we arrived, handing them printouts. “I have a five-point plan. The trunks are on the third floor. We find them, secure them, pay for them, then leave. Everyone has to follow the plan. No deviations.”
“I was in the military,” Grant bragged. “This is a piece of cake.”
“You I’m not worried about. Carter is going to be the problem,” I told him.
“I was in the Marines too!” Carter protested.
“Yes, and on multiple occasions, I had to bail you out,” I said impatiently.
I had thought that we would be early considering it was barely seven in the morning, but the old Victorian house was packed. There was a line of seniors waiting to get in. Ida was there with a gaggle of older women.
“Those are my new boyfriend’s grandkids,” Ida announced loudly, waving us over. “Good-looking guys like you can cut in line.”
“Thanks. We’re here for an apology present,” I told Ida.
“The best kind,” Ida said.
None of the seniors looked as if they were going to be spending fifty thousand dollars on an antique steamer trunk, but one couldn’t be too sure. And there were a few people trickling in who had the steely-eyed look of seasoned antique dealers. But what really clenched my throat was when several blond Svensson brothers showed up.
“Are they ones you know?” I whispered to Wes, hoping he could cash in on some goodwill.
He peered at them. “I don’t know any of them except for Hunter. He’s still pissed off at your dad. Once he figures out what we’re buying, he’s going to take it out of spite.”
“New plan,” I hissed, pulling up the estate sale website on my phone. “There are supposed to be some other expensive items here like a Tiffany lamp. You two,” I pointed to Carter and Grant, “go for those as a distraction. Wes, you’ll come with me to grab the trunk.”
The estate agent unlocked the doors promptly at seven thirty, and we streamed in.
Hunter Svensson had immediately zeroed in on me. “Here for something in particular?” he asked me, his brothers surrounding me.
Wes held up his hands.
“Come on, guys. I invited you—well, some of you—to my wedding.”
“You only invited Carl, Josh, and Eric,” one of the Svensson brothers complained.
“Oh, Mark! Yoo hoo!” Ida hollered across the room. “Dottie said that the steamer trunk is actually in the living room!”
“Ha!” Hunter said and pushed past me.
I raced him to the living room. “It’s mine!” I yelled, sprinting for the trunk.
Hunter body checked me, and I crashed to the floor. “You and your family stole my company. I’m about to ruin whatever scheme you have going here,” he said, grabbing the trunk by the handle.
I kicked him in the shin, and we rolled around, wrestling on the floor.
“What in the world?” a cool, professional voice said from somewhere above us. The deputy mayor of Harrogate was looking down her nose at us.
Hunter scrambled to his feet, hastily rearranging his clothes. “Hey, Meg. I was here because they had those creepy antique figurines you collect. I was going to buy one for you.”
“I already bought them.”
“How come you were allowed in so early?” Carter complained, skidding into the room. He carried a tacky lamp with a base shaped like a dog.
“I told him that you wanted us to get the Tiffany lamp,” Grant said, coming up behind him.
“What? This lamp is a masterpiece!” Carter insisted. “It looks just like Margot.”
