She touched his arm. “Thank you. I appreciate it. Truly, I do. I’ll do everything in my power to stay safe. Despite all of the safety features we paid to have installed at the Malibu house, an intruderstillmanaged to sneak onto the property.”
“I suppose if there’s a will, there’s a way.”
“Absolutely.” Harlow stopped again. “This is my property line. The survey company’s marker is still here.”
Caleb walked over to the stake. With his hands on his hips, he surveyed the surrounding area. “I don’t see any malicious destruction.”
“Not even a bent branch.”
He made his way along the property line, stopping halfway down. Caleb knelt on the ground.
Harlow, curious to find out what he was doing, tiptoed over. “What is it?”
“According to the stake, your property ends here.”
“Correct.”
Caleb pointed to a nearby pine tree. “Check it out.”
She crept closer, noticing fresh marks in the pine, as if someone had made a half-hearted attempt at taking it down. “This isn’t my tree.”
“It’s on state land.”
“I didn’t try cutting it down. Why would I?”
“You wouldn’t. It appears the goal was to get you into trouble.” Removing his cell phone from his pocket, Caleb snapped a picture. “I’ll report it. The zoning department might send you a warning letter seeing how this is next to your property, warning you not to cut the trees.”
“Which I haven’t,” she assured him. “It doesn’t mean someone won’t come back, cut even more and report me. Jerks.”
“Hopefully, this was a one and done.”
Moving at a faster clip, the couple backtracked to Harlow’s cottage.
“They have your place gutted.”
“Down to the studs.” Harlow reached for the doorknob. “Would you like a tour?”
“I don’t want to impose.”
“You’re not imposing.” She grabbed his arm and ushered him inside. “Welcome to my cozy cottage.”
Caleb stopped in the center of the living room. “It’s bigger than it looks from the outside.”
“Until they start installing drywall and cabinets.”
Moving from room to room, Harlow shared her vision, her plan to turn Lighthouse Lane into a home she would love and live in for what she hoped would be a very long time.
Their final stop was the top floor. Caleb wandered to the window. “The view is even better than I thought it would be. I don’t blame you for not wanting to install an ugly fence.”
“Right?” Harlow’s eyes shined. “Think of all the amazing sunsets I’ll be able to see right from my bedroom.”
“It’ll be a showpiece,” he said. “I noticed a few boxes with the original fixtures sitting on the fireplace hearth.”
“Which will be put back in place. I plan to have modern touches but also want to retain the original charm.”
“Good for you. Maybe…”
“Maybe what?” she prompted.
