Page 7 of Key West Homecoming

She watched his face. There was a small flicker at the name. Jake had signed a lease with a Kendrick, written checks to a Kendrick every month for three years, and now a Kendrick was standing in his yard.

“Related to Arthur?” he said.

“He’s my uncle.”

“Are you here about the sale?”

The question suprised her. “You know about the sale?”

“I got a letter a couple of weeks ago telling me the closing was coming up. Are you the buyer?”

She shook her head. “No, I’m not.”

“Then I’m confused.”

Emma took a breath. She’d come here without a plan for this exact moment. She hadn’t expected the cottage to be lived in or cared for.

“This was my grandmother’s house,” she said. “Gloria Kendrick.”

Jake looked at her for a long moment. She could see him running through possibilities the way she'd run through them in her office the night before, when Samantha Larson had first said the name.

“That’s a longer conversation than I can have with you today.”

“Okay.”

“Who have you been paying rent to?”

“Arthur Kendrick. He’s the one who signed the lease three years ago.” Jake picked up the rag again and turned it in his hands. “I assume he’s the one selling the place.”

Emma nodded. “Can I ask what the letter said?”

He shrugged, “Not much. Just that the property was under contract and the closing was scheduled for a couple of weeks. That the new owners intended to keep the current tenant on and that I shouldn’t worry about moving.”

“Who signed it?”

“A name I didn’t recognize. Some rep for the buyer, I guess. There was a phone number but I never called it. I figured if they wanted me out, they’d tell me. And if they wanted me to stay, there wasn’t anything to talk about.”

Emma stood in the middle of the path with her hand still on the strap of her bag. Jake had been reassured that his life wasn’t going to change. Whoever had sent that letter, and she had a suspicion it wasn’t the buyer at all, had wanted Jake calm. A calm tenant asked no questions.

“Look,” Jake said. “I don’t know what’s going on with the family or the ownership or any of this. I have a lease. I pay rent every month. I got a letter two weeks ago telling me the sale was happening and I’d be staying on. That’s everything I know.”

He set the rag down on the porch rail and stepped closer to Emma.

“So maybe you can tell me what’s actually going on here.”

Emma didn't answer. Until she understood what was going on with the house, she couldn't explain anything to him. And there was no telling what would happen if word got back to Marathon that Gloria Kendrick's granddaughter was standing in this yard asking questions.

“Can I come back tomorrow when I have more information?” she asked. “I’m sorry for being so vague, but it’s the best I can do for now.”

Jake took his time answering. She could see him weighing it. “Just tell me. Should I start packing?”

“No.”

The word came out before Emma had thought about it. She realized she'd told a stranger something she couldn't yet promise. She didn't know whether Jake needed to start packing. She didn't know what a rental company did with a long-term tenant on a property it was buying as a short-term rental. Nobody had asked her what she intended to do about any of it until this moment, and she'd given him an answer as if she already knew.

She kept her face still.

“Tomorrow’s fine,” he said. “I’ll be here.”