Chances Are . . . by Richard Russo

Author:Richard Russo
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2019-07-29T16:00:00+00:00

* * *

—

“MINT?” Lincoln offered.

Instead of going directly to Marty’s office, he’d stopped to buy a large roll of them and a package of Wet Wipes, having managed to splash his loafers. Had Anita been along, this errand would’ve been unnecessary. Being a woman, she always carried both mints and wipes in her purse. Not being a woman, he had no idea why they would imagine that at some point during the day you just might, for example, vomit onto your shoes and need them.

“You okay?” Marty said, studying him thoughtfully as he crunched his mint. “You look a little pale.”

“I’m fine,” Lincoln said to him. “What’s up?”

“Come around the desk and take a gander at this tax map. This is you here,” he explained, running his finger over Lincoln’s property. “And this is our friend Troyer. These other two lots”—he penciled Xs onto them—“also belong to him. Probably to keep anybody from ruining his water view. And at some point either his parents or the previous owners also owned this lot.” He marked another X there as well. “But they sold it.”

“So he owns all this now?”

“Correct.”

“Lucky him.”

“Except for one thing.” Here Marty indicated the dirt road that led to Lincoln’s house, then snaked down the hill to Troyer’s, where it dead-ended. “This is the only way for him to get home from the main road.”

“Does he need another?”

“He wouldn’t if he had an easement, but guess what? He doesn’t.”

Lincoln shook his head. “How can that be?”

“I don’t know, but I just came from the Dukes County Registry and there’s no mention of one on either your deed or his.”

“Again, how could that happen?”

Marty leaned back in his chair, hands laced behind his head. “Hard to say. Possibly an unspoken neighborly agreement going back as far as anybody can remember, and the issue’s never come up because neither property ever went on the market. It happens. You say your place was in your mother’s family for some time?”

“I don’t know exactly how long, but yeah.”

“The other possibility is that the lot they sold off was where the easement used to be, and at the time of the sale nobody caught it. Whatever the reason, he certainly doesn’t have one now.”

“And you think he knows this?”

“It could explain why he’s been so keen to buy your property.”

Lincoln nodded. “But not why he keeps coming at us with lowball offers.”

“Maybe he doesn’t want to tip his hand?”

“I don’t know, Marty. Are you positive about all this?”

“Nope, but I can go back down to the registry of deeds and poke around some more. Though there’s a chance he may get wind of it if I do.”

“Are you saying we shouldn’t?”

“On the contrary, I think we have to. Due diligence and all that. I only mention it because I gather you’re not terribly fond of each other.”

“I’ll only be on island another four or five days.”

“How about I hold off until you’re safely back in Vegas?”

“That might be best,” Lincoln said, although now that his curiosity was roused, he wanted clarity.

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