Cozy Case Files, a Cozy Mystery Sampler, Volume 11 by Vivien Chien

Author:Vivien Chien
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

CHAPTER 2

SITE VISIT

WHITNEY

Buck, Presley, and I decided to celebrate over an early lunch at a café near the courthouse. I ordered a bottle of prosecco, a more affordable alternative to champagne. We’d spring for champagne later, once we’d sold the units.

I held up my glass. “To a successful partnership.”

Buck and Presley clinked their glasses against mine, and we all took a sip.

After toasting our good fortune with sparkling wine, we worked out the particulars of our arrangement over our meal.

Presley looked from me to Buck. “Tell me more specifics about your plans.”

I told her that we planned to improve the grounds, renovate the exterior, and finish out one spec model before tackling the additional units. “Once the spec unit is ready to show, we’ll pre-sell the other units and use the down payments to finance the completion work.”

“Smart,” she said. “That way, our up-front expenses are minimized.”

Fortunately, Presley agreed to leave the details of the renovation up to my cousin and me. “I don’t like to get my hands dirty. I’ll come by to check on things now and then, but for the most part I’ll be a silent partner.” Recognizing that, in addition to our monetary investment, Buck and I would invest sweat equity by performing much of the construction work ourselves, she agreed to accept 30% of the net profit as full payment for her share in the venture, with payment due upon sale of the last condominium unit. We jotted the details on a napkin, signed our names to it, and sealed the deal with handshakes. An attorney would cringe at our lackadaisical approach, but if Presley was going to trust Buck and me to do a good job on the remodel, I’d trust her to keep up her end of the bargain too.

After enjoying our meal, Presley dabbed at her mouth, lay her napkin on the table, and sat back in her seat, eyeing me. “If someone had told me yesterday that you and I would end up partners in a real estate deal, I would’ve told them they were crazy.”

“We might have gotten off on the wrong foot,” I said, “but you and I are a lot alike.” It was true. We were both ambitious and determined, with an affinity for realty.

“Cat people, you mean?” The glimmer in her eye said she being facetious, but she nonetheless pulled out her cell phone and showed me several pics of an orange tabby she called Tangerine.

The adoring way she looked at the photos told me she felt the same way about her cat as I did about mine. “She’s beautiful.”

“Isn’t she, though?” She returned her phone to her purse. “How’s your little guy? Sawdust, right?”

This sounded like an invitation to reciprocate with kitty pics of my own. I retrieved my phone and showed her photos of Sawdust with Cleo. “He’s got a new little buddy. She follows him everywhere, like a calico shadow.”

Buck joined in too. There’d been three cats in Sawdust’s litter, born to a stray in my uncle Roger’s and aunt Nancy’s barn.

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