Page 59 of Hooked on a Feeling

Deanne’s phone rang, breaking the silence, and a flash of annoyance crossed her face. “I have to take this. Please don’t wait for me. This is going to take a while.” She walked back to her car, and Starr glanced back at Dallas.

He lifted his papers. “Two acres. County assessor has Emerald Port Marina and Yacht Club listed as the owner.”

“Just a minute,” she said. A wave of adrenaline pulsed against her chest, and she let the door shut while she ran to the office and grabbed the stack of papers from Alfred. She thumbed to the survey while she walked back down the hall to the front door. Her eyes darted around the highlighted portion of the map, comparing what was on the paper to what she knew about the small chunk of weeds on the east side of the dock slips. It slowly sunk in. “Holy shit.”

“I take it you didn’t know you owned the property? I’m willing to pay market price. My sister works at the title company, and I can have my attorney draw up papers right away. We could close as soon as possible.” He gave her a sheepish look. “Too forward? If that isn’t ideal, I’m willing to rent it. Perhaps even a rent-to-own option.”

Starr clasped a hand to her chest, squinting at the chain-link fence, trying to make out the metal sign. No Trespassing. And the emblem of Starboard Ships. The Davenport-Young logo before her grandfather and John’s grandfather dissolved the partnership and split up the assets. “I… ahh. Yeah. Okay. This is unexpected. Can I get your name and number?” Her hands shook. “You’re serious about this?”

“I’ve been wanting to buy it for years. Harold would never sell it to me. He was going to build storage units on it but never got around to it. Having the boat ramp is a big deal. Not sure why he never used it.”

He pulled a business card from his pocket. “Here’s my number. Like I said, I’m open to whatever you’re comfortable with. If you’re not ready to sell”—he shrugged—“no big deal. I’ll rent it. Think about your terms, and I can have my attorney prepare a lease.”

“Sure. I will have an answer for you by tomorrow.”

“Perfect. Thank you for your time. Sorry for dropping in on you like this, but I think this will work for the both of us.”

He could say that again. Deanne was still on her phone sitting in her car, and she waved at Starr before driving off. If Starr signed a lease, the marina would officially be making money. Well, depending on how much she leased it for. She watched Dallas hop in his truck, and the minute he was on the highway, she bolted to the chain-link fence. She looked at the lot with a critical eye. It consisted of gravel and dirt but mostly weeds that had sprouted up between the rocks and dirt. Sure enough, the metal sign had the emblem of the yacht—the Starboard Ships emblem—even though the sign itself was beginning to rust. She’d walked past it a few times, but it had never dawned on her to make the connection.

A mixture of emotions flooded through her. Annoyance for not realizing the lot was part of the property when the lawyer had told her to highlight the boundary line when they’d gone over the trust. And relief. Joy. Shock. She wanted to call Alfred and ask why he hadn’t mentioned it to her, but it wasn’t his job to. And why would he? She was a grown woman. She could see where the lines had been drawn. Why hadn’t she put two and two together?

The marina could be hers.

Footsteps crunched behind her, and she turned to see John, smiling and looking so breathtaking that she started to cry.

“Hey, hey. What’s the matter? What’s going on?” His arms came around her, hugging her to him. His lips pressed against her forehead. “Talk to me.”

“I’m overwhelmed with joy.”

“Oh, these are happy tears?”

“The marina owns this storage lot. Did you know that?”

“No.”

“Look. The Starboard Ships logo.” Starr pulled back and pointed to the metal sign.

John took a closer look at the sign, and she could see the wheels turning.

“Dallas—he’s a man who wants to buy the lot—showed me the papers he pulled from the assessor. The lot’s owner is listed as the Emerald Port Marina and Yacht Club. My grandfather got the storage lot when our grandfathers dissolved their partnership and split their assets. I own this.” She let out a squeal. “You know what this means? Dallas wants to lease it. Well, he’d like to buy it, but right now if he leased it, the marina would have the income.” She was speaking rapidly and probably wasn’t making much sense, but she couldn’t help it.

“This is great news,” John said.

“Excellent fucking news. Come with me. We need to verify everything, and I need to do a bit of research on what rents are for this kind of thing.” She held his hand. Squeezed it. And brought it to her mouth. “I love you. I’m so happy you’re here with me.”

She loved when he smiled. When the lines around his mouth deepened, his eyes were a brilliant blue that matched the sky. He looked softer, more carefree about the world, and it made her melt.

“I’m happy you chose me. Come on, let’s go and see what we can dig up.”

* * *

There wasn’t much that could make John as happy as seeing Starr so thrilled about the marina and the land next door. After all of her online searching yesterday and a call to Alfred, she had confirmed that the marina did own the storage lot. Now the two of them stood inside Alfred’s office getting paperwork from him for the lease.

Alfred handed Starr a stack of papers. “Here is a standard commercial lease agreement. I checked it over, and it covers everything you’ll need to sign with Dallas. I left the monetary portion blank, obviously. Have him initial each page, you do the same, and then you both sign the last page. Once he gives you the deposit and rent, you should be fine.”

“Thank you, Alfred. I know you are doing this because of your relationship with my grandfather, but please don’t hesitate to send me your bill for this additional work.”

“It didn’t occur to me that we should have gone over all the property lines. But either way”—he winked—“I’ll still send you a bill for this.”

---