Page 7 of Saltwater Memories
Oh great. Another money-obsessed wannabe mogul coming to the island. Amanda couldn’t think of anything the island neededlessthan another greedy guy with big ideas.
Yet here he was, sailing over to pillage whatever he could – and apparently, he was also working on Lenny’s behalf. Did Will even know what kind of people he was working with?
If she told him, would he care?
Amanda had no idea. But if Lenny was making a move, she wanted to know everything about it.
“Well…I guess I could show you around a bit,” she said.
“Really?” He crossed his arms. “Even though you don’t approve of my company ‘invading’ and turning a profit? That seems…generous.”
Shoot. He was suspicious of her. And reasonably so – Amanda’s surly demeanor was best used to scare people off, not to pull them into a scheme. Schemes were Morgan’s territory.
Amanda had rarely tried turning her attitude around. Her mom had always told her, “You’ll get more flies with honey than you will with vinegar.” But it didn’t matter how often she heard it; all Amanda had was vinegar
“Well, in exchange…” She cleared her throat. “Maybe you can help me with my house.”
“Your house?”
It was best to go with a half-truth. “Yeah, I own a place on the island, but I work in Seattle. I’ve been working remotely a lot, though I don’t think that it’s a long-term solution.”
“I see. So you might be looking to sell?”
Amanda tried to block the image of her father’s disapproving face from her mind. If he knew that she was pretending to put their house – no,hishouse – on the market…she might end up getting it worse than Lenny. “I might be. Or maybe I could rent it, when I’m not here? Like you mentioned.”
“Ah,” he uncrossed his arms, “so you’re not completely hostile to DGG, then.”
Amanda looked back at her computer screen, determined to look indifferent. Though he might be money obsessed, Will didn’t appear to be dumb. If she wanted to get any information out of him, she’d have to play along. And convincingly. “I guess not.”
“Well, my number is on my card, but let me give you my personal cell.” He pulled a pen from his suit jacket and reached across the table.
Amanda caught site of an expensive-looking watch on his wrist as he wrote down his number.
“You can call me anytime.”
What a smooth move!
If only Amanda had the capacity to be impressed. “Twenty-four hours a day?”
“Like I said – time is money.”
Amanda nodded and slipped the card into her purse. “Cool. It looks like I’ll be talking to you soon.”
He took the hint –finally– and got up. He offered a handshake and Amanda accepted it. “Nice seeing you again, Amanda.”
“You too, Will.”
Once he was out of sight, Amanda pulled out her phone and texted Morgan. “More news on the deli front. I think I might have a lead.”
Morgan answered moments later. “Cannot wait to hear! I’m headed home from a client meeting. See you there?”
“I’ll bring coffee!”
After Amanda had spilled her coffee at lunch, it felt like the entire day had been a drag. It would be nice to get her caffeine fix – though now she felt oddly energized.
Morgan was already waiting in the living room when she got home.
“Is Jade here?” Amanda asked in a low voice.
