Page 62 of Winter Solstice
They all step into the great room, which, Eddie has to admit, presents well. Mitzi has decorated it with what must be a hundred strings of white lights. There are lights on the gigantic tree, there are lights amid the greens on the mantel, and there is an enormous lit evergreen wreath above the fireplace. The room twinkles.
“This looks even more festive than usual,” Eddie says.
“I went whole hog with the lights for Kelley,” Mitzi says. She smiles sadly at Masha. “My husband has terminal brain cancer and he’s blind in one eye.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Masha says.
“He used to really love my caroling village,” Mitzi says. She leads the Christys over to a table all set up with a Byers’ Choice Christmas market scene. “The kids used to tease me about my carolers, and Kelley, too, but one night I caught him out here, rearranging them.” She laughs, then quickly grows somber. “That’s why we’re selling.”
Eddie tries not to frown. This is why he wanted Mitzi gone! No potential buyer wants to hear aboutterminal brain cancer!They want to imagine a house filled with happy times. They want a place that will make them feel they will live forever.
“Shall we look at the kitchen?” Eddie says.
“Well, I loved it,” Masha says once they have toured the entire house save for the master suite. “No surprise there. But…”
But,Eddie thinks. To keep it running as an inn, she’ll have to hire a staff: a marketing expert, a reservationist, a general manager, a housekeeping manager, and at least one chambermaid, a breakfast cook, and a maintenance man. The mere idea is not only expensive, it’s exhausting.
“But… I think I’d like to look at the other house again,”Masha says. “The one on Whatever Creek Road. I’m intriguedby the outdoor space. And I definitely want a garden shed, like that guy said. What was his name?”
“Benton,” Eddie says. “Benton Coe.”
Eddie forgot that the week following Christmas Stroll is the busiest week in real estate. Everyone who has come to enjoy the holiday charm and whimsy of the island now wants to own a piece of it.
It’s Thursday when Raja calls. Eddie hopes that the reason it has taken him so long is because he has been in heated debates with Masha and has emerged victorious.
“Raja,” Eddie says. “What’s the good word?”
“I’ve given it a lot of thought,” Raja says. “And I keep coming back to the piece of advice my father gave me when I got married.”
“Oh, really?” Eddie says. “What was that?”
“He said, ‘Happy wife, happy life.’ It sounds elementary, I know, but I happen to believe those words are true.”
Happy wife, happy life.Eddie has never cottoned to that phrase; he’s always cast it aside into a basket of platitudes that includesMoney can’t buy happiness.Of course moneycanbuy happiness; denying that makes you sound like an idealistic simpleton. And yet who has subscribed to the adage ofHappy wife, happy lifemore than Eddie? He has given Grace his enthusiastic blessing to work for her former lover, just so she will be fulfilled.
“I agree with you, Raja,” Eddie says. “A hundred percent.”
“So I’d like to surprise Masha and buy her the inn for Christmas,” Raja says. “It’s what she really wants.”
Eddie sighs. He hoped things wouldn’t go this way, but he can’t begrudge Raja for wanting to make his wife happy at Christmastime.
“I laud you for your selfless decision,” Eddie says. “And I’m going to make this happen—if I can. We do already have a full-price offer on the inn, I think. I’ll need to check with my colleague to see if that offer is real or just a paper tiger. Even if it is real, we may be able to go above asking. Now, this may result in a bidding war. How high are you willing to go?”
“Twenty million,” Raja says. His voice contains the bravado of a man who has just pushed all of his poker chips into the center of the table.
“The inn is listed at six-five,” Eddie says. “I would recommend we go in with an offer of seven million and cap it off at seven-five. The inn just isn’t worth more than that under any circumstances.”
“I’ll pay what it takes,” Raja says.
“Let me look into it and I’ll get back to you in a little while,” Eddie says. “Talk soon.”
He approaches Glenn’s desk and admires a new picture of Glenn and Barbie in the heart-shaped frame there. They’re arm in arm at the Schramsberg Vineyard in Napa. Behind them is a fountain featuring a dancing frog. Eddie holds all sorts of opinions about Glenn Daley, but he has to give the guy this: he loves Barbie and treats her like a queen.
“Where are we with the supposed buyer you have for the inn?” Eddie asks. “Is he for real?”
“He’s for real,” Glenn says. “Wait until you hearthisstory…”
Before Glenn can tell Eddie the story, Eddie sees Allegra waving at him from her desk up front.
