Page 34 of Smuggler’s Cove (Twin Lights #1)

By five o’clock, Madison was finished looking through cover shots and was ready to head home. “Shall we walk? It is such a nice evening.”

“Sure.” Olivia changed into her sneakers, and Madison yanked off her stilettos and swapped them for her new white skimmers. She liked the way they felt.

As they were leaving the building, Olivia gave her an update on finding a house to rent. “I found a few that look perfect for us. Four bedrooms, two and a half baths, and near the beach.”

“I sense a but coming,” Madison replied.

“But most want a month’s lease, preferably the season.”

“What kind of money are we talking about?” Madison asked.

“Five thousand for the month, twelve if we take it for three months.”

“Yikes. Those are Hamptons numbers. Are any of them on the beach?” Madison was calculating in her head.

“Nothing is exactly on the beach. At least not near Smuggler’s Cove. There is one that has a spectacular view of the ocean, a pool, and a jacuzzi. It’s on one of those hills.”

“And what kind of money are they looking for?”

“Fifteen thousand for the summer.”

“Geez!”

“There’s one house that’s on the water, but there’s no beach.”

Madison sighed. “We will talk this over with Lincoln. I have a little cash I can spare, but I was hoping to use it for a trip to London.”

“We can look further when we get to your place. I bookmarked the most interesting places.”

Madison put her arm around Olivia. “You are the best.”

It took them a little over twenty minutes to make it to Madison’s apartment.

As usual, Mario and Luigi were sitting on the long mission-style bench that ran along the wall next to the front door.

“I don’t know how they know I’m in the building,” Madison said to Olivia, “but here they are.” She leaned over and kissed them both on the head and scrunched their fur.

She tossed her tote near the cats, who were patiently waiting for more attention. “Come on, guys. Chow time.” She kicked off her skimmers, left them by the front door, and slipped on a pair of Oofos. Olivia followed suit with her own pair of ballet slippers that she carried in her bag.

After the kitties were fed, Madison excused herself and changed into a flannel track suit.

“I see you are becoming a fan of this fabric.” Olivia ran her hand down Madison’s sleeve.

“I am. I think it is going to be a big trend for fall.”

“It better be, considering it’s the main story!” Olivia chuckled.

Madison cocked her head. “Interesting, isn’t it?”

“What, flannel?”

“Yes, flannel. I had not given it much thought and really did not make the connection when Hannah loaned me her shirt. Ha. Hannah is fashion-forward. Who’da thunk it?” She flopped down on the sofa. “Wine or beer?” She looked up at Olivia.

“Why don’t I fix us a Manhattan, and then we can decide when Lincoln gets here.”

“Why did I ever let you marry my brother?” Madison laughed. “I should have kept you for myself.”

“But we don’t play on that team.”

“Yes, but I could have hired you as my personal assistant.”

“You already have.” Olivia went into the kitchen and pulled out two large stainless-steel cubes from the freezer, then over to the sideboard and mixed two drinks.

Madison readjusted her position when Olivia handed her the cocktail glass. “Thank you. I did not mean to imply you were my servant.”

Olivia curtsied. “I shall always be your servant.”

“I prefer best friend.” They clinked glasses.

The door attendant rang Madison’s intercom to alert her that her brother was on the way, “With something that smells delicious!”

“Thanks, Marvin. I would be happy to share leftovers, but I doubt there will be any.”

“I can understand. Have a good evening.”

“Hey Marvin? Can you send the food up, and send my brother away?”

“Excuse me?” He was not sure if she was joking. Madison had a very dry sense of humor, and sometimes it was hard to know if she was kidding or not.

“Just kidding, Marvin. You have a good evening, too.”

Five minutes later, Lincoln was struggling with his set of keys and eventually tapped his elbow on the door. “Delivery!”

“You can leave it outside. Thanks.” Madison and Olivia giggled.

“You are on a roll,” Lincoln called from the other side of the door. Olivia dashed over to let him in.

“Thank you.” Lincoln gave his wife a peck on the cheek. “At least I can count on you to open the door.”

“Only because you are bearing nutritious and delicious food.” She giggled and returned the kiss.

Madison was already in the kitchen, gathering plates, forks, serving spoons, and napkins. “What is everyone drinking?”

“Beer, for me,” Lincoln called, as he removed the well-sealed food from the shopping bags. “Hon?” He looked over at Olvia.

“What kind of beer do you have?” Olivia asked. She considered herself a beer snob. She would rather die of thirst than take a swig of Budweiser or Miller Lite.

“Stella Artois and Blue Moon,” Madison replied.

“I will take a Blue Moon. Got a slice of orange?”

Madison rummaged through her refrigerator. “This is pathetic,” she said to herself. “I have something that looks like it could be an orange, or a very old apple,” she called out.

Olivia grinned at Lincoln. “Pardon me while I rescue your sister from domestic bliss.”

For all her talent, Madison was not much of an artist when it came to the kitchen or cooking.

Olivia took the wrinkled piece of fruit.

“I think it’s salvageable.” She cut a wedge and put it in a beer glass, then poured her drink.

Lincoln liked his out of the bottle. Once when they were in a pub, the waiter asked if he wanted it in a glass.

Lincoln’s response was, “But it’s already in a glass.

” He used that joke over and over until it solicited moans from his friends.

Once everything was on the table, they each took a seat. “I’d like to say grace tonight,” Madison offered.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Lincoln placed the back of his hand on his sister’s forehead. Madison gently slapped it away.

“All this stuff with Uncle Kirby made me realize we should be thankful for what we have.”

“Let’s not forget how hard we’ve worked to get here,” Lincoln added.

“Exactly. We were lucky enough to have the mental acuity, education, and integrity. So, please humor me. This may be the one and only time.” Madison bowed her head and took Lincoln’s and Olivia’s hands in hers.

“Thank you, Lord, for all the blessings in our life. We may not always show our gratitude, but I promise I will make more of an effort. Amen.”

“Ditto and amen,” came from Lincoln.

“I shall do the same,” Olivia added. “Amen.”

“See? That was not so hard.” Madison held up her glass. “To Uncle Kirby.”

They talked about the festival and if they should give a little speech. “Detective Burton didn’t give me any details except the date. But I think I might volunteer.”

Lincoln almost spit out his beer. “Are you sure you are alright? It was just a few days ago when you were totally disgusted. Now you want to play nice in the sandbox?”

“Ha. Sandbox. Get it?” Madison caught the pun before Lincoln did. She began to clear the table. “By the way, what did you want to talk about?”

Lincoln went back to the bench where he’d left his attaché case. “I’ve been doing some financial projections.”

“Projections? What kind?” Madison asked, and then gave Olivia a side glance. Olivia was as much in the dark as Madison and shrugged.

“Did you know that Uncle Kirby took in around thirty-five thousand dollars last year?”

“From the marina?” Madison looked dubious.

“Yes, from the marina. There are a lot of people who like to go crabbing. He was averaging a thousand dollars per weekend in the summer months.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes. And he rented out two slips to people who kept their boats there, at two hundred bucks a month, each. I checked around, and quite a few people will do that if they have riparian rights. For the boat owners, it’s cheaper than a larger marina, and for the dock owners it was a little cash in their pockets. ”

“Is that legal?” Olivia asked.

“I didn’t get that far, but my point is, that dilapidated marina had an income.” Lincoln slid the paperwork toward his sister. “We don’t know how long it’s going to take for the water rights to be sanctioned, so why waste a summer’s worth of income?”

“But the place is a mess,” Madison noted.

“Which brings me to my next point. I ran some numbers. We can fix the place up for around sixty thousand dollars.”

“Whoa, that’s a bucket of money,” Madison said.

“Yes, but if we sell Nana and Pop’s house, we would have more than enough to cover the cost, plus rent a summer house.”

Madison eyed her brother. “Continue.”

“We know the people who are renting the house plan to move at the end of May. We can ask them if they wouldn’t mind if we put it on the market.

If it’s too inconvenient, we can wait until they move out.

In the meantime, we can get a home equity loan”—he looked at Olivia for approval—“then pay it back once the house sells.”

Olivia was listening intently. “As long as we pay it back, I don’t have any reservations, but what if the house doesn’t sell right away?”

“Madison and I have been approached by several real estate agents over the past couple of years. There was no mortgage, so Maddie and I have been able to pay the taxes, keep the property maintained, and still share the profits three ways. We should make a tidy sum from the sale.”

“What about Mom? She owns a third of it, too.”

“I don’t think she’d mind an influx of a hundred thousand dollars.”

“You think we can get three hundred thousand for the house?”

“I looked online, and that seems to be the going rate for that size house and neighborhood.”

“I’m all in,” Madison said with the biggest grin. “Now let’s look at those summer houses Livvy found today.”

Lincoln hadn’t realized how tense he had been until he felt his shoulders come down from his ears. “Wow. I don’t remember the last time you were so agreeable.”