Page 35 of The Catcher

“Close. Twenty-three.”

“Enough room to build multiple homes.”

“Sure is. Takes up 2,500 feet of shoreline. My father is considering building a few more homes.”

“Huh. Won’t you find having neighbors a little infringing?”

“Do you?”

He smiled. “Ed is an acquired taste. Not your typical neighbor.”

“I’ve heard,” she said. He didn’t probe her for how but assumed that his father had been flapping his gums. She smiled and asked, “So, what do you think he paid for it?”

“Six million?”

“Higher.”

“Ten?”

She raised a thumb. “Fourteen million,” she said.

Noah shook his head. “See, that’s the thing. I can’t see myself feeling good living in an expensive place when people can barely rub two nickels together. I mean, some of the homes I’ve been in, you could fit ten, maybe twenty of them in this place.”

“Please, don’t tell me you are one of them.”

“One of who?” he asked as she led him into the kitchen where a chef was preparing their food. He didn’t even comment on that. She sat at a long table; he sat across from her.

“You know, those who say that the wealthy are greedy.”

“I never said that.”

“But you implied it.”

“No. I just have a hard time living in a house that’s too large.

“And yet you took the rental we offered when you moved here.”

“Because I was out of pocket. I could say I have my brother to thank for that, but that wouldn’t be true now, would it?” He’d already told her about his brother’s run-in with Gabriel Ironwood, the manager of the Ashford Royale Casino.

“He wouldn’t have owed them money had he not gambled.”

“No, I understand, but there are ways to recover a debt owed. Holding a gun to someone’s head isn’t one of them.”

“I told you. I wasn’t aware of that.”

“Look, maybe we can change the subject.”

“Or I can answer your question,” she replied before taking a swig. Her eyes sparkled as if she was enjoying their conversation. “What I mean is everyone is rich to someone. Of course, there are those who can’t afford a place like this, but it’s no different than someone who can afford a $200,000 home. There is always going to be someone who can’t. Does that make your typical homeowner greedy?”

“No.”

“It’s all a matter of perspective,” she said as a server came over with two plates of food and placed it before them. “Thank you, Sheila,” Natalie said, leaning back asSheila finished pouring a glass of red wine to go with her meal.

“Wine, sir?” she asked. He hadn’t even finished his beer.

“No. Thank you. I’m good.”

“Will that be all, Ms. Ashford?”