Hi folks! Another late installment. Sorry! Life has been complicated again. This time it involved having to get a rabies shot. lol. A story for another time. For this installment of The Davies, read on.

When Kennedy got to work the morning after the board meeting, Mrs. Hughes was in high spirits. As expected Caldwell Construction was denied a permit for their development. The Elm Street property would sit and rot until Owen came up with another use for it. Kennedy tried to be happy for Mrs. Hughes at least, but it was like she was dancing on his grave. Losing that project had consequences for him. He hadn’t said what, but the look on his face that night at O’Neil’s showed that clearly it was serious. 

Kennedy got set up in the study, opening her laptop on the desk and pulling up the presentation she’d been working on for the last few days. This was another reason she wasn’t exactly jazzed this morning. Her work for Mrs. Hughes was rapidly coming to an end. The digital archive was all but done and the study was in order, all books cataloged and shelved. Mrs. Hughes was thrilled and in two weeks she’d be hosting a reception at the house to celebrate with a slick presentation of their full catalog.

Kennedy was excited to see her work on display, but after that, she’d be out of a job and without an excuse not to go back to school and finish her degree. After all the time she put in, how could she give it up? She had enough credits, so she’d only need two more semesters. Who gives up at this point? But, the real question was what did she really want to do with herself?

There was a time that getting her master’s had been all important, a necessity. Now, she wasn’t so sure. The desire for that degree was long gone. Once, it was a necessary step to the future she wanted, but it no longer carried any weight. It almost seemed innocent or immature. As if that piece of paper would have meant anything in the grand scheme of things.

“Kennedy?”

She looked up. Mrs. Hughes had come to the door of the study and Kennedy was so lost in her thoughts she hadn’t heard.

“It looks like I caught you wool-gathering. You’re either thinking of a tall, dark, handsome stranger or something difficult.”

“Uh… The latter.”

 Mrs. Hughes nodded sagely and joined Kennedy at the desk. She peered down at the presentation Kennedy had open on her screen.

“How close are we on the PowerPoint?”

            “All but done. I need your input on some formatting choices and then I’ll put in the order for the projector and screen for the reception. There’s an AV company in Gloucester that had nice high-res digital ones or if you think you’ll need it again in the future, they sell them too.”

“Perfect. Put the options together for me and we’ll go over it at tea. I can hardly wait. I am so pleased to have this finally done!” she walked away.

Kennedy was pleased to have it done, but sorry to see her income ending as well. If her heart was not in heading back to school, then what? What kind of future was she going to have if she gave up on the one she had worked so hard for, the one her mother had mapped out for her pretty much from birth?

took out her phone. There was one thing she could do to clear her mind or maybe it was her conscience. She texted Owen. I know you said not to say it, but I’m sorry you lost. Just don’t tell Mrs. Hughes. There. That wasn’t going to lead him on and it helped to make her feel a little better.

This weekend, the one friend she could count on to help her straighten out her head would be visiting, Faith. After months of mostly dodging her and then apologizing, she finally got back in touch and let her friend know the full state of affairs. Faith was the right mix of practical, honest and kind. If anyone could help steer her in the right direction, it would be her. She was also fun. They were going to explore and shop and have a great time. Kennedy planned to drag Ella along. Other than working at the gallery and painting, Ella went nowhere and saw no one. Faith was onboard in the mission to get Ella out of the house. It promised to be a great weekend.

****************************

Owen was in his office when his phone buzzed. He pulled it out and saw it was a text from Kennedy. A smile spread across his lips before he even read it. After reading it, he was ready to fly. The way she was that night at O’Neil’s and now this was teaching him to hope that she had given up hating him and was headed towards like. He knew that this was all a gesture of support and not flirtatious, but it was a positive sign if nothing else.

He texted back: I meant it; this was not your fault. Thank you for trying to cheer me up and left it there since he didn’t want to blow this. If he’d said much more he would have spooked her.

There was a brief, sharp knock on his door and his realtor, Ben Tyler, walked into his office. Ben showing up unannounced and not exactly welcome pushed out whatever good feelings that text had left in him. Ben must have been doing a showing since he was in a suit. When not on the job he was usually in jeans and often in the water. Had he been able to make a real living at it, Owen was sure he’d be a charter captain or fisherman. Him being down here on the harbor and still in a suit didn’t bode well.

Owen got up out of his chair and leaned over the desk to shake Ben’s hand. “Hi, were you in the area?”

“No,” Ben started, sounding irritated, although he did take a seat opposite Owen at the desk. Owen hoped that sitting meant less of a chance of shouting. “You seem determined not to take any of my calls, so I decided to ambush you.”

Owen sat back down and took a deep breath waiting for Ben to continue.

“You and I need to talk, buddy. I can’t keep hanging on waiting for you to decide what to do. For starters, you are going to need to decide what you want done with Cliff Top—”

            “I got it,” Owen interrupted. “Seriously. You’re right, I’m an ass for letting things go this long. Now that I unfortunately have some free time, we can get it settled.”

Ben sat back in his chair. “Yah, we all heard about the planning board. You got screwed on that permit. The town’s position is total crap. The apartments you guys did are hardly down market. The area needed rental units and you gave them some. Hell, you could have made it low income. They should be glad, but you know how it is. NIBYs are as loud as they are wrong. I mean it’s not like Coventry is overdeveloped.”

            “I have a feeling that they think it is and until there are some new faces are on the board, I’m going to get nothing done.”

“You’re right there.” Ben rubbed his chin. “But, forget it. It’s one town. I know it’s your hometown, but you gotta shake that off. Besides I have two pieces of good news for you.”

            “Finally, good news.” Owen almost laughed. “Let’s hear it.”

“Okay, first I have a buyer for your beach house, now I know you didn’t plan on listing it, but this one approached me.”

            “The beach house? It’s the end of the season and someone wants to buy it?”

“Yep. It’s the guy up the hill from you. He wants to buy it for his kids and grandkids. His place is an overgrown cottage so they need the space and he’s a year-rounder.”

Owen’s head was in a bit of a spin. As much as he’d like an easy sale, the beach house is not what he wanted to sell, not unless he had to. “Ben, I appreciate the offer, but I love that house.”

“Well, then my next bit of news may make you change your mind. Decsenzo Construction just went under.”

            “Are you kidding me?” Owen sat up straight. Decsenzo had been in business as long as his father had. They were one of the oldest companies around.

“Nope, and you remember that strip mall in Revere that they out-bid you on?”

            “Of course, is that what put them under?”

“Turns out they were in deep trouble before they took it. They underbid you by some crazy amount and then agreed to a seriously tight contract. Tolman had a nice little non-performance clause and now can look for another company to pick it up and finish it. But unless you can prove you have the cash on hand to tackle something like this, they’re not going to touch you, not after what went down with Decsenzo.”

Ben sat smiling at Owen knowing what a huge deal it was to have a second bite at this apple. He probably guessed that Owen didn’t exactly have any cash on hand, much less enough for this job. He’d have to bid for it all over again, and it would take weeks, but it was a huge deal that would keep his crew busy into next year and could mean a payday that would save his company.

            “Sell it.” He said flatly. “The beach house.”

Ben smiled and pulled out his phone. Owen did the same and texted Dave to see if he could get him into the office to talk. There was now a truly decent possibility for work that would extend months. He needed to see if Dave was up for what it was going to cost them.

“Done.” Ben said into his phone and turned back to Owen. “Do you have a renter in there right now?”

            “Will Vaughn, but I can give him the shove if I have to.”

“If he can be out in a week that would be great. We can get the home inspection done and then this guy can have his walk-through as well. I’ve valued it at 1.5 and I think he’ll do it. If it were a bigger lot or more footage…”

            “I’ll take it. I bought it for a song, I can’t complain.”

“Now, what about Cliff Top?”

Owen sighed and felt the familiar guilt settle in his chest. Ben must have been watching the change of expression on his face.

“How about this. Hire somebody you trust or a service to go through it and at least get your dad’s stuff out. Then I’ll do another walk-through and give you a number. If it makes sense, we’ll list it. If it doesn’t we’ll try to find a renter.”

            “Okay, but who would I hire for that? There’s art, jewelry, private papers…all kinds of stuff. It’s not like I can just use anyone. It’s got to be somebody I trust.”

“How about your girlfriend?

            “Girlfriend?”

“Talk around town is that you hooked up with the new chick at Mrs. Hughes. The librarian?”

            “Oh, you mean Kennedy. I should be so lucky. I’m still working on getting to, never mind leaving the friend zone. She is somebody I trust.” Then he thought it over. She clearly had the skills for it, and he could trust her. Would it be weird to hire her? Maybe this was the way to get out from underneath his burden and find a way to get her to trust him too.

“Can I assume by that long pause you found your somebody?” Ben said with emphasis.

Owen smiled at the double-meaning in that question. “Yes.”

Ben laughed. “You never cease to amaze me. Women throwing themselves at you and you end up picking one who isn’t. It’s revolting, but having to put some effort in for once is probably good for you.”

            “Shut up Ben.”

“Personally, I’m happy for you, especially if it gets Cliff Top sorted.” He got up and headed for the door. “I’d say call me and let me know or that I’d call you but…”

            “I’m sorry Ben. I swear I’ll pick up when you call.”

“Right.” Ben answered over his shoulder as he left.

Owen sat back to think it over again. This was a great idea. He could trust Kennedy to save what needed it and to catalog the rest. He could rent a storage locker for the stuff he had to keep and then they could maybe, just maybe list the place. Sacrificing the beach house was going to hurt, but he was going to have to suck it up. Maybe he’d find another place like it when things looked brighter.