Innkeeping with Murder - Tim Myers [49]
Alex took out his sandwich. “Sorry I can’t offer you much more than half of this.”
Grandy waved it away. “I had a big breakfast at Buck’s in town. You go ahead and eat. We can talk after you’re done.”
Grandy watched Alex finish his sandwich before speaking again. “I’ve grown kind of fond of this place, the lighthouse and all, and I was wondering if you’d consider selling it to me.”
Alex looked at Joel Grandy with new interest. “You wouldn’t happen to be represented by a real estate agent in town named Finster, would you?”
Grandy snorted. “I don’t have an agent, Alex. I’m asking you man to man. What would you take for the place?”
Alex shook his head. “It’s not for sale.” He made sure the tone in his voice was as uninviting as he could make it.
Joel Grandy leaned back against an upright rock and said, “I’ve been wheeling and dealing a long time, Alex, and one thing I’ve learned is that everything on this globe is for sale if the price and the conditions are right. What would you say to two hundred grand?”
Alex didn’t have any idea if Joel Grandy was just talking big, or if he actually had the funds to back up his offer. It didn’t matter to Alex either way. “I’d say someone else offered me two hundred and fifty thousand dollars this morning.”
Instead of putting Grandy off, Alex’s words elicited a laugh from the man that sounded like a donkey with a doughnut stuck in his throat. “Okay, then. How about an even three hundred thousand? I admit I was low-balling you, Alex. I hope you don’t mind my saying it, but you’re craftier than you look.”
Alex studied the man in silence, not trusting himself to speak.
Grandy spoke for him. “Oh, I get it. You don’t think I could raise that kind of money, do you? Let me show you something about not judging a book by its cover.” Grandy pulled a statement out of his pocket from a stockbrokerage house that showed his share value as of the first of the month.
“I had this sent down just in case you needed convincing.”
Alex saw that Grandy’s offer would barely put a dent in even one of the man’s holdings.
“Why would you want an old lighthouse and some granite rocks?”
Grandy grinned at him. “I could tell you it’s the lighthouse itself that draws me, but that’s only part of it I like these rocks, to be honest with you. They touch something in me I thought was long dead. I came out here in the fog last night, and I swear to you they seemed to come alive and dance in the mist. It took my breath away. There are other reasons that I’ll tell you straight out are none of your business, but I will say that my grandkids would love that tower of yours over there. Can you imagine a better fort than that?”
Alex smiled. “Yes, I rescued my fair share of maidens there in my mind. Seriously, though, why buy the place? You could rent the inn for a month at a time and have Hatteras West all to yourself.”
Grandy rubbed the rock he was sitting on affectionately for a moment before answering. “Renting and owning are two different things. I want these rocks.”
Alex knew the feeling well. “Thanks for your interest, but none of my land is for sale.”
The older man stood up abruptly from his seat. “It’s not the money, is it?”
“Not entirely.”
Grandy thought about that for a moment. “Give it some thought anyway, and we’ll talk again. One thing, though.” He stuck one bony finger in the air toward Alex, and he could see a flicker of heat in Grandy’s eyes. “Don’t sell to anybody else without talking to me first. I wouldn’t want you to get hurt on the deal.”
“Is that a threat, Mr. Grandy?”
In an instant, the look of fire was hidden again in the old man’s eyes. Alex didn’t buy the “doddering old grandfather” routine for a minute.
Grandy eased his voice as he said, “Why would an old man like me threaten a young pup like you? I just meant that you shouldn’t take another offer without giving me a chance to put in my bid, that’s all. I might surprise you.”
As Alex watched Joel Grandy walk back down the path toward