Romance Rules for Werewolves (Charming Cove, #3)(6)

Crap. I really could have used a place to live.

I winced. I shouldn’t be so mercenary in the face of my grandmother’s death. I pasted a bland smile on my face and tried to look appropriate, whatever that was.

“It’s a bit of an unusual situation, you see.” He leaned down and pulled some papers out of a briefcase that sat on the floor near his chair. “Your grandmother owned a home in Cornwall, outside of the town of Charming Cove. Lavender House, it’s called. It’s in fairly poor shape, but I believe she was hoping you’d fix it up. There’s a good bit of land with it, along with a building on the water that I believe she called the boathouse.”

I blew out a breath. That sounded like a fun challenge, but… “I have no money. I can’t afford to fix anything up.”

He gestured to the house around us. “The sale of this house has been put into an account for you. It’s more than enough to cover the cost of repairing Lavender House.”

“Oh, wow.” I smiled and sat back. My luck was really turning around.

“There are some conditions, however. And challenges.”

I grimaced and leaned forward. “Go on…”

“Your grandmother tried for years to get the main house fixed up, but none of the contractors in town will work on it. Something about the house being inhospitable to guests.”

Okay, that wasn’t ideal.

“So it will be primarily up to you to do the labor. The will stipulates that you have a month from your arrival in Charming Cove to complete the job. I will come by on the thirtieth day and see if you’ve finished. If you have, then Lavender House and the money are yours. If you fail, it all goes to your cousin Albert.”

“Albert? But isn’t he already wealthy?” And also a jerk, I was pretty sure.

“Indeed. Your grandmother wasn’t fond of him. I believe she wanted to incentivize you to fix Lavender House. She loved that place, though she was never able to live there.”

I drew in a breath. I could do this. I liked a challenge. I needed a challenge. Something to get my mind off of Tommy and help me reinvent my life.

“It’s unlikely that you can live in the house in its current state,” he said. “But there is a renovated apartment in the boathouse. It’s small, but your grandmother said it’s nice enough. She used to live there when she would visit Charming Cove.”

Excellent. That solved my biggest problem. Now I just had to fix up Lavender House.





Chapter

Four





Isobel



Fortunately, my grandmother had also left me a car. The little Vauxhall was old but in good condition, and Poa reported that the passenger seat was sufficiently comfortable. She made sure I knew it wasn’t perfect, but that it would do for now—until I could get something better, as she’d put it.

She’d be waiting a while.

Since the meeting with the solicitor hadn’t lasted long and I had nowhere else to stay, we’d departed St. Ives in the midafternoon after getting the car jump-started. Fortunately, it was full of petrol. I didn’t have the cash to fill it up, and the solicitor had said I wouldn’t have access to my new accounts until tomorrow.

“It’s time for a new life,” I said to Poa as we drove down the country lanes to the southern coast of Cornwall. I’d lowered the windows, and the cool autumn breeze blew my hair back from my face.

Poa also had her face turned up, the wind blowing through her whiskers. Good, because your life was really sad.

“Harsh.” I shrugged. “But true.”

But now I had a chance to reinvent myself. The thought of Tommy made me sad, but not in the way I’d expected. I’d miss the idea of him, but if I were honest with myself, our relationship hadn’t been good in a long time. I was sadder for the years that I’d wasted on him.

But no more.

Charming Cove awaited me, along with the challenge of a lifetime.

By the time we arrived, the sun had set, and a chill nipped the air. It was too dark to really see Lavender House, which sat on top of a rocky hill overlooking the sea, but I could see the shadows of it. The building was bigger than I’d expected, and worry tugged at me. A month wasn’t a long time, especially if it would be difficult to get help.

I shook the thought away. Nope! I was going to be positive. The ability to see the good side of things had always been one of my strengths, and I would lean into that.

The lane led down to the sea, where a large rectangular stone building sat on a rocky ledge just a stone’s throw from the water. The solicitor had called it a boathouse, and I could see why. A wide path led from a huge door on the seaward side of the house to a ramp down into the water.

Do you think there will be boats inside?

I looked over at Poa, who peered out the window with skepticism. “Maybe. Do you not like boats?”

I’m not too fond of water, so no, I don’t like boats.

“I’ll be sure to get rid of them for you.”

Liar.

I laughed. “Yep. But you don’t have to ride in them.”

I pulled the car into the gravel parking area near the back of the boathouse and climbed out. It was actually a pretty big building, with several large windows and a heavy wooden door that would hopefully open with the key the solicitor had given me. The peaked roof was tiled in rough slate, and there was a little window right at the top. Fading roses climbed the walls of the house, and with the sea crashing on the rocks in the background, the place would probably be beautiful in the summer.