The doorbell rang as Karin stood in front of the bathroom
mirror. She took a deep breath, reminded herself that he’s probably married,
this isn’t at date, they are just old friends getting something to eat
together. She gathered up all of her courage and walked out to the front door.
She opened the door and was surprised to see two of Dunewood’s police officers
standing on her front porch.
“Ms. Anderson?”
“Yes.”
“We need to ask you some questions about the fire at 605
First Street.” One officer said to her as he pulled out a notebook and pen.
“Okay, well, I’m sure you already know more than I do, but
I’ll try to help.”
“How were you first informed about the fire?”
“Camilla, the tenant from the upstairs apartment, called and
said that she had called the fire department. I hung up the phone and went
right over. When I got there, the fire department was already there.”
“What else did…” the officer paused to look at his notes,
“Camilla tell you?”
“When I got there, she said that she had heard the smoke
alarms going off from the downstairs apartment and went outside and saw flames
in the window and called nine-one-one. That’s about it.”
“So, there were working smoke alarms in the unit?” He wrote
something down.
“Yes, of course.”
He wrote something else down. “Which window?” he asked.
“Which window what?”
“Which window did she say she saw flames through?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t ask.” Karin looked over the
officer’s shoulders while he made another note. She saw a red convertible pull
into a parking space in front of her building. She immediately recognized the
driver.
Jay stepped out of his car and confidently approached her
front door. He didn’t seem at all phased by the fact that Karin was standing on
her front porch talking with police.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“Sir, this doesn’t concern you.” The second officer said.
“No, I’m sure it doesn’t, but I have an appointment with Ms.
Anderson and my schedule does concern me.” He said it in such a way that came
across as authoritative, but gentle and the officers did not seem offended by
it, although Karin feared they might be.
“We just have a few more questions for Ms. Anderson,” the
first officer said.
“Ok, I’ll wait by the car,” Jay said and reached out and
touched Karin’s wrist. He winked at her and said, “I have an excellent team of
attorneys on my staff. If you need one, just say the word.”
She rolled her eyes and shook her head, but then she
remembered what John Kinsmore had told her.
“Officers, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get something for
you from my office.” The first officer, who had been taking notes told her to
go ahead, and the other one put his hand on his gun holster. She found the idea
that he thought she might be dangerous laughable, and she struggled to stifle
her giggles.
“My apologies,” she said as politely as she could manage
when she returned to the front door. “John Kinsmore is the attorney for the
Marquette estate. They own the property on First Street. I’m just the property
manager. Mr. Kinsmore has asked me to direct all inquiries to his office.” She
handed Kinsmore’s business card to the note taker and said, “I’d be glad to
answer any more questions that you have if you would just schedule an
appointment through Mr. Kinsmore’s office.”
The officer looked at the business card and then back at
Karin, who stood very still, hoping that she had made a wise move.
“Yes, ma’am,” he finally said. “We’ll do that.”
As the officers walked down the porch steps, Jay headed
toward her.
“So, you want to go back inside and I’ll try my approach
again?” he said, smiling at her.
“No, let’s just get out of here,” she said.
“You should bring a sweater,” he said. She started to ask
why, but then decided to just let it be a surprise. She grabbed her purse and a sweater jacket
from the front hall and hung up the closed sign.
“Where are we going to eat?” she asked, when they were in
the car.
“Unless you have some place you really want to go, I had an
old favorite in mind.” He said.
“That sounds great,” she said. Karin grabbed a hair tie from
her purse and pulled her hair into a braid as they headed down the avenue
toward the lake. It was just after six o’clock in mid-summer on Lake Michigan
and still fully daylight out. The wind off the lake blew into her face. She closed
her eyes and remembered a lifetime of evenings spent near the beach.
“So, do you like the car?” he asked, interrupting her
thoughts.
“It’s nice,” she said, and then nostalgically added, “But, I
always loved bumping along in your old farm truck.”
“Oh.” He said, and for a moment she thought she sensed
disappointment in his voice, and she realized that he’d been trying to impress
her. But, then, he smiled and said, “That trip down memory lane can be
arranged, but it will mean that you have to agree to go on another date with
me.”
“Date?” she said. “Is this a date?”
“What would you like to call it?”
“Hmm,” She wanted to just come right out and ask him about
the girl he was supposed to marry, the past ten years of his relationships and
why he’d left her and then suddenly shown back up in her life. But, she was
enjoying herself so much that she didn’t want to ruin it.
“Let me think it over and tell you later,” she said.
Jay parked the car near the public beach and grabbed a large
basket from the trunk. Karin got out of the car and peeked into the trunk to
see what he was doing.
“Do you still like picnics?” he asked.
“I love them,” she answered, wondering how he’d remembered
after so many years.
“Good, then you can be in charge of carrying this,” he said
and handed her a large beach blanket. They walked across the street to the city
park that overlooked the beach.
“I haven’t done this in years, “ she said, leaning on one
arm after she’d finished the delicious sandwich that he’d made for her. She
gazed out at the horizon over the lake.
“Why not?” he asked.
“Oh, just busy with work, I suppose,” she said.
“I assume the police presence at your house tonight was work
related?” he asked.
“Yeah. There was a fire at one of the properties I manage.”
“I saw an article about that in the newspaper, over on First
Street, right?”
“Yes. It’s pretty damaged, I suspect, but I haven’t been
allowed inside because they are still investigating.”
“Well, I wasn’t kidding when I said I can recommend a good
attorney,” he said.
“I know. John Kinsmore is the attorney handling the estate
that owns the house, so I directed the police to contact his office.” She said.
“But, I wouldn’t have thought to do that if you hadn’t been there to remind
me.”
“Glad I could help,” he said. “Not to be too nosey, but the
newspaper said that a Virginia Anderson was injured in the fire… isn’t that
your mom’s name?”
Karin nodded. “She’s still in the hospital. They are
supposed to call me…” As she spoke, her phone vibrated. Out of habit, she
automatically reached to answer it. She looked up to see that he was watching
her.
“Sorry,” she said and looked to see who the call was from.
She recognized Michelle’s number and let the call go to voicemail.
“Anyway, the hospital is supposed to call when she wakes
up,” she said and put her phone back in her pocket.
“Do you want to talk about something else?” he asked.
“Yes, please.” She answered gratefully.
“So, you mentioned earlier that you currently have no vacant
units.”
“Mmm-hmmm” Karin answered, but her attention was back on the
horizon. It was still daylight, but the sky had begun to subtly change in the
way it only does over water. It had been a long time since she had taken the
time to watch this wonder of nature. Sitting in the grass with Jay, watching
the sky begin to change was the most relaxing thing she’d done in as long as
she could remember. She wanted to soak up as much of it as she could.
“I have to fly back to Chicago in the morning, and I want
you to come with me,” he said.
“I can’t.”
“I promise to behave myself and have you home by midnight.”
Karin laughed. “It’s not that,” she said.
“Then, why not?”
“I have to go to a funeral tomorrow. Mrs. Bennett, a
landlord friend of mine passed away earlier this week.”
“Wow, it’s really been a rough week for you,” he said.
“Yeah, it’s been full of drama, that’s for sure. But, on a
positive note, I may have an opportunity to take over management of her
properties for her family,” she said. “And, I took your advice and mailed a
proposal for The Piermont Complex today.” He shifted suddenly when she said
this and she couldn’t quite read his body language, but something seemed off.
“It sounds like you’re going to be getting a lot busier
soon,” he said.
“Ugh. Enough talk about my job. Let’s talk about your work
instead,” she said. “So, tell me what you do in Chicago?”
“Mostly boring stuff, lots of board meetings and investment
analysis,” he said. “My grandfather invested in a variety of businesses around
the country, and he managed them all from a central office in Chicago. But, Dunewood
was always his home. The Lavine Township property has been in his family for
generations.”
“Are we going somewhere?” she asked as he started to pack up
the picnic basket.
“I’ve got something I want you to see,” he said. “A little
trip down memory lane that I think you will enjoy.”
“Sounds fun,” she said and helped him gather up the blanket
and other picnic items.
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