Free Crazy in Paradise by Deborah Brown Page B

hand.”
    “Zach, you want her arrested?” the sheriff asked.
    “You’re friends?” I said.
    “This is a small town Ms. Westin. Everyone knows everyone else.” He returned my stare.
    He looked familiar. “Aren’t you Julie’s brother, Kevin? The same Julie who lives in one of the cottages I own?”
    His eyes turned steely. “What are you saying?” He clearly wanted to strangle me, but only if he could do so without going to jail.
    “I’m not going to evict her. It’s hard to find a good place to live when you have a child.” Maintaining eye contact with him was hard, but I refused to turn away.
    “Zach, whatever happened here you probably deserved,” Kevin told his friend.
    “Kev, you’re a big pussy. Did you forget we’re friends, and grew up together?”
    “I’m not telling Julie she got evicted because of you regardless, of what this one says she may or may not do.” The sheriff continued to stare. “Try and stay out of trouble,” he said and returned to his car.
    I got back into my SUV and realized Zach had never said a word. The woman had sat there and continued to laugh the whole time.
    Once I started towards Zach, I’m not sure anyone could’ve stopped me. Common sense and restraint vanished. Throwing water on Zach hadn’t been as satisfying as I’d hoped.
    It was inevitable that he would meet my other personality: “crazy”. But this was definitely too soon.
    When I started the day, my plan had been to get coffee and go to Tucker’s office. But the morning had gotten off to a bad start. So much for the coffee. The restaurant was a favorite of mine; I hoped I wouldn’t be banned.
    Adrenaline was still pumping through my body when I arrived at Tucker’s office. I hadn’t given a lot of thought to my plan to try and talk to him. I hoped by going in person under the pretense of making an appointment, he’d take a few moments and talk to me. The man needed to know I had every intention of taking over the management of The Cottages.
    Eventually, I’d get rid of Will, but at this point, I needed to be reasonable. In the meantime, I’d tolerate Will. First, I wanted to go through all of Elizabeth’s files. Since I’d been unable to find them in her home office, I assumed they must be in the offices at The Cottages. I knew her to be detail-oriented, so everything should be well documented and in order.
    “I came to make an appointment with Mr. Davis,” I said to the receptionist. “Or, if he has a few minutes, could I speak to him?”
    Ann appeared instantly. “You don’t have an appointment.” Her face was drawn into an annoyed smile.
    “No, I don’t. I was just telling your receptionist…,” I began.
    She waved her hand, cutting me off. “I heard everything you said. What’s this about?”
    “I have a few things I’d like to go over with Mr. Davis.”
    “What things?” she demanded.
    “The Cottages.”
    “I’ll tell him you came by. He can call you and schedule something if necessary. Good management is already in place at The Cottages. Please don’t stir up problems where none exist. I assure you Mr. Davis is looking after everything.”
    There was a long pause while we both stared at one another.
    “Here is Mr. Davis’ card.” She handed it to me. “Call next time and save yourself a trip.” She walked to the front door, and held it open.
    “Thank you,” I mumbled. I was shocked speechless. The receptionist kept her eyes glued to her desk.
    What in the world ? Maybe I had overstepped, but I was anxious to get started. Frankly, I didn’t understand the resistance. I was the beneficiary. No one was contesting.
     
    * * *
     
    I love coming home. I live in a tropical paradise. A fence runs the entire length of the house. Within the gates is a courtyard filled with plants and flowers. I can either walk across the courtyard and enter the house through the front door, or go around the back and in through the French doors by the patio. On the first level are the