“I was sure lucky,” he said, taking Lucy’s hand.
“I can’t think about what might have been,” she said, turning away. Looking across the mostly empty parking lot dotted with a few pickup trucks and boats shrouded in white plastic, she spotted a white sedan coming down the hill. “I bet that’s Rey.”
Moments later the sedan slid into the parking spot next to Lucy’s SUV and Rey got out, giving them a wave. The passenger side door opened and a young woman stepped out and came around the car to join him.
“This is my daughter, Luisa,” said Rey, introducing her.
She was a petite version of her brother, with the addition of a gorgeous mane of black, wavy hair. She smiled, revealing dazzling white teeth and two dimples, one in each cheek.
“It’s lovely to meet you,” said Lucy. “We’re both very sorry about Matt. Have you seen him?”
“Not yet,” said Rey. “I imagine we’ll be able to have a minute or two with him after the arraignment.”
“He’s very strong,” said Luisa, sounding as if she was trying to reassure herself. “He’ll be all right.”
“I’m sure he will,” said Bill. He indicated the burned out pub with a wave of his hand. “So what do you think?”
Rey stepped up to the yellow tape and walked along it, studying the damage and shaking his head. Bill, Lucy, and Luisa stood together, silently watching him.
“I’m interested to hear what the adjuster has to say,” he said, joining them. “I think that may be him.”
The him turned out to be a her dressed in mannish Carhartt overalls, sturdy work boots, and a hard hat. “I’m Donna Dewicki from National Assurance,” she said, sticking out her hand.
“Rey Rodriguez.” He shook hands with her and introduced the others.
“I’ve got permission from the fire department to take a look inside,” she said, pulling a flashlight out of her pocket. “I’ll be back in a jif.”
The four stood together, watching as Donna stepped inside the burned shell of the pub and following the progress of her dancing flashlight.
After a few minutes she returned. “This is a total loss. It doesn’t look to me like anything can be salvaged.”
“So that means the company will pay the entire amount of the policy?” asked Luisa.
“That depends on the results of the fire marshal’s investigation,” said Donna, giving Rey a once-over. “If the explosion was caused by a gas leak or an electrical fault, then the company will pay, but if it’s arson, there will need to be a further investigation.”
“Are you implying I might have done this myself?” asked Rey.
“I’m not saying that. I’m saying that it’s been done before and the company will want to be certain that it’s not the case. We have a responsibility to our shareholders.”
“I’d like to point out that I was in California when this happened,” said Rey.
“Point taken,” said Donna. “But there are people who would do the job for a price, and there are plenty of people who think a couple thousand dollars is a small price to pay for a million dollar payout.”
“I can’t believe this,” fumed Rey, who was building up a head of steam.
Luisa rested a cautionary hand on his arm.
“It’s okay, Papa. They have to investigate all the possibilities, but we know that we had nothing to do with this.”
“I hope that’s the case,” said Donna, thrusting a clipboard in front of Rey. “Sign here, please. It’s just an acknowledgement that I was here and examined the premises.”
Rey scrawled an oversized signature on the small line marked with an X and handed the clipboard back with a little shove.
Donna responded with a raised eyebrow, but didn’t say anything and quickly turned and strode across the parking lot to her van. No doubt she had learned through the years to avoid confrontations with policyholders. Lucy herself had been furious with her own insurance agent when he informed her that, even though their auto policy would cover some of the cost of repairs to the truck, they would have to pay a hefty deductible.
“Come on, Papa,” said Luisa. “Let’s look at the view before we leave.”
Rey shook his head. “I want to talk to Bill. I want to know what he thinks.”
“I’ll walk with you,” offered Lucy. “You can see Quissett Point from here.”
“Okay,” agreed Luisa with a smile.
The two women strolled to the end of the pier, watching in silence as a little red boat headed past the lighthouse, rounded the point, and went out to sea.
“It must be awfully cold out there,” said Luisa with a little shiver.
“You bet.” Lucy wondered if Luisa knew about the developing relationship between Matt and Zoe, but wasn’t sure how to ask. After they stood in silence a few moments, gazing at the gleaming surface of the water and the little pine-covered islands and the boats bobbing on their moorings, she decided to just go for it. “You know, Matt seemed to be taking an interest in my daughter Zoe.”
“He told me. He said she was the first girl since Alison that he really liked.”
“Zoe’s in Montreal, visiting a girlfriend there,” said Lucy.
“Probably a smart move, considering all this,” said Luisa with a nod in the direction of the burned-out pub.
Lucy was quick to add, “But she’s very worried about Matt. She made me promise to keep her posted on developments.”
“I’ll let him know,” said Luisa with a little smile.
“Thanks,” said Lucy. “Was he very serious about Alison?”
“I think so. He dated her for quite a while. She was practically part of our family. They met in LA. She was a student at UCLA and he was working as a sous chef at the Four Seasons. I think they met when they were both running. You know, they had the same routine and saw each other every morning and finally started saying hi, that sort
