When Lawrence returned from his lunch break on Thursday, he found Eileen in the office, chatting with Hector and a man he didn't know.
"Hey, Lawrence. Come over here. I want you to meet someone," Hector called over. Lawrence sighed, but walked over to the group. "This is an old buddy of mine from college, Chad Vanderburg. Chad, this is Lawrence Arrendale."
"Nice to meet you," Chad greeted Lawrence with a friendly handshake.
Lawrence just nodded politely.
"Chad came all the way to Bay Pointe just to be the best man at our wedding," Hector bragged, but Lawrence just looked away.
"You know I wouldn't let you down, but that's not the only reason I came all this way," Chad admitted. "I've been thinking about making a fresh start, a new location, a new job . . ."
"I can get you a job here if you want, like I did for Lawrence," Hector offered.
Lawrence had heard enough. It just made him sick how Hector could manipulate everyone and everything around him to get exactly what he wanted.
Neither Hector or Chad seemed to notice when Lawrence left the group, but Eileen watched him as he walked away.
"What do you say, Eileen?" Hector asked, drawing her back into the conversation. "The three of us go to dinner tomorrow?"
"Sure. Sounds great."
"Ok then. I should get back to the grindstone. We'll see you later," Hector said before saying goodbye to Chad.
"It was a pleasure to meet you," Chad said to Eileen. "You're marrying a great guy."
Eileen nodded and forced a smile. "I know."
Meanwhile, Lawrence's work was interrupted by a phone call.
"Hi. This is Audrey Jordan from the real estate agency. I'm sorry to bother you at work, but I just came across a property you might be interested in and I don't think it will be on the market long. Would you be able to drop by the office today so you can take a look at it?"
"I'll be at work until 6:00 this evening."
"What about afterwards? Our offices will be closed, but I could meet you at the property. I just think this is exactly what you're looking for."
"Ok, I'll meet you there."
"Great," Audrey gave Lawrence the directions and said she would meet him there at 6:30."
Reese was working at her desk when someone knocked on her office door. "Come in," she called.
Blaine peeked his head inside the door before entering the office. "I'm not interrupting you, am I?"
"No, of course not," Reese replied, immediately rising from her chair and walking towards Blaine. "How's it going? Have you found anything yet?"
"Just Dorothy's adoptive parents. I tracked down the McAllistars. They never moved out of Bay Pointe."
"That's great news!" Reese exclaimed. "Have you contacted them?"
"No, but I've got their address and phone number," Blaine said, handing Reese a slip of paper. "I thought you should do the honors."
"Thank you," Reese nodded, slightly embarrassed. Phone number in hand, she picked up the receiver and dialed. A woman answered right away and identified herself as Evelyn McAllistar.
After identifying herself and asking a few questions, Reese was confident that they were on the right track. Evelyn confirmed that she and her husband, Frank, had adopted a baby girl named Dorothy Alice, almost 35 years ago from the Bay Pointe Orphanage. With her identity established, Reese proceeded to explain her reasons for calling and informed Mrs. McAllistar's daughter was the heir in her birth mother's will. "If your daughter would come by our offices, she can sign a few papers and collect her inheritance."
"Thank you, but that won't be necessary," Mrs. McAllistar said and hung up the phone.
"What happened?" Blaine asked anxiously, noticing Reese's odd expression as the call ended.
"She said that she wasn't interested."
"That's odd," Blaine agreed. "I've got her address. Let's go talk to her in person and try to find out what's going on."
Reese and Blaine left the office and headed towards the McAllistar's home. The address was located in an upscale neighborhood on the wealthy side of town. When they located the McAllistar's house number, they found a very nice, spacious, stone house with a well landscaped yard. They parked in the driveway and walked up to the front door and rang the bell.
When the door opened they were greeted by a well-dressed older gentleman, who greeted them politely.
"Hello, I'm Reese Burroughs and this is Blaine Kitteridge."
"You're the lawyer who just spoke with my wife on the phone."
"Yes, I was hoping I could speak with you both."
Reluctantly, Frank moved aside so Reese and Blaine could enter and invited them into the parlor where Evelyn was seated.
After the introductions were made, the Frank offered the visitors a seat and then sat down next to his wife.
"I'm sure you're wondering why I said what I did over the phone."
"Well, yes," Reese replied.
"While we appreciate that she was still thought of after all these years, Dorothy really doesn't need the money."
Frank continued, "Since we brought her into the family, we've provided our daughter with everything she needed and wanted."
"Please, just take the money and donate it to charity."
"We couldn't do that," Reese explained. "It's your daughter's money, not ours."
"After she collects the money she could donate it herself, if she wanted to," Blaine added.
The McAllistars exchanged a silent meaningful look that didn't go unnoticed by their visitors.
"Can you tell us how to contact Dorothy, so we can tell her the news?" Reese asked, frustrated with their resistance. When they didn't answer immediately, she continued, "I don't think you realize how important this is. Mrs. May left almost everything she had to Dorothy and practically nothing to her other two daughters. Blaine and I have spent so much time looking for her. Why are you so opposed to this?"
There was a pause before Mrs. McAllistar spoke, "We love our daughter very much, but she's made a lot of choices we cannot support. She left home to become an actress and then married a barkeeper with two teenage daughters. It broke our hearts."
Mr. McAllistar got to the point. "We don't want her to have this money. She'll just throw it all away on that Barrett fellow."
Reese and Blaine tried again to reason with the McAllistars, but they refused to say anymore and asked them to leave.
As they walked to the car, Reese was furious. "Can you believe them? How could they be so stubborn and deny their daughter what's rightfully hers? If they get their way Dorothy will never even know that her birth mother died or that she has two half-sisters."
"You don't think that's part of it, do you? You think they don't want her to know her birth family?"
Reese thought a moment before answering, "No. It's just frustrating to come so close and then hit a dead end that didn't have to be an obstacle."
"This isn't a dead end," Blaine insisted. "Even if the McAllistars won't tell us where their daughter is, we found out a few things about her. I'll search the databases again and see what comes up."
"Do you think the computer will help us find anything?"
"We won't know until we look."
After work, Lawrence stopped by his apartment to change, then followed Audrey's directions to the property. He arrived there before Audrey and took a moment to look around himself. He wasn't sure exactly what part was for sale, but he liked what he saw.
A car pulled up behind him and stopped. When Audrey stepped out, she asked, "What do you think?"
"How much of it is for sale?"
"Only this part is on the market now, but I think the rest of it will be up for sale soon." Audrey answered. As they walked together along the property. Audrey filled him in on the details.
"I think this could be it," Lawrence said finally.
"Great. The office is closed so I'll have to do the paper work tomorrow, but why don't we go somewhere to talk over the details. I know of a quiet little restaurant not far from here."
They took a table at the bar and ordered drinks. As they discussed the details of the sale, their conversation gradually turned more personal. Talk about the property lead to conversation about family, career, and plans for the future.
Lawrence learned that until recently Audrey had been living abroad and working as a model. She liked the work, but she was tired of the lifestyle that went with it. After breaking up with her boyfriend she decided she was ready for a change. So she moved to Bay Pointe to stay with her older brother until she figured out what she wanted to do next.
"I don't think real estate is going to be a long term thing for me. But it's a good job for right now while I explore what other options are out there."
Lawrence and Audrey talked until late in the evening. When Audrey finally looked at her watch, they were both surprised at how much time had passed.
Lawrence offered to walk Audrey to her car and thanked her being so helpful.
"It was my pleasure," Audrey replied. She hesitated before getting into her car. "I really enjoyed talking with you tonight. Maybe we could get together again sometime."
Lawrence just nodded, a little bit surprised. As Audrey got into the car, Lawrence came to his senses and spoke up. "I've been invited to a formal party on Saturday night. Would you like to come with me?"
Audrey smiled brightly, "Sure. Call me tomorrow."
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