LITMIR.BIZ

      Chapter Three

      Despite his promise to be a slave driver, Carissa could hardly complain that Eduard was too hard on her in the days that followed. His presence made it easier for her to give her statement to the police, although it couldn’t have been every day that someone tried to buy a royal lodge. They promised to do everything they could to catch the con man, mainly because of Eduard’s involvement, she assumed. The officers held out little hope of catching up with Mr. Hass, or whatever his real name was. Like Eduard, they believed he had probably left Carramer as soon as he had his hands on her money.

      Unable to do anything more for the moment, she threw herself into the challenge of recreating the lodge as a tourist venture. Eduard was enthusiastic about her ideas for turning the lodge into an environmentally friendly place to stay, adding suggestions she had discarded as being beyond her limited budget.

      She was amazed that someone with his background, accustomed to having servants to do his bidding, could be so practical. He crawled around loft spaces, had her hold a tape measure while he measured rooms and showed a knack for seeing not what was, but what could be. He credited the navy with making him so efficient, but privately she thought that Eduard gave his own resourcefulness too little credit.

      She immersed herself in lists. Since she wasn’t familiar with the local tradespeople, she decided to search out an agency to do the actual hiring, based on the skills the lodge would need.