Her excitement to show him made him feel jovial himself. As they asked for the code to open the secure garage door. It was cars after all and her job had been everything about them, of course she would be enthusiastic. She was positively buzzing with the brim of antic.i.p.ation as she typed in the cone from a slip of paper. Ellie opened the door for him and they both walked into darkness. Henry found the fuse box in the dark and flipped on the switch. As the lights slowly flickered on both of them were very quiet. So here were the two departed sisters second vice—-cars. And what cars they were. Each vehicle glittered from a fresh wax. The tires were all new as well as if many of the models had never even seen road. Henry found that he couldn"t take his eyes off the available selection—-a pair of black and white matching Lambourgini Veneros, a diamond encrusted Bugatti Chiron, and several stock race cars that he recognized from Ellie"s files. It was quite a collection, he knew that even at home the Wongs did not have a lot of this level of expensive cars. Henry paused where a beautiful lime green Mini Cooper was parked and traced the outline of the bodywork. "I can"t believe under the wreck of this house was sitting on something like this. I could forget your family was unstable. My first thought was to ask if your dad was friends with a sheik or something." Henry thought about the scars on Ellie"s body and wished he hadn"t said that so he added. "I"m sure these were gifts from the risky lifestyles they both favored. I know they had it coming from debts."
"My sisters weren"t so good at giving gifts, but some rich men did enjoy spoiling them. I see they did have eyes on the prize." Ellie looked at the row of parked cars ahead of her with a melancholy look. "What a waste to buy the same car and model in seventeen colors. Sometimes though they didn"t have much sense. I wish they had spent money on more practical things like making sure the house windows had mosquito netting or fixing the holes in the floorboards. They should have listened to the lawyers instead of their endorphins. I wish they had spent less at the local pub because the community expected me to clear everybody"s tabs. Maybe this was down to a shopping addiction of some sort? They had so much money they didn"t know what to do with it."
Henry was inclined to agree but he decided to keep his opinions to himself. He opened the car door to the Mini Cooper and looked longingly at the plush leather inside. He turned to Ellie. "I"m sure you"ll mend the fences they"ve broken and do much more. Do practical things and have some fast cars? You have the foundation laid for you to really make a difference for the whole community if this can be refined to be a good tourist trap."
Ellie shrugged. "All in good time." She seemed deflated as she thought about the heavy burden on her shoulders. "I still have their debts to clear and the renovations will drain even more. It"ll take a long time to get this place good and running again."
As his hands moved closer to the steering wheel Henry had an epiphany, with his financial backing, the changes that were necessary could be completed all at once instead of waiting for the money to come in from selling what was valuable on the property. If he pitched in, it was possible to keep all of these beautiful treasures at the property where they could be admired and treasured by the community. They could really make a lucrative business here if they collaborated--well not taking into account that his eyes were on someone else, and well Ellie would accept nothing less than his whole heart.
"Madam, I a.s.sume you are the new baroness?" a soft voice scared them into looking into the direction from which they had come. It was a think lanky girl holding a wrench and clothing covered in dark grease stains. "I"m not sure if you"d like me to bow because I heard you were raised America, but I"m Daisy. I work here fixing up the cars and checking to see if everything working smoothly."
As Ellie and Henry approached her, Daisy"s lithe form seemed to tremor involuntarily. After it became clear that Ellie and her spoke the same language which Henry got lost in--he didn"t know the first things about the insides of cars--Daisy"s face dissolved into an easy smile. Henry wondered if the late baronesses had been snappy and demanding as he had seen from young businessmen who had just come into money. Her quivering anxiety unnerved him as it reminded him of himself and memories he had repressed.
As expected, Ellie wanted to go for a test drive, as he favored speed over style, she asked for one of the Ferraris to be fitted with racing tires before it was pulled up to the back driveway. As the mechanic began to unscrew tire bolts, Ellie pulled at Henry"s hand. "We haven"t been out for a good drive in so long. Daisy said the track is clear enough if I drive on one side. Although it will be b.u.mpy, I can see the whole property if I take some of the service roads. I"d love to see you with the windows down as you enjoy the breeze. I know it"s cold so you"d have to ask Michael to get you a jacket."
Henry bit his lip as the tug of war in his mind played out on his face. Ellie wondered what there was to deliberate about, but she waited. She wasn"t surprised as he declined her offer. "I would love to do that with you eventually, but this does not belong to me. I"m a guest here and I know you want me to leave with a good impression. As a host, I"m sure you would want to see the needed repairs before showing me the dazzling sights. It"s also your childhood home and I would hate to be critical of things which are dear to you. I think the first look should be personal to you as you"ll have emotions tied to every stone."
"That is true and you are right I do need to see what"s broken. I also would like you to be charmed. Yes, I"ll go by myself then."