Deep Waters

tourists."
    Charity took a sip of tea. The warm liquid rolled across her tongue, bright, subtle, and refreshing. She savored the feel of the brew in her mouth for a few seconds. The man did know his tea, she thought.
    "Like it?" Elias watched her intently.
    "Very nice," she said as she put the cup back down on the counter. "There is something very distinctive about keemun, isn't there?"
    "Yes."
    "Well, back to business. Actually, it's the town image thing that makes it necessary for those of us here on the pier to move quickly on the lease issue."
    "Go on." Elias sipped tea.
    "The mayor and town council would like to see this pier converted into a boutique art mall filled with cutesy shops and antique galleries. They want to at tract high-end tenants. But in order to do that, they have to convince the owner of the landing to remove the current shopkeepers. We're not exactly trendy, you see."
    Elias glanced around at his own gloom-filled store. "I get the picture. And you think Far Seas will go along with the council's plans to kick us out?"
    "Of course. Far Seas is a big corporation in Seattle. Its managers will be interested only in the bottom line. If they think they can lease these shops to a lot of up market art dealers who can afford sky-high rents, they'll jump at the chance to get rid of us. Or, they may try to sell the landing itself."
    "What do you know about Far Seas?"
    "Not much," Charity admitted. "Apparently it's some kind of consulting firm involved with the Pacific Rim trade. A couple of weeks ago all of us here on the pier received a letter from Hayden Stone's attorney instructing us to start paying our rents to Far Seas."
    "Have you spoken to anyone at Far Seas?"
    "Not yet." Charity smiled grimly. "It's a question of strategy."
    "Strategy?"
    "I decided it would be best to wait until the new owner of Charms & Virtues arrived before we made our move."
    Elias took another meditative sip of tea. "So at this point you're operating on a lot of assumptions about Far Seas?"
    The hint of criticism irritated her. "I think it's safe to assume that Far Seas will react in the same way that any large company would in this situation. As the new owner of a piece of commercial real estate, the company will naturally want to get the highest possible rate of return. Or the best offer, if it chooses to sell the pier."
    "When one studies an opponent's reflection in a pool of water, one should take care to ensure that the water is very, very clear."
    Charity eyed him uneasily. "That sounds like more of Hayden Stone's old sayings. Were you a very close friend of his?"
    "Yes."
    "I suppose that's why you got Charms & Virtues?"
    "Yes." Elias's eyes were unreadable. "It was his legacy to me. I also got his cottage."
    "I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, Mr. Winters, but you won't hang on to your legacy for long if we don't get those leases renegotiated with Far Seas. We've got to move fast now that you're here. There's a strong possibility that someone on the town council or Leighton Pitt, a local realtor, will contact Far Seas directly."
    "Elias."
    "What? Oh, Elias." She hesitated. "Please call me Charity."
    "Charity." He repeated her name the way he sipped tea, as if he were tasting it. "Unusual name these days."
    "You don't meet a lot of people named Elias, either," she retorted. "Now, then, if you'll just give me a few minutes to explain our plans for dealing with Far Seas, I'm sure you'll see how important it is for you to join with us."
    "Yes."
    "I beg your pardon?"
    Elias raised one shoulder in a lethally graceful movement. "As the new owner of Charms & Virtues, I see the importance of joining with you in your— what did you call it? Ah, yes. Your united front. I've never been part of a united front before. How does it work?"
    She smiled with satisfaction. "It's quite simple, re ally. I'm the president of the shopkeepers association, so I'll do the actual negotiating with Far Seas."
    "Have you had much experience with this kind of thing?"
    "Yes, as a matter of fact, I have. I was in the corporate world before I moved here to Whispering Waters Cove."
    "Charity Truitt." Recognition gleamed in the depths of Elias's eyes. "I thought the name sounded familiar. Would that be the department-store Truitts of Seattle?"
    "Yes." Charity's spine stiffened in automatic reflex. "And before you say anything else, let me answer all your questions in three sentences. Yes, I'm the former president of the company. Yes, my