Here's a bonus to thank you all for your patience with my crazy schedule! Don't miss Chapter 13, posted yesterday (Saturday)!
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“Not that,” Erica texted in response to my picture of a potential outfit. I was getting ready to have dinner with Dan, and I had apparently forgotten how to dress myself. “Too much for a second date.”
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“Not that,” Erica texted in response to my picture of a potential outfit. I was getting ready to have dinner with Dan, and I had apparently forgotten how to dress myself. “Too much for a second date.”
I was trying to decide on
something else when my phone started to ring.
I reached for it, confused to see Mike’s name across the screen. When I had signed the lease on the rental,
I’d let him know I’d give him a call when I was ready to look for something to
buy again. Curiosity pushed me to
answer. “Hello?”
“Jenna,
it’s Mike,” the familiar voice said.
“Look, I know you signed a lease, but one of my coworkers just got a
listing that is perfect for you. It’s
near the top of--but within--your price range, and it’s going to go really
fast. It’s going on the market tomorrow,
but I can take you to it tonight and you can have the first shot at it.”
I paused
and considered this. Then, hoping Dan
would understand, I told Mike to text me the address. I hung up and texted Dan. “Remember
how I told you I was moving? I had hoped
to buy, but ended up renting? My realtor
just called me with a house that’s not even on the market yet, and I need to go
see it. Can we reschedule, please?” Then I changed out of my ‘too much for a
second date’ outfit and into jeans and a sweatshirt and hurried out of the
house.
I looked at
the address that Mike had texted skeptically.
It was not the best neighborhood.
But I drove there anyway, excited to see the place.
Mike was
already there when I got there, and I parked behind him in the driveway. The house was small, but it had an attached
single car garage, and it was clear that the outside had been well cared
for. It was hard to tell in the dark,
but many of the houses on this street looked to be in better shape than those
on some of the other nearby streets.
I looked
around curiously as I got out of the car.
“Don’t judge the neighborhood in the dark,” Mike called as he got
out. “This area is up and coming.”
I rolled my
eyes at the realty buzzword and crossed my arms across my chest to ward off the
freezing night air. “What’s so special
about this house, then?” I asked.
Even in the
dark I could see Mike grin. “Glad you
asked,” he said. “It’s recently
remodeled. New floors, new counters and
cabinets, fresh paint, brand new appliances, and a new roof to boot. Everything has been updated. It’s small, but it has the biggest master
closet you’ll ever see in a home in your price range.
Lots of storage space too. The
garage is a single stall, but it’s extra deep.
The basement is partially finished and wouldn’t need much work to finish
up.”
“Why is it
priced so low?” I asked skeptically.
“The
neighborhood and the size, mostly,” he replied.
“It was a three bedroom, but the third bedroom was so small that the
previous owners turned it into the master closet, so now it only has 2
bedrooms. Not a good move for resale
value, honestly, but perfect for you.”
“Well,
let’s go in then,” I told him.
The house
was beautiful on the inside. As Mike
said, it was clear that a lot of remodeling had been done. There was a half bath just inside the door
from the garage. It was small, but it
was clean and updated. We walked into the
kitchen, which had a pale blue, white, gray and back backsplash which
coordinated nicely with the pale gray color of the walls. White quartz countertops, black cabinets, and
stainless steel appliances topped everything off. “So far so good,” I said, looking around
appreciatively. The kitchen was small,
but the space was well used and there was plenty of counter space and
cabinets. I pulled open a door off the
kitchen and found a narrow, deep pantry there as well.
The rest of
the main level was cozy. There was a small dining space off the kitchen, which
just enough room for a table that seats 4, max. One wall was almost completely taken up by a sliding glass door that
went out to a small patio. I flipped the
outside light on and saw that the patio had a fire pit on the right side with
built in seating around it. There was
still plenty of space for a small patio furniture set on the left side. It was lined on either side with what looked
like raised flowerbeds. The flowerbeds
followed the patio around the corners on either side, leaving a 5-foot gap or
so for entering the rest of the yard.
The dining area flowed seamlessly into the living room. On one wall of the living room was a gas fireplace, which excited me. It had been on my “would be nice” list, and
this was the first house we’d even looked at that had one. That concluded the tour of the main level,
and Mike led me through the entry way and past the front door to the
stairs. As we followed the stairs up,
Mike said, “The third bedroom was too small and didn’t have a closet so they
moved part of the wall a bit, moved the door, and turned it into a spectacular
closet for the master. I think you’ll
like it.”
I walked
into the second bedroom first. It was
small and had a laughable closet. But it
was bright and cheerful and would make a very nice guestroom. I went into the bathroom next. It was a decent size with a standard tub and
shower combination.
Finally, I
went into the master bedroom. It was
larger than the other bedroom, but still not large by any stretch of the
imagination. It was big enough to fit my queen sized bed, nightstands,
and dresser, at least. There was no hope of ever
upgrading to a king sized bed, though. I
pulled open a door and walked into the most glorious closet I had ever seen. The long wall had floor to ceiling shelves
right in the middle, and racks for hangers stretching from either side. On the opposite side, the side with the door,
built-in shelves for clothing and shoes lined the wall. There was a window at one end with frosted,
textured glass, and beneath it stood a large vanity. Running down the middle of the room was an
island filled with drawers.
“I could
live here,” I said, looking around in wonder.
“Right here, in this closet.”
“I thought
you’d like it,” Mike replied, grinning.
“The built in drawers and shelves in here free up some space in the
bedroom, because you won’t need a dresser in there.” I nodded and looked back into the bedroom,
imagining where I’d put my bed. “Do you want to see the basement?”
We took a
cursory look at the basement, but it didn’t matter. I wanted this house. “Well, what do you think?” Mike asked when we
were back up in the kitchen.
“I love
it,” I said. “It’s small…how many square
feet?”
“Just over
1000,” he answered. “Not including the
basement.” I nodded. It was small, but I didn’t need much
space. It was a huge downsize from my current
3000 square foot living situation, but this house felt so much bigger because
Kevin wasn’t lurking around.
“It’s going
to be hard to sell again, though,” I said, recalling what Mike had said about
the resale value.
“True,” he
agreed. “You could probably rent it out
for a decent price though, should you ever move and can’t or don’t want to sell
it. And give this neighborhood a few
years, and it will improve significantly.”
I
considered this. The neighborhood was
not ideal. This part looked okay, but
the surrounding area was not good. “This
house is perfect for you, Jenna,” Mike said.
“You’re not going to find anything else in your price range that checks
as many of the boxes as this one does.”
He was
right. I knew he was. I took a deep breath, then grinned. “Let’s put in an offer. Right now.”