He’d noticed the tension between the women the other night, but he’d chalked that up to Mason and his wayward eyes. “Okay.”
“I’m not sure she’s going to call me back.”
That surprised him. “Why not?”
Harper sighed. “Because you’re a mechanic, and that property is expensive.”
“So?”
“She thinks you can’t afford it.”
He sat back against the seat. “I reckon that’s not so smart of her.”
“It’s definitely not.” She opened her mouth, then closed it. Then opened it again. Closed it a second time. Then she finally spoke. “I’ll keep after her. I’ll go to her office if I have to.”
Harper didn’t look too excited about the prospect, though. He thought about telling her never mind, but he knew she would protest. He wanted the property, and she wanted the sale. She didn’t seem like the kind of person to back down from a snobby agent anyway.
She punched some coordinates into the GPS, and they were off. “We should be there in fifteen minutes or so,” she said. “This house is about four miles outside of town. Four thousand square feet, so there’s a lot of room. Four bedrooms, three baths, an office, two fireplaces, an outdoor kitchen, and a swimming pool. No stairs. It just came on the market and is new construction. I think you’ll like it, and it’s well below your price range.”
“That sounds like a lot of house.” Two fireplaces? A swimming pool?
“It is, but you said you needed more room. This has plenty.”
“All right.” She was the expert.
“You don’t sound so sure.”
He’d have to do a better job hiding his cards. “I guess I didn’t think about buying something so big and...”
“Extra?”
“Yeah.”
She grinned. “If you think that’s extra, I should take you to see some of the houses in your upper price range. There are some that are ten thousand square feet and more.”
“That’s enough to fit two families.”
“People like to have their space.”
He didn’t know what it was like to have that much space. Growing up in his house, his family barely had to yell in order to be heard throughout. Even when he thought about building on the Miles Road property, he was thinking about something on a smaller scale.
“If you don’t want to see it, I can cross it off the list,” Harper said.
“No, don’t do that.” He rubbed his chin again. “I’d like to see it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” She’d found the house. The least he could do was not dismiss it before he saw it. “Let’s go for it.”
She laughed and turned on the radio. Soft rock played through the speakers, and neither of them felt the need to talk.
He looked out the window at the passing landscape for a moment, then thought of Senior and his eagerness to be a part of the auction. Oh boy. Well, the sooner he told Harper, the sooner she could tell him thanks but no thanks. She was turning down a short street with a cul-de-sac when he said, “Um, about that gala...”
“You’re not backing out, are you?” She pulled into a driveway.
“Can I?” he asked, a ray of hope on the horizon.
She shook her head. “Nope.”
