He shifted his satchel to his other shoulder. “The owners did a great job for a long time, but they’re getting older, and she’s had some health issues. They’re ready to accept an offer.”
My eyebrows curled. “It’s only been on the market a few weeks. They’re already desperate.”
“Let’s just say there are some health issues in the family.”
As we left, I tried to convince myself that this place could be the one of my dreams. Perfection was an impossible target. This place had good bones (oh, God, did I just say that?), it was located only a few miles away from our house, and the sellers were eager to move.
And did I mention it had good bones?
I looked at Erica, who was driving entirely too fast down the country road. “I know you think I’m crazy. Unhealthy. Whatever. I want that house. Please call the agent and figure out how low the sellers will go.”
Erica was frustrated with me, but knew she couldn’t say anymore bad things about my husband. “I say we put in an offer $25K less and test the water.” She added, “Do you want to talk to Rory?”
I took a moment to enjoy how little say my husband had in this decision “Yeah, but I’ll talk to him later. Go ahead and draw up the papers. I’m buying this place whether he likes it or not.”
Still, I knew I’d have to talk to him. Jasper first, and then Rory. As Erica drove me home, I texted the Dream Killer who no longer had the ability to kill dreams.It’s time to come home.
From the confines of the doghouse from which he may never escape, Rory wrote back in less than a minute.Okay, whatever you say.
My anger dissipated. I would have preferred aYes, Admiral Margot, or,Aye, aye, Captain, but it was a start.
Forget him anyway. This B&B was happening.
It’d been only a week since he’d been caught cheating on me, and I’d already bounced back. All I had to do was focus on something good to distract me from the bad. I could somehow move past my husband’s infidelity if it got me my dream.
13
ALIEN IMPOSTER
My heart thumped as I raced around the house turning on lamps and overhead lights. Let there be light in our lives.
Upstairs, I knocked on Jasper’s door. “Honey, family meeting downstairs.”
He didn’t answer and I assumed he was wearing his headphones, listening to music.
I knocked louder. “Jasper!”
He eventually answered the door with one side of his white Audio-Technica headphones pulled away from his ear. “Hi.”
“Your dad’s coming over,” I said. “Can we have a family meeting?”
Jasper nodded. “Give me a minute.”
When he joined me in the living room, all adorbs in his corduroy pants and olive-green sweater, I said, “I’ve made some decisions.”
“Good, Mom.” From his attempt at enthusiasm, I could tell he was trying to be brave. “What kind of decisions?”
“Let’s wait for your dad to arrive, okay? He’ll be here any second.”
Sitting at the piano, he played a major key run in a high register. His music could always calm me, and my racing heart settled as I drew in a couple of deep breaths and let him take me away.
He stepped on the sustain pedal and began stacking notes on top of a major 7th chord, creating triads that only he understood. I closed my eyes and let the sounds wash over me. The tones he brought out of that piano always made me think of Bill Evans, who’d become one of Jasper’s heroes. Even the simplest playing reverberated with profound energy.
When he removed his foot from the pedal, a stark silence stung the air. I could hear in his heavy breathing the anticipation of Rory’s return. Jasper tickled the silence with his right hand as he eased into a soft soothing melody. Once he’d established a theme, he used his left hand to thunder through a powerful chord progression that tugged at my heart.
As my son reached a final dramatic crescendo in his beautiful improvisation, the front door opened. He stepped on another pedal and stabbed one last chord, letting it echo throughout the house. Throughout my soul.
God, I hoped I’d made the right decision.
