Page 75 of Fish Out of Water

“We just have the mudroom and the bathroom left,” Jake told her.

“Let’s start with the bathroom,” Carson said.

The longer the tour continued, the more Jake saw the house through Isabel’s eyes. It wasn’t big, but it was cozy, and it was home. It was difficult to be objective when you had connections to the house, and an outsider like Carson Crowley clearly didn’t understand that, much like Jake hadn’t when he first arrived.

No longer was Jake’s most recent memory when he was a bored ten-year-old wishing he could be at camp with his friends instead. Now he saw the home-cooked meals Isabel took great care in preparing for Jake when he was busy working on the house or running errands all day. He saw the children playing across the street on their last day of summer break, their laughs carrying around the entire neighborhood. He saw the mail carrier slipping hand-written letters into mailboxes, leaving behind pieces of stories Jake would never be privy to. He saw Robbie lying in bed next to him, his eyes fluttering open to meet his gaze in the early morning light.

Carson flipped the bathroom light on. It flickered for a moment, and Jake silently cursed himself for forgetting to tighten the bulb last night, as Isabel had asked.

“Lighthouses and boats? That’s… quaint. Now, this is the only bathroom in the house, correct?”

“It is,” Isabel confirmed. “I don’t mind leaving some of the themed decor either. I’d rather not bring much with me when I move.”

“Oh, that won’t be necessary. In fact, I wonder what you think of maybe replacing that wallpaper trim?”

Isabel and Jake exchanged glances. “We replaced the worst parts fairly recently,” Jake said. “There are still a couple of pieces peeling up, but I’ll tack those down before you get photos.”

“I meant with something else,” Carson clarified, as though it were a simple misunderstanding. “Maybe a nice floral pattern, or even nothing at all.”

“Bare wall?” Isabel looked horrified, and Jake felt horrified on her behalf, even if he secretly didn’t care for the ocean theme himself. Like the rest of the house, it had grown on him, though it was still his least favorite room simply because of its ostentation.

“Painted, but yes.”

“We’re not doing that,” Jake said. “The bathroom stays how it is.”

“Jake is right,” Isabel said firmly. “I’m not changing the bathroom before the house sells. Whoever buys it can do as they wish, but this is stillmyhouse. If you can’t understand that, perhaps we should find someone else to help us sell it.”

“Yeah, maybe we should.” Jake crossed his arms, and the brief widening of Carson’s eyes told him that the realtor understood he’d taken his criticism a step too far.

“No, no, the bathroom is fine.” He raised his hands in the air, whether in fear or in an offering of peace, Jake didn’t much care. “All I’m saying is that you might attract the, shall we say, wrong demographic.”

“What, retired tourists?” Jake kept his arms crossed.

“Retired tourists who don’t care as much about the town as you do.” Carson leaned forward slightly. “I love this place too, Isabel.”

“Mrs. Haver.”

He gave a queasy smile. “And I want the next family who lives here to respect it just as much, too.”

“You’ll find the right buyers, I’m sure,” Isabel said stiffly. “Please, Mr. Crowley, all I ask is that you respect my wishes. I don’t care if I’m losing out on potential money. I’m selling on my terms, and my terms alone.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Carson said. He clasped his hands behind his back now, avoiding touching anything in the bathroom or the hallway as they filed out, as though the house would burn him out of spite. “I’ll be in touch with you, Jake,” he said at the front door, “unless there are any problems with that.”

“None with me,” Jake said. “You have my number.”

“Excellent. Well, I look forward to working with you both to sell this lovely house.”

Isabel smiled politely. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Crowley.” She waited until he was long gone before she dropped the fake smile. “I wonder if we shouldn’t have gone with Candy Birdman after all,” she said to Jake.

“He’ll be fine,” Jake said. “I’ll make sure of it.”

“I know you will, sweetie. I only wish you didn’t have to bear the burden of that… that man.”

Jake pursed his lips as he held back a smirk. He knew what Isabel wanted to call him. “It’s not a big deal to me, I swear.”

Isabel patted his arm. “You’re an angel. Now, how about I get started on lunch while you fix the light and the wallpaper in the bathroom?”

Robbie was,as usual, already at the beach when Jake arrived. He was wearing a supple leather jacket instead of one of his pretty sweaters, and jeans instead of immaculately pressed trousers. The jeans still looked perfectly tailored to him, though, and Jake wondered how many pairs of his own jeans he could buy for Robbie’s one.