Page 22 of Finding Love

He nodded and his breath caught when the car climbed the small hill and the house came into view.

The place was far bigger than it looked from the water.

“How many bedrooms did you say it had?” He leaned forward to get a better view.

Ellen parked in front of the three garage doors.

“There are eleven. There’s also a detached four-car garage.” She motioned to another building off to the side.

“It looked smaller from the water,” he pointed out as he stepped out of the car and let Willy rush to sniff at the bushes.

The wood siding gave the home a very natural look and helped the place blend into the many trees that surrounded the home.

The place was spread out and at some areas appeared to be three stories while in other spots there were only two visible. There was a section to the left of the main door and garages that you could actually drive a car through. A sort of tunnel area. He itched to see that area first, but Ellen started walking towards a circular front porch. The house was built around it and above the covered porch there was a two-story circular tower with large pane-glass windows.

No wonder Brook called the place a castle.

Low cement flower beds sat on either side of the porch, and he could just imagine them filled with brightly colored flowers instead of the overgrown weeds that filled them now.

“You only see a little of it from the water. The trees block the rest. I’m sure you could always cut the trees down, to get the full view of the water,” she said, pulling out a set of keys. “Shall we look inside first?”

He motioned to her to show the way and snapped his fingers to have Willy follow them up the cement porch. To the left of the porch was the tunnel area separating the lower floors. He noticed a doorway on either side of it. There was enough room for a truck to fit under the overhang, and he figured it was used as a loading area.

Glass windows sat on either side of the massive wood front doors. Ellen swung them open and stood aside.

Stepping inside, he walked directly into a circular two-story entry area. On the left was a one-story circular staircase. He glanced up and smiled. The windows he’d seen from outside let in so much light.

The old brownish-red tiles of the entryway were cracked and would have to be replaced. There was a small iron door to what he assumed was a coat closet under the stairs.

“That leads to the wine cellar,” Ellen said. He followed her up the short staircase into the main part of the house. The living room was long and wide with white walls and natural wood beams in places. The wood floors would need some work, and the walls needed fresh paint.

There was a long hallway that led to both the right and the left. The right would take you over the tunnel area and lead you to what he assumed were bedrooms. To the right he could see the kitchen and more rooms.

French doors ran the entire length of the hallway and from there he could see the yard and, through the trees, the water beyond.

Ellen was correct, if he trimmed or cut down a handful of trees, the view would totally open up.

There was a patio area that ran the entire length of the back of the home.

A fireplace sat on the back wall of the living space with more of the brownish-red tiles. Each of the French doorways had rich wood doorframes that needed sanding and fresh paint.

Ellen motioned. “I’ll let you look around.”

He headed to the right first and stepped past the living space into another hallway. To the left was a dining room that had another circular window area, which looked out over the yard. More trees blocked the view.

To the right was a massive kitchen that would need a lot of work. Still, the space was nice, and he could imagine what it would look like once updated. The view out these windows was obviously the area he had seen from the water.

Returning down the hallway, he explored the other side of the house. There was an office, a sitting room, and the main bedroom on that level, most of which would need new carpet, paint, and new tile in the two bathrooms. He went up another circular staircase and found five bedrooms and three bathrooms on the top level. There were five more bedrooms and four more bathrooms on the lower floor, including a massive game room with an actual sauna room attached to one of the bathrooms.

He lost count of the fireplaces in the place. At one point, he stepped out onto the back deck and patio areas to walk around the yard. With the storm brewing over the Pacific, the view was... breathtaking.

The house itself would need a lot of work and someone who could pick proper colors and designs to replace the dull dirty browns currently covering the floors and walls.

Still, the view was worth every penny, even without the house. But though the house needed work, he could tell it had good bones. It wasn’t as old as he’d thought it would be. He figured it had sat empty for the last five years or so. Most likely because no one in town wanted an eleven-bedroom home.

The house was huge. Bigger than he’d imagined it would be. Still, at this price, he wasn’t sure he should let something this good slip by. Besides, he could always convert some of the rooms. Maybe add a home gym or another office. Maybe even take out some walls and open up a few rooms to be larger sitting areas.

He could always use the place as an investment. If he could find someone who could do the repairs and remodel.

Then he remembered meeting Parker Clark on the beach. The man had talked about his construction business. He figured a job this big would keep the guy busy for at least half a year.

Ryder wondered if he deserved a place like this. In a town like Pride. It was obvious from everyone he’d hung out with on the beach that they all loved the town and everyone in it.

Maybe that was what was driving him to want to purchase here. The desire for what they all had.

He thought about his future, what was waiting for him in Seattle, and felt his stomach drop. He knew in his head that he shouldn’t even dream of returning to Pride, let alone purchasing a property here. But his heart wanted him to jump completely into the world of the happy small town.

When he returned to the main part of the house, Ellen stood up from where she sat on the stairs, petting Willy. “Well? What did you think?”