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Carine blinked.
Heidi slid her hands into her trouser pockets and made her way around the steamer trunk coffee table. Brass and leather weren’t her style. At least, not where furniture was concerned. She was more interested in the window. It had southern exposure, and the space had been smartly staged with a variety of showy, large-leafed tropical plants. The window opened outward rather than straight up, and there were outlets with a recessed extension cord discreetly built beside the frame.
She added window outlets to her mental list of things she didn’t need but suddenly had to have.
“I want to see a house with a nothing wall,” Heidi said when Carine didn’t continue.
“You do?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Like…now, or…”
“I think you were showing me this one, so probably not now.”
Carine made a snuffling sound, rolled her eyes in a“Well, of course”manner, steeled her spine, shook her head, and muttered something about not knowing where her head had gone.
Heidi knew precisely where Carine’s head was. Heidi wasn’t the usual sort of client she dealt with, and Carine assumed that pleasing Heidi wouldn’t entail the same things as anyone else seeing the house.
Perhaps she’s partially right.
Heidi hadn’t driven to Shora to hear a sales pitch, and Carine hadn’t expected to be giving her one. The only reason Heidi was there was that she’d wanted to see the agent’s face and be satisfied that she was well. She was a lot of things, but she wasn’t a psychic.
“This room is extra wide to allow for easy passage around even the bulkiest of sofas and dining tables,” Carine said. “We took great care to install additional access for hardwiring to the internet. Wifi’s great, but the cord is still queen when you’re streaming live television or trying to upload or download massive files. That’s throughout the whole house, too. Can’t be naive to the fact that people nowadays live in their bedrooms more than in spaces like this. Come on over to the kitchen.”
Heidi followed, willing to submit for a change. Carine may have hated her job, but she was a natural at it regardless. She had a saleswoman’s brain that trapped all the crucial details.
“That’s a big square island,” Heidi observed.
“Yup. And no casual table in here because of the connecting dining room.” Heidi plopped her hands onto her hips and raised her eyebrows in herbrace-yourselfway. “Some people like it, and some people don’t. I happen to think the stool setup makes sense for eating quick meals, assuming everyone is tall enough to use them. The extra counter space allows for collaborative meal prep.”
“Is that what it’s referred to as in the Shora marketing plan?” Heidi chuckled. “Collaborative meal prep?”
Giving Heidi a daring look, Carine pulled a tablet computer across the counter. The maroon case was emblazoned with white lettering reading“Shora by Lipton: Welcome home!”
Carine opened the device, tapped on an app, and opened a virtual tour of the specific home they stood in. “I’ll just scroll on down to the kitchen selling points. Ah. Here we are. ‘Collaborative meal preparation for homeowners who love to entertain and involve their guests in the gourmet cooking process.’”
“My mother would shit bricks. She hates having people in the kitchen while she’s in it.”
“We have a floor plan for people like that, too. Thanks to Valerie.”
“Valerie’s my very favorite misanthrope,” Heidi said. “She plans all the best things.”
“I know. That floor plan is in one of the houses with the nothing wall, and I have the keys. The owners don’t take possession for another two weeks.”
Let’s go,the decisive progress hag in Heidi’s head instructed. Heidi had even opened her mouth to suppose they might have enough time to take a peek if they hurried. As luck would have it, the front door chimed, and a woman called, “Hello? Carter family. We’re a little early. Is that all right?”
No, it’s not all right.
Heidi was annoyed and disappointed because Carine never lit up the way she’d been when she was overflowing with both things to say and the confidence of expertise. She enjoyed experiencing Carine in new surroundings and didn’t appreciate being interrupted.
But Heidi was a reasonable woman. Like everyone else, she could make an appointment.
Meeting Carine’s gaze, she closed the tablet’s cover and backed away from the counter. “Some other time, then.”
“I—”
“Hello? Miss Bennett?” the client called out.
