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“Well, she wanted to make sure you knew that the house is being sold as-is, and there is no warranty on this house at all. The owners are not willing to negotiate on repairs, so when the house inspection goes through, you can’t ask them to fixanything.”
“I know. I already told you that I was good with that.”
“Yeah, I told Marianne that.”
“So, what happens now?”
She clicked a few things on her computer and then pushed it away. “Now we wait for the homeowner to either accept or come back with another number.”
“What do you think they are going to do?”
She laughed loudly. “I think they are going to take your money and laugh all the way to the bank.”
Chapter Two
Bradley
Iwas hanging a sheet of drywall when I heard a car pull down the driveway of my worksite. My father was either coming to check on me, or my mother was making sure that I had eaten lunch. You would think by now that they would know I could take care of the business and myself.
It didn’t matter that I was forty. My mother still made sure I ate properly and always seemed to have an extra sandwich in a cooler in her car just in case. She told me that she carried that because you never know who might need a meal. I was pretty sure she checked up on Henley and Hunt too.
My father was retired, but that didn’t stop him from overseeing the jobs I did. It hadn’t always been that way, but ever since my wife had passed several years ago from cancer, they had put it upon themselves to make sure that I kept going.
For a time after Cheryl died, I’d had issues getting out of bed and going to work. Eating was never something I thought about either, but what did keep me going were my children, Tonya and Tyler.
It was for them that I got out of bed every morning, showered, dressed, and made breakfast. Because of the kids, I went to work every day and made sure I was home at night to feed them dinner and help with homework.
There wasn’t a day that I didn’t think about Cheryl in some fashion. Now, it didn’t hurt as much, and I’d gotten over the loss. Getting out of bed was a habit now, just like eating and doing everything else in life—except dating.
I needed everyone in my family to get off my back about that. I’d be alright, and when the time was right, I would find someone. It wasn’t that I hadn’t dated; I’d gone out on a couple of dates over the last two years, but I’d gotten irritated by how the women kept referring to me as a widower and how they went on and on about how sad it must be to raise two children on my own.
Yeah, it was sad, but the kids and I were okay. Plus, I had a lot of help. Especially now that all my siblings were in solid relationships and having children of their own. Charlotte and Wes were the last ones to bring a new member to the family only last month with their son, Michael. Kayley and Cameron were adding to the expanding Young family, and one day, Roxanne and Henley would join the kids’ club. There was always someone around to help get Tonya or Tyler to the doctor or sports.
With Tonya being twelve now and Tyler ten, they had active social lives, and they were always on the go. Thank god for cellphones, or I wouldn’t know where they were or who they were with.
“Hey, you have all the drywall up.” Kayley’s voice surprised me, and I glanced back as I pulled the drill from the last screw that I was about to put in.
“I didn’t expect you here today. I thought you were showing your friend houses.”
“I did. I showed her several, and she got stuck on one, so we didn’t see the rest.” She scanned the area. “She put an offer in already.”
“Really? That’s great,” I told Kayley as I turned back to my work and drilled the last drywall screw into place.
“Well, it is great, but—” She paused, and I turned to her.
“But what?”
“She put an offer in on the old Millstone house.”
I laughed. “Why the hell would she do that? That place is a wreck. The only person that should buy that is someone who wants the property. It needs a complete demolition.”
“That’s what I told her, but she is hell-bent on restoring it.”
“Kayley.” I studied her. “Please tell me you tried to talk her out of it.”
“Ha! I tried, trust me, but you haven’t met her, Brad. There is no talking her out of anything.” She paused. “I did want to know if you—”
Oh, here it comes. I put my hand up to stop her. “Don’t even ask me to help your friend. The last thing I will do is help a woman who thinks she can take on a tremendous job like that and then realizes she made a huge mistake.”
