AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“But his offer is insultingly low!” Allie exclaimed.
I didn’t doubt it, but it was the only offer we’d get.
“No one else is going to buy this house, Allie. This is the middle of nowhere. The only reason Brooks made an offer is because his place is next door and he wants to expand his pasture. His offer is crap, but it’s him or the bank. And if the bank takes it we won't get anything.”
“It’s not fair,” she said, staring at the table. “What am I going to do?”
“You can come stay with me.”
She shot me a look that told me exactly what she thought about that idea. And I couldn't blame her. After all, I’d just been attacked in front of my building.
“With both our incomes we could afford a better apartment.” I told her.
She shook her head. “You know I’m not a city girl. Why can’t you move back here? I could get you a job at the office?” She looked at me hopefully.
“Yeah, maybe.” But we both knew that would never happen.
We spent the rest of the evening in the kitchen, talking for hours about absolutely nothing. Well, Allie talked. I mostly listened. She filled me in on all the town gossip I'd missed out on over the last year.
“Mrs. Perkins died and her son moved back home and now he’s renovating the house, making all kinds of changes. And he’s still single, if you can believe it. Amber had her baby. It's a girl. They named her Grace. Dan still asks about you every time I run into him.” Allie chattered on and I just sat there nodding at the appropriate moments.
When we got hungry Allie made grilled cheese sandwiches with dill pickles in them, just like mom used to make. For a while things almost seemed normal. Then she mentioned Mr. Brooks again and the mood soured.
“He comes by almost every day,” she told me. “Most days I keep the curtains closed and pretend I’m not home, but the car is right there in the driveway, so he knows I’m just avoiding him.” She frowned. “Sometimes I think It would be smarter to just burn the place down and collect the insurance.”
I laughed, but had an uneasy feeling that she wasn’t joking.
“Are you going to read the papers?” she asked.
“I’m starting to get a headache,” I told her as I stood. “I’m going to bed.”
“Okay. The papers are on dad’s desk.”
I nodded and walked out of the room. I went into my dad’s office, grabbed the folder that was in the middle of the desk, and walked out. I didn’t want to spend a second longer than necessary in that room. If I had my way, it would have been cleared out last year after he died. But Allie wouldn’t let me touch it. So I left and never came home, until today.
I went upstairs, stopping by my room long enough to toss the folder on the bed before heading to the bathroom for a long hot shower. I wasn’t lying when I told Allie I had a headache, and my face was killing me. I stood in the shower until the hot water ran out. Then I wrapped a towel around myself and padded back down the hall to my room.
Just like the rest of the house, my bedroom was exactly the same. It was like I was just coming home from a weekend away. Half of my clothes were still in the dresser. I put on an old t-shirt and a pair of blue plaid pajama pants, then I grabbed the folder of papers and scooted back against my headboard to read.
I got halfway through the first page before I tossed the whole folder on the floor in disgust. Itwasan insulting offer. I wanted to tear it up and throw it in Brooks’ face. After paying off the bank, there’d be nothing left over for Allie and I.
I felt anger welling up inside of me. Allie was right, this wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair that mom got sick. It wasn’t fair that we had to say goodbye to all our friends and move to the middle of nowhere because the doctor thought clean country air might help. And it wasn’t fair that mom died anyway. Then dad decided he couldn’t live with his grief and took the easy way out. He abandoned us when we needed him most.Damn him.
I closed my eyes and lay my head back against the headboard. All of mom’s life insurance money had been used to pay off her medical bills. Dad’s policy was declared void because of his suicide. And what small amount Allie and I made wasn’t enough to pay the mortgage on this place. So now we were behind on our payments, the bank was threatening to foreclose, and our only option was to sell to Brooks.
I wanted to sell immediately after dad killed himself, but Allie wanted to stay. The house was all she had left of our parents, and she couldn’t bear to leave. So I left instead. It had been a selfish thing to do, I knew that. But like Allie couldn’t bear to leave, I couldn't bear to stay. I couldn’t bear to be reminded every day of my mother. Being back here now was suffocating.
I opened my eyes.I had to get out of this house.
Chapter 4
Icreptfrommyroom quietly. I didn’t want Allie to know I was still awake and try to talk some more. I needed to be alone. I snuck down the hall, coming to a stop in front of my parent’s room. I reached for the doorknob and paused. I hadn’t been in their room since we buried my mother. I took a deep breath and went inside.
I quickly glanced around and saw mom’s violin case on the window seat where she always left it. I grabbed it and got out of there as fast as I could. In my haste, I couldn’t remember if I even shut the door behind me. I felt shaky as I rushed down the stairs. I heard Allie in the kitchen, so I snuck out the front door.
I didn't even realize I was barefoot until I stepped onto the gravel driveway. I went around to the back of the house and started across the lawn. I passed mom's flower garden, and by the light of the moon I could see that Allie had cared for it meticulously. After a large expanse of mowed lawn, our property opened up to an eight acre field, surrounded by state forest on two sides, and Brooks’ property on the third.
I walked out into the middle of the field. Far enough from the house that I knew Allie wouldn’t hear me. Then I took mom’s violin out of its case and began to play.
