AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I don’t understand. Why don’t you just go?”
“The medical plane will be here in two days. I need to travel with Maman. Micki is in Max’s house, which is like a fortress. Sam has disappeared, again.” I rub my temples. “No reason for me to rush off at this moment. Instead, I need to get the house listed, then take off.”
He puts his foot on the gas. “My pal, Joseph, is your best bet. I don’t know if you remember him. He’s a few years younger than us, from the neighborhood, and will know the value of every house, including Tante Louisette’s.”
The six-story office building dominates a corner on Mainland Street. The ground floor, filled with restaurants, ethnic food stores, and other shopping, showcases their wares with windows artfully designed to entice the passersby. We go in a business entrance and take the elevator to the top floor. A glass door is emblazoned Joseph Campbell, Realty. It occupies the whole space and even in the elevator lobby I am dazzled by sunlight streaming through tall windows. Yannick pushes through the doors.
“Suzi,” he cries. “Is the reprobate here?”
“Why didn’t you call first, Yannick?” she scolds. About fifty, she sits at a low desk with graying hair in a stylish bob, but her smile undercuts the lecture.
Yannick takes the hectoring in stride. They’ve obviously known each other for years. “Well, is he? By the way, Suzi Campbell, this is my best friend, JL Martin.”
We get through the niceties and stand at the desk while she pokes a button on what must be an intercom. “Joe, could you come out here, please?”
An indecipherable crackle comes through the box.
Suzi focuses on Yannick. “Haven’t seen you in a while. Are you thinking about selling that party house of yours and moving to something more grown-up?”
Eyes rolling, he says, “Ha, ha, ha. My house is definitely adult.”
“Exactly.” Her lips twist, light blue eyes twinkling.
Yannick pokes me in the chest. “JL needs to sell his mother’s house.”
Biting her lip, she says, “I’m so sorry for your loss.”
“No loss. I am persuading Maman to move to Chicago, where I live.”
Boot heels thud against the carpeting. Tall and saturnine, a blond man in his early forties strides out. Incongruously, he wears a black cowboy hat, which he pushes back with one finger. “No seats offered, no coffee? Where are your customer skills, my dear?”
“Go stuff yourself, Joe.”
“This is why I’m not married.” Yannick claps a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Joe, this is my bud, JL Martin.”
“Did I hear you have a house to sell?”
When I nod, he goes on. “Come on back to my office and we’ll chat.” He casts a glance at his wife. “And would you please bring us some coffee, my love?”
She sticks out her tongue, like an eleven-year-old. “That’s my girl,” Joe says with a laugh. “Always young at heart, even if she’s a dozen years older than me.”
“I look better for my age than you do.” The lightness in her voice takes the sting out of her tart retort.
“True, true. I coddle you, while I’ve had a hard life.” He motions us to follow him into the office behind the desk.
“Take some seats, gentlemen.” Joe leans back in a grandiose office chair. “Where’s the house?” The space has banks of windows on three sides, offering a spectacular view of water, mountains, and sky.
I throw out the address and wait to see if he can identify it.
“So, Kitsilano. You should be able to get a good price and once it’s on the market, a quick sale. Usually two weeks or less.”
“Not one of the big, fancy houses,” I caution. “A Craftsman bungalow, three bedrooms. Four if you count the finished attic. Two baths downstairs and a toilet and sink in the attic space.”
“I know exactly what you mean. I still live in Kitsilano and handle a lot of sales in the area. Probably close to a million, maybe more. I’ll be able to give you a better estimate once I see it.”
“That much?” Maman a millionaire. I can’t get my head around it.
“Could be closer to two mil. Kitsilano is very desirable these days. Gentrification. Not the hippie community of the past.”
