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“Forwhat now?”
“Foryour bakery.”
“There’sno wayIcan afford this kind of place in this neighborhood.IfIcould, it would have come up in my listing searches.Itmust be way over budget.”
“Whydon’t you let me worry about that?”
“Letthe man who appears to be having some sort of early midlife crisis worry about the future of my business?Nope, don’t think so.”Selenashakes her head. “Andyou never take the first place you look at.Ifhouse hunting reality shows have taught me anything, it’s that you always need to find at least three options.Sincewe’ve already found our budget-buster, dream place, we still need to find our derelict, money-pit, fixer-upper, and ourI-guess-I’ll-have-to-settle-for-it realistic option.”
“Howis that a good show if you go in already knowing the three options and which one they’re going to choose?”
“Idon’t make the rules.It’sa brilliant concept for a reality show.Itjust is.”
“So, we have two more underwhelming options to look at before we take this one?”
“No.Iprobably have a couple of hundred more underwhelming options to look at beforeIfinally find one in my price range thatIcan live with.”
Frowning,Iput my hand on her shoulder. “I’mnot interested in that.”
“Goodthing it’s not up to you.Thisis life.Youwin some, you lose some.Noteveryone can afford whatever they want whenever they want it.”
“Ican afford whatever you want whenever you want it.Ifyou like this place, thenIwant to buy it for you.”
“Rememberhow we just established that you’re in some sort of midlife crisis?Notgoing to happen.”
“Itwas anearlymidlife crisis.Andthat’s not what this is.”
“Thentell me what this is, andI’lldecide.”
Thathas me shutting up.Oneday of puttingSelenafirst won’t make her fall in love with me.Andit won’t make up for the wayI’vetaken her for granted sinceImet her.
“Let’sgo see a couple more losers.”
“Perfect!”Selenasays with a fake smile, turning away from me.
chapterseventy
selena
Youknow when you know.AndwhenIwalked into that dated, overpriced, black-and-white-tiled slice of heaven,Ijust knew.Thiswas the place.Thiswas the place whereLadycakesis supposed to put down roots and grow into the placeIknow that she’s meant to be one day.
Ijust don’t know howIcould ever afford it.
IfIput all ofJackson’stwo-hundred-and-fifty-thousand dollars into the down payment, that would make the mortgage payments slightly more doable.Butit wouldn’t leave anything left for updates and new equipment.I’dneed a tech to look at them, but the ovens look like they’re shot.Theindustrial mixer looked like a rust bucket.Andthe whole place needs a makeover.There’snot much a coat of white paint can’t fix in my experience, butIstill need to be able to buy the paint.Andthe rollers, and brushes, and trays, and the list goes on.
Jackson’soffer to buy the place for me is ridiculous.It’snot happening.Idon’t know why he’s offering, butIwouldn’t feel right about taking it.Thetwo-hundred-and-fifty-thousand dollars is what we agreed to before everything gotcomplicated.I’mnot comfortable taking any more than that.Itwould feel like dirty money.Likehe was paying me for sleeping with him or something.Thethought of that just gives me theick.
Andunderwhelming was an understatement for the rest of the places we looked at today.Jackson’sfancy realtor didn’t look like she even wanted to set foot in them.Iguess she spends more time selling sunset and sellingCalabasasthan any part ofL.A.Iactually go to.
I’mlost in thought about ovens and paint and square footage whenIrealize that we’re almost atJackson’shouse.
“Whatare we doing here?I’mnot staying over,”Iblurt out.
Jacksonglances around the car, as if looking for whoever suggested thatIwas staying over. “Noone invited you to.We’rejust going home to pick upOats.”
“Andthen where are we going?”
“Yourplace.”
