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One man and one woman stepped into the aisle and took a look at April. Her cheeks became hot at the embarrassment. “Yes, yes. I’m April Faith. I’m here for the house.”
The four began to chuckle with each other. The woman, in dirty overalls with long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, said, “I’m sorry for laughing. We just never thought you’d come in our lifetime. It’s been thirty years since someone stayed there.”
“See what I mean, Cheryl,” Barry said, elbowing the woman.
Chuck nudged the man. “Yeah, Vernon. She’s real!”
Vernon decided to chime in on April’s circumstances as well. “We were all sure that it would turn into one of those legends, where someone died there and haunted it. The family abandoned it after something spooky happened. You know the type.” He looked April up and down, sizing her up.
She was suddenly very aware that her casual clothes weren’t as casual as theirs. Hers were pristine, recently washed, while they all had caked dirt up their blue jeans. Was this going to be what she looked like as she grew accustomed to this place and her new role in town? Or was she always going to feel like an outsider in her two hundred dollar jeans and even more expensive sneakers?
“You sure you’re gonna be able to stay there? Have you visited the place? Nothing like the Ritz.”
April would have been offended if she hadn’t just almost booked herself a hotel. It wasn’t like she didn’t consider going somewhere nicer than the dump of a house she’d just decided to fix up. But the comment hurt, nonetheless. “I’m just coming from visiting the house, actually. Sure, it needs a lot of work. But I’m up for it,” she replied, trying to speak as confidently as she possibly could.
The four erupted with laughter. April could only sigh. She understood now why it was so funny that she would work on the house. It was in bad shape, worse than she’d ever seen. This wasn’t just a clean-up project; it was an entire home renovation.
April thought of those shows on television where people fixed up their properties. The easy fixes that the stars worked on while the contractors did all the other heavy lifting. She had no easy fixes. She couldn’t simply paint the molding and ‘make this living room look like a thousand bucks.’
“I wish you good luck,” Cheryl said with a hand extended. “You need anything, don’t be afraid to ask. And if you don’t make it, that’s alright too. It’s tougher than it looks to do all that work.”
April was afraid to ask. The stubborn side of her wanted to make sure everyone knew she could do this on her own. She saw the house with her own eyes and still saw the possibilities. That was the real hard part. But, she could do anything.
She hadn’t even been there a day and people were already laughing at her, doubting her abilities. They were right to question her, but this felt like overkill.
She’d always belonged. In college, at the law firm, she felt like she always had a place. Even if she hated it, there was a desk waiting for her where she could set up anything she wanted. April had never been anywhere like the house, even just to visit.
This renovation was more than she bargained for, that was for sure.
“Come on now, guys. Let’s leave her to her shopping. I’m sure she has a lot of work to do. Though, you better get back before dark… The ghosts are less afraid to pounce in the dead of night,” Chuck said with a smirk.
The four of them walked out of the aisle, whispering to each other as if April didn’t know they were still talking about her. She put a hand to her forehead.
What had she gotten herself into?
She pretended not to care about the stares as she continued throughout the store. Word travels fast when people are airing out your business in front of everyone. At least Melonie had the decency not to tell everyone at the diner while April sat there. Though who knows what she did when April walked out the front doors.
Loading up her cart with blankets, snacks, a camp stove, and an air mattress, April finally finished her shopping, at least for that day; she would need to get more as she figured out what she was doing with the house.
The checkout line was long because there was only one worker at the counter. The other checkout aisles were barren. The people in line in front of her, a mother and father with three children, all stared. “I haven’t seen you around here before,” the dad said, his voice big and bolstering.
April gave them the story she’d been telling all day. She was here for the house, they’d live here for ages. The family, even the children, stared back at her in bewilderment. “I know it’s crazy,” she began.
“No, no. I wouldn’t call it crazy,” the mom said. “I’d call it… ambitious. Good for you.”
At least one person was positive about the whole thing. If she could call the hesitation in the mom’s voice positivity. She hoped that she could because it was the only sense of optimism she’d gotten today. And she was going to have to take it.
After checking out, she piled everything up into the rented BMW out front. As soon as her door slammed shut, her fingers rubbed her forehead. The only thing she could feel was defeat. A day as long as this had been, she deserved something to cheer her up.
Her stomach rumbled and April realized she hadn’t eaten since the café, where she only had soup. Again, she was ravenous. There had to be a better way to remember that she needed food.
April’s phone vibrated in her pocket. As she pulled it out, she saw the name she most dreaded read out across the screen. Maxwell. She let it go to voicemail yet again. There was no time for sitting here listening to another lecture when she could be filling her stomach with something delicious.
Not ready to figure out the camp stove and cook something that night, April decided to make her way to a restaurant down the street. The large sign out front said ‘Giant’s.’ People were hurrying inside, so she knew it must be good.
She’d never been to the burger joint before; it moved in ten years ago according to the sign out front. Upon opening the doors, the first thing April noticed was the sign that told her to seat herself. Then she noticed that the people she had seen rushing in were the only people there.
Now she wondered if it was as good as she originally thought. Maybe it was terrible, with just the few fans of the restaurant seated with her. “I’ll be with you in a moment,” a man called out from the kitchen window.
