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And yet, everything about it also screamedhome.
Inside, there were narrow planks of heart pine flooring beneath years of dirt. The sink was one of those old-fashioned apron kinds I saw on the fixer-upper shows all the time, with a ceramic drainboard. It had been neglected, but it was nothing a little attention wouldn’t take care of. The doorknobs were clear crystal, the ceilings nine-foot, and there was a fireplace in the front living room, flanked by dusty built-in bookcases.
“Does the fireplace work?” I asked Mister Chester, running a finger along the mantel.
“Sure does. I’d make sure the chimney’s clean before you go lighting a fire, though.”
I nodded, my gaze tracking around the room, lighting on small details. “How much are you asking?”
“Well…” He peered at me intently in the gathering dusk and rubbed a fingertip along the side of his mouth. “That depends on you. You see all that land out there?” He swept a hand in the general direction of the window, and I looked through the grime to see acres on acres of field.
“I see it.”
“I have close to five hundred acres.”
“Wow.”
“I want to sell some of it with this house.”
Despair, immediate and crushing, settled over my earlier excitement. I couldn’t afford any land. “Oh. I don’t need any land. I just needed a place—”
“Well, now, I thought that might be the case. Let’s do some thinking here.” His look measured me, and I tried to keep from fidgeting. “Why don’t we do this. I’ll sell you the house and two acres, with the proviso that you purchase twenty-five additional acres over the next ten years. You can do it on your own timetable, and we’ll lock your price in now, so if property values increase, you won’t be paying additional costs. What do you say?” He named a price I could afford when Jerry finished my trust paperwork.
I shifted uneasily. “Why do you want to sell me twenty-five acres?”
A faint smile touched his lips. “Don’t you know that land is the most valuable thing you can own? Own a little land, and you’ll never be poor. Never want for nothing.”
At this point in my life, twenty-five acres was all but useless to me. But ten years from now…who knows. I was smart enough to recognize a good deal when one bit me in the ass, and this was a good deal.
I held my hand out.
“Mister Chester, you have a deal.” I looked around the farmhouse with satisfaction. “Thank you!”
Six
Jude
Thingsfellintoplacequickly after the purchase of the farmhouse. Within the month, Jerry was able to release the necessary trust funding to make the purchase go smoothly, and I began the process of making the house a home for me and my sister. Days were taken up by my job at the fast-food restaurant, annoying paperwork like change of address forms, and scouring secondhand stores for cast-off furniture.
The one bleak spot in the semi-bright future I was working to create was the refusal of the family services offices to allow Eleanor to live with me. I didn’t yet have guardianship, they said, and as such she had to remain with our uncle.
“I’m tempted to bring you over with me, anyway,” I said, wiping the table where she sat for an excuse to talk to her. My boss hovered at the counter, watching with an eagle eye, so I couldn’t pretend to be busy for long.
She bit into her burger, talking around it. “Nah. No point in risking them finding out and using it as a black mark against you later, when you do have everything in place. And you know they would.”
She was right. One strike against me and it would set us back months of preparation in my guardianship process.
“I just worry about you. You still have the chair in your room?” I moved on to the next table, keeping my face averted from her.
“Yep. And I have the Louisville Slugger, right by the door. Don’t worry, Jude. If he actually tries anything, I will not hesitate to swing on him. All he does is look, though. I really don’t think he has the balls.”
I straightened, compressing my lips and rolling my head on my neck. “Alcohol gives courage where there is none sometimes. Just…promise me you’ll be careful. Never let your guard down, Lens.”
“I won’t.”
“Tiernay! You’re needed in the drive-thru!”
I rolled my eyes. “Duty calls. Love you.” I headed toward my boss. “On it.”
