AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My seatbelt tightened as he stomped on the brake pedal harder than necessary.
“Right on Jackson.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw.
“There it is.” I pointed at the yellow Victorian that matched the description that Mona had given before she headed out of Calamity Jane’s thirty minutes ahead of me.
Doc pulled up in front of the white picket fence and cut the engine. “Listen, Violet—”
“There’s Mona.” I scrambled out of the car before he could finish lecturing me again on how my obstinacy was going to land me in a mountain of trouble. As if that was something I hadn’t figured out by the ripe old age of ten.
I heard Doc’s door slam behind me and forced my feet to walk rather than sprint up the sidewalk.
Mona stood on the front porch, a smile spread across her face, her red hair and redder lipstick immaculate. “Hi, guys. Do you prefer lemonade, soda, or something stronger?”
Lemonade would be the safest, I figured. “Got any rum?”
“Uh,” Mona blinked twice, but held her smile. “Sure. You want me to cut it with a Coca-Cola.”
No. “I guess so.”
“I’ll just take a Coke,” Doc said as he crested the top porch step. He held out his hand toward Mona. “I don’t think we’ve officially met. I’m Doc Nyce.”
“Mona Hollister.” Mona shook his hand. “Do you want to take a look around outside before we go in?”
I glanced around the porch, biting back a whistle of appreciation. The gabled and gingerbread architecture screamed nineteenth-century splendor, but the hanging bench swing and lounge furniture were modern and in mint condition.
“No, I’ve seen enough out here,” Doc said.
For the first time since exiting the office, I took a close look at him, trying to read if there was any meaning behind his words.
As his agent, I probably should have established some kind of secret codeword system on the way over here. Some way of letting me know if he liked the place or would rather roast marshmallows over it as it burned to the ground. Unfortunately, I was an idiot with a crush the size of Texas on the guy my best friend believed she was in love with—the guy who just also happened to be my only buying client. I’m sure after I explained that to Jane, she’d understand why Doc requested a real estate agent who was able to separate her job from her bed.
Doc locked gazes with me, his brown eyes inscrutable, then he held out his hand toward the screen door Mona had opened wide. “Ladies first.”
I stepped into a large, open foyer, filled with caramel-colored wood accents. Doc followed, inhaling, as usual.
The house smelled like vanilla and lemons. Mona must have made the lemonade herself. Johann Pachelbel’s “Canon in D Major,” my mother’s favorite, floated in from the living room on the right, where plush chocolate carpet melted into buttercup walls. A cushy suede sofa and loveseat surrounded a round coffee table, on which a platter full of finger-sized sandwiches were laid out in a flower pattern.
To my left was a formal dining room. The rectangular cherry table set for an elegant dinner for two, silver candlesticks and matching napkin holders included. The polished wood floor was covered by a burgundy Oriental rug that probably cost more than my Bronco.
Mona closed the door behind Doc, shutting out the hot breeze that tried to shove inside. “I’ll just leave you two on your own to take a look around while I go pour some drinks.”
As soon as she was out of earshot, I whirled on Doc. “There’s something I haven’t told you.”
He grinned. “There are lots of things I haven’t told you.”
As if that was breaking news. “I’m talking about this place.”
Doc quirked an eyebrow. “What about it?”
“It’s expensive.” I didn’t want him to fall in love with it and then hate me later when I dropped the extra fifty-thousand-dollar price-bomb on him.
“I’m not surprised.”
I wrung my hands. “I should have told you sooner, but Mona thought I should get you here first, and she’s a better agent than I am. A much better one by the looks of it. I mean, check out those sandwiches. Who has time to cut the crust off bread? And I bet the curtain rods alone in this place cost more than I used to make in a month, not to mention the china place settings. You think that’s real gold leaf around the edges? I bet the kitchen is state-of-the-art, with expensive appliances and a flower arrangement perfectly placed on the counter. Wow, that fresh bouquet over on the mantel must have cost her a fortune. Oh my God, is that a Ming vase replica?”
Doc’s laughter interrupted my nervous ramble.
