Page 9 of Batter Up!

“Yes, I am!” I said. “Do you know if there are any other offers?”

Autumn unlocked the door, and I followed her inside. “I have received two offers. One was for more than the asking price, but they said they planned on tearing the space down and making apartments. I know the family does not want that. The other was a lowball offer.”

I nodded and was glad I had enough money from my grandma’s will to offer the asking price. I would also have money left over for updates to make the place my own. I was the only living relative left, so I got everything my grandparents had. Once I sold my grandparents house in New York, I would have a good cushion to sit on while the bakery hopefully brought in business.

“So, what was this before?” There was a high counter filled with clear cases to showcase some kind of product. It had been hard to tell what they were used for in online pictures.

“A butcher shop. Old Man Jones passed away, and his family had no desire to keep the business in the family and just wanted to sell the shop. As you can see, all his supplies are still here and come with the shop. Feel free to use it or sell it and make it your own.”

I looked at all the cases and could see they were still in good shape and would hold products that would need to be refrigerated. I walked around behind the counter and then had to laugh. Autumn looked at me and began to laugh as well. I am only four feet ten and a half inches (yes, that half inch is very important), and my eyes were right at the top of the counter. I couldn’t even see Autumn.

“I guess selling these would be a good idea,” I said.

“I can reach out to some of my contacts and see if anyone needs tall refrigerated cases. I know they are only a few years old because his kids went together to help him modernize and renovate his butcher shop for his 80th birthday.”

“Oh, really?” I asked, “What else did they do to modernize it?”

“Come see the kitchen!” Autumn said, “I will warn you that Old Man Jones was very tall.”

“Of course, he was,” I replied with a shake of my head. “But if I sell stuff, I can use it to buy new stuff.”

In the kitchen were two stainless steel refrigerators, a walk-in freezer, tons of counter space, a rack for all sorts of butcher tools, very high cabinets, and a walk-in storage closet the size of my bedroom back home.

“There is definitely a lot of potential,” I said. “Know of anyone who is a contractor or very handy? Because this includes the apartment, I do have money to invest in this place.”

Autumn nodded, “My fiancé, Nathan, is in construction and very handy. I’m sure he and his friends would help you with a good deal.”

“I would pay them and feed them baked goods,” I offered.

“I will give him your info once I talk to him.”

Autumn took me through an archway and down the hall to a second kitchen. The kitchen was very similar to the first kitchen, only smaller. It had one refrigerator, but it did have a double oven. I noticed there was a separate pantry, and I knew I could store all my allergy friendly ingredients safely. Having no cross contamination was very important to me.

“So, this was his wife Jane’s space. She makes prize-winning jams and sells them at the local farmer's market. She loved working up here in this kitchen because she could be out of her husband’s way, but she was still very close to him. Now, she makes a few jams in the kitchen of her new condo, but not as much.”

“I’m going to need to get in touch with his widow. I would love to buy some of her jams for my cupcakes and even as filling for cakes.”

“Oh! Jane would love that!” Autumn said. “What a great idea!”

I smiled with different recipe ideas already floating around my head. Jam-filled donuts, cupcakes, cakes, and other items would hopefully be a hit.

"Let's go check the apartment upstairs." Autumn led me up the stairs located in a hallway between the two kitchens and the main shop area. I liked the fact that the apartment could be accessed from the back of the building or from the bakery itself.

“So, this living area of the apartment was only used when their children were visiting. It’s very basic, but that will give you more opportunities to make it your own. His wife used the kitchen a lot, and I already know from our emails that is your favorite part.”

“Yes, it is” I said and couldn’t wait to see where I would soon be living.

Autumn unlocked the door, and it opened up to a small family room. There was a faded brown couch that looked pretty comfortable against the wall, sitting next to a small brown end table. Next to the couch on the other side was a matching brown bookshelf I couldn’t wait to fill with my well-loved books. There was a small TV across from the couch and a DVD player next to it. I hadn’t seen a DVD player in a very long time. I noticed there was a box of DVD’s next to the TV stand, and I knew I would have to see what was in there later. We walked through the family room continuing on into the kitchen.

I looked around and was so thankful to Jane Jones’s kids for having her sell it. The kitchen was even better than the pictures on the real estate app had made it out to be. Everything was in a farmhouse theme. The countertops were butcher board brown, which I’m sure Jane used to cut up her fruits for her jams.

I continued to explore my new kitchen. The cabinet doors were a light green that made the space seem airy and bright. I ran my hand across the white farmhouse sink and admired the beautiful, curved faucet. My eyes were drawn to the beautiful double ovens, which I was very excited about after seeing the pictures online. In the middle of the room was a small island with the same butcher block countertops where the stove top burners were. There were two stools on the opposite side of the island, and I knew there wasn’t a dining room, so I guess that's where I would eat my meals. On the other wall was an arched, built-in shelf with three different shelves I’m sure housed the canned jams. I could already see my cookies and bread sitting there, waiting to go down to the bakery.

“In here is the bedroom. It isn’t much, like the family room, but I’m thinking that won’t be an issue.”

“Not at all,” I replied. I looked in the bedroom and saw a full-size bed with a clean mattress on it. Next to it was a nightstand, and on the other wall was a simple four drawer dresser. “Does the bedroom and family room furniture come with the place?”

“I’m not sure, but we can always put that in with the offer.”

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