Page 23 of Mia Amata

Finally, at about 8:30 pm, I came upon a town of about 3,000 people. I drove through the town, to the north side of the town where I turned west on a small, paved road with a mailbox at the corner. This apparently was my driveway. It led back into a group of trees, curved to the north, and then back to the west. I could see water through the trees, so I knew I was close.

Around the final curve, there was the house. I stopped the car in the driveway in front of the garage, just sitting there looking at it. It looked perfect. It had an attached one-car garage. It was a one-story blue house with a front porch. There was a swing on the porch.

Glancing up at the sun visor, there was a garage door opener. I hit the button; the garage door opened. I pulled the SUV into the garage, which held a snow shovel, snow blower, rake, lawnmower, along with a few other tools. I closed the garage door, shutting the SUV off. I went straight to the door that connected the garage to the house, using the key from the envelope to get in.

Inside the door was the keypad for the alarm system, which was beeping for the code. I put in the code that disarmed it, making a mental note to change the code to something only I would know. Walking into the house, I looked around. The door leads into a mud room/laundry area with a washer and dryer in it. That led into the kitchen. It was a cute kitchen with an open concept in the living area. It was apparent that the house had been recently updated with new appliances, countertops, and paint. I loved it.

Everything was white except for the blue backsplash and the granite countertop was white with splashes of gray and blue in it. I walked into the living area. At the east end was the door that led out to the front porch with big picture windows. The east end of the kitchen had a little eat-in breakfast nook with bench seats.

To the south end of the living room was a fireplace with a large TV hung above it. There was a sectional couch in the living room and a built-in bookcase to the left of the fireplace. To the right was a doorway that led to a hallway. The west side of the living room had floor-to-ceiling windows with French doors that led out onto a huge deck.

The view took my breath away. I went out onto the deck, which had a gas grill and some lounge chairs, and I walked to the rail. The yard sloped down a little bit, and there was a path that led down to a pier. I went down the stairs of the deck to the path and followed it down. The ground leveled out about halfway down to a firepit with more chairs around it.

I continued down the path, standing on the pier in no time. I walked out onto the pier, looking in amazement at the lake. The water was so clear you could see the bottom. You could watch the fish swim by. I even saw a small turtle swimming by.

It was not a huge lake, definitely not one that huge boats would probably be on. Following the curve of the shoreline, I could only see a handful of piers. I could see a walking path going either way from the path I had followed down to the pier. I thought I would take a walk on it soon. The view was gorgeous, I sat on the bench on the pier, enjoying the scene for a few minutes.

I went up to the house and went back inside. I went down the hallway, finding to the left a full bath, past that a little bit was a door on the right. I opened the door to find the master bedroom. It had huge floor-to-ceiling windows with a door that went out on the deck also.

There was a huge walk-in closet. The master bathroom was very nice. It had a soaking tub beside a shower. There was a king-sized bed in the bedroom with built-in bookcases on either side of the headboard.

I went back out to the hallway, investigating the next door on the left which was a small linen closet. At the end of the hall was one more bedroom. It was smaller, but still a nice size with a walk-in closet. It had windows on both outside walls. It had been fixed up as a nursery.

It had a crib, rocking chair, and changing table, with a built-in bookcase next to the closet door. I sat down in the rocking chair, I was crying. The house was perfect, I loved every inch of it. I couldn’t believe it was mine. I wished that I could call Lauren and Eva to let them know I made it. I wanted to tell them how perfect the house was.

There was one more door that I hadn’t checked out yet, so I walked back out into the hallway and headed toward the kitchen. In the corner of the kitchen was a door that I opened, discovering it led down into the basement. I went down the stairs.

The walk-out basement was fully finished. It was one large room, with a half bath and a closet at one end. It was set up as an office on one end with a play area on the other end. I would be able to work yet have the baby down here with me. There were windows, again on the west side, that looked out to the lake with a door that led out to a small patio area under the deck.

In the office area, there was a desk that had a computer set up on it with a landline telephone. There was a filing cabinet in the corner, a printer on a printer stand against the wall behind the desk. On the shelves below the printer were extra paper and ink for the printer. There was also a shredder next to the printer stand.

I went around the desk, opening drawers to find pens, paper, staples, stapler—pretty much anything I would need to run a business from home. Hung on the walls were a bulletin board, a white board, and some hanging wall files. Lying next to the keyboard was a file folder. I opened it to find paperwork pertaining to the new job that I was to start the following week. I closed it for now, vowing to come down soon to read through it.

The playroom side had playful rugs on the floor. There was a toy box and a bookcase. The walls on the playroom side were painted with fun storybook scenes. I was amazed at the work that someone had done to make this place perfect for me. Maybe it hadn’t been done exactly for me, but they had gone through a lot of work to make it suitable for either a single mother or a small family.

It was perfect. I was starting to feel at home here already. At first, the huge windows made me nervous, but there were blackout drapes that I could close at night if I felt the need to. I tried the door to the patio. It was locked, which was fine with me. I turned, going back up the stairs.

I went out to the car, carrying my few bags into the house. Once back inside, I reset the code for the alarm and then armed it. I put the few groceries away and found that the pantry was reasonably well-stocked with canned goods, a few boxed goods. There were a few items in the freezer.

I would probably need to go to the store for a few things like milk and butter in the next day or so, but I could get by for now on what was here. I opened each cupboard to examine what was there. From what I could see, there was very little I would need to buy as far as pots and pans or dishes. I would work on a list of things that I need to pick up when I venture into town.

I took my craft tote into the living room, setting it on the coffee table. I then carried my backpack into the master bedroom, putting my few items of clothing away. The linen closet was well-stocked with towels and extra bedding for my bed. I would need to pick up bedding for the crib and other baby items, but I had plenty of time to do that. I took the diaper bag into the nursery, putting the few items it contained away.

Within a few minutes, I was unpacked. I looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table. It was 9:30 at night. I was exhausted, having driven so many miles the last two days. I made sure all the doors were locked, pulled the blackout drapes, changed into pajamas, and crawled into the bed. I was soon fast asleep.

Chapter 14

On my first night in my new home, I slept soundly. I was exhausted from the trip here, but I also felt like I was truly home. I woke up on Sunday morning, feeling refreshed, ready to do the few things that I needed to get done. After dressing, I had breakfast and coffee out on the back deck, looking out over the lake. It was such a peaceful morning. I decided to go for a walk on the path.

After I washed up my breakfast dishes, I went back out on the deck, armed the alarm, locking the doors behind me. I put the keys in my pocket, heading down the path.

When I got to the path, I decided to go north. It followed the shore of the lake around. I was enjoying the quiet walk when I glanced up to see a tiny black dog running straight at me. It was obviously a Labrador puppy. It stopped at my feet, wagging its tail, and barked at me.

I reached down with my hand and let it sniff me. He immediately started to lick my hand. “Can I pick you up?” I asked the puppy. He seemed to understand, wagging his tail and putting his paws up on my leg. I picked him up. He wiggled around, lying his head on my shoulder, letting me pet him. “Where did you come from little fella?” I asked.

He lifted his head, licked my cheek, then nestled his head in the crook of my arm and went to sleep. I was not sure what to do but figured someone was missing this little guy, so I continued to walk down the path some more. Pretty soon I hear a male’s voice calling, “Lucky!” I froze, terror hitting me out of the blue. I took some deep breaths, probably just the owner of this little puppy.

“Is that your name little one? Lucky?” I said softly to the puppy I was holding. He let out a little snore as I continued to walk. Pretty soon I saw two men walking toward me, leading an identical black puppy on a leash. “I think I found Lucky,” I said.

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