Page 42 of Pity Parade

“So long,” Missy says.

“Have a good day!” Paige calls out.

As soon as I walk out of the diner, I peek through the front window. Paige and Missy have their heads together and are chatting excitedly about something. If I had to guess the subject matter, I’d say they’re talking about Daniel. And truth be told, I don’t like it.

Crossing the street, I walk through the front door of Elk Lake Realty. Anna sees me and calls out, “Heath, what’s up?” Standing up from her desk, she walks across the room to greet me.

“I’m here to buy some land,” I tell her.

“Seriously?” I’m guessing she doesn’t get a lot of impulse purchases of this magnitude.

I follow her back to her desk. “There’s just something about the place.”

She asks the same question her friends just asked. “What are you going to do with it?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

She shrugs her shoulders. “Okay. How much do you want to offer?”

“Is it priced well?” I ask.

“Very. It’s been on the market for over a year and the seller has already lowered the asking twice.”

“Then offer the full amount.”

She turns on her computer and taps away. “I can call now if you want.”

“No sense waiting.”

Anna puts her phone on speaker and then dials a number. An older woman answers. “Hello?”

“Mrs. Farnsworth, this is Anna Tanaka from Elk Lake Realty.”

“Hello, dear! How are you? How is that precious baby of yours?”

“I’m doing very well,” Anna tells her. “And little Christopher is amazing.” She segues into the purpose of her call. “I’m sitting here with a client who’s interested in buying your land.”

“How wonderful,” she says. “How much do they want to pay for it?”

“He’ll pay full asking price,” Anna tells her. She puts her hand over the receiver and asks me, “Cash or financing?”

“Cash,” I tell her. “I can write a check today if she wants.”

Anna tells Mrs. Farnsworth, “He’ll pay cash, and being that the surveys are up to date, he can write you a check right away.”

“That’s wonderful.” The older lady sounds very pleased. “Go ahead and accept the offer.” She hurries to add, “I’m going to use the money to take my kids and grandkids on some fun vacations. You know that old saying, you can’t take it with you.”

The older lady’s comment momentarily catches me off guard. She’s right; you don’t get to take your stuff with you into the next life. I’ve been building a veritable dynasty, and I don’t have anyone to leave it to. No children of my own, anyway. As it stands, my brother’s kids will inherit everything.

I love my niece and nephew, so I don’t know why this suddenly bothers me. They’d always be in my will, even if I had a slew of my own kids. A pit starts to form in my stomach as I realize that I’ll never have my own children. The sadness I feel has nothing to do with the baby I already lost either. It’s an ache of another kind.

After Anna hangs up, she tells me, “I’ll type up an official offer for you to sign, but I’m sure we can close this deal within a couple of weeks.”

“Good,” I tell her. “Thank you.” Standing up, I add, “If you have any ideas what I can do with a big chunk of land in Elk Lake, let me know.”

She laughs. “I’ll think on it.”

As I walk out of her office, I’m suddenly compelled to go back to my cottage and see if Trina is there. I don’t bother to consider why I want to see her so badly, I merely get in my car and go. The closer I get, the more anxious I become. Ultimately, I’m disappointed when I pull into the driveway and don’t see her car.

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