Page 101 of In the Line of Ire

"What arelief," said Solomon. "I'm hungry."

"Holdthat thought," I told him as the car we'd been waiting for pulledup behind ours. Natalie, her daughters, and Hugo got out and walkedover to us.

"I can'tbelieve this is really happening," said Natalie. She rubbed herhands together, then clapped excitedly. I wondered if she couldkeep her feet on the ground. "Are you sure about this?"

"Whydoes everyone keep asking me that?" I asked. "Yes, I'm sure. I needa tenant to look after my house and you need a home."

"We'lllook after it, I promise, and thank you so much for including mostof the furniture. I'm still astonished over how much stuff Larrytrashed in our house," she said, hugging me.

"I'mastonished you didn't have him prosecuted for all the creepy thingshe did."

"Sinceyou convinced him to pay for everything he ruined and cover therent for a few months, maybe he already had enough of a lesson. Itdoesn't seem like something he would ever do again," she explained."It’s amazing how much can change in just two weeks! Thank you,again!"

"Girls,why don't you go inside and check your new home out?" I suggestedto her daughters. "And if you like dogs, there's a really nice onenext door that likes to visit often."

Thegirls ran to the house, side-stepping the moving men on the pathand disappearing inside.

"Natalieand the girls were so thrilled about moving in. It's a reallybeautiful house," said Hugo, staring at my pretty house.

"Itdoesn't have a pool so there's a downside," I told them, thinkingabout Hugo's gorgeous, well-appointed home.

"And thedog next door breaks in regularly," added Solomon.

"I can't do much about the dog but you can still use the poolat my house whenever you visit," said Hugo. He took Natalie’s handand gazed happily down at her. She beamed. So therewassomething romanticgoing on! I was pleased for them. They made a nice couple. Hugo wasthere for her in a time of crisis and the best result was that itbrought them together.

"I'msure we'll visit often," she said, gazing at him. "And not just forthe pool."

"I knewit!" I squeaked as I watched them both. "You owe me ten bucks," Itold Solomon.

"Wedidn't place a bet on that," replied Solomon.

Ishrugged. It was true but not in the spirit of the moment. "Luckyfor you."

Aidanstrolled over with his dog, Barney, gamboling behind him. "Hi," hesaid, also signing the word. Aidan was almost totally deaf and someinteresting noises often came from his house. I briefly danced withthe idea that he might be a serial killer but as it turned out, hewas a talented, albeit sometimes loud, craftsman. His dog was thelovable, slobbery, canine version of Houdini. I never knew how hegot inside my house. "Are you the new neighbors?" Aidaninquired.

Nataliedropped Hugo's hand and surprised me by speaking and signingsimultaneously, "Yes, I'm Natalie. I’m very pleased to meetyou."

"Yousign? Awesome!" said Aidan. "Lexi can only swear in signlanguage."

"Proficiently," I said, proudly.

"Mybrother is deaf," explained Natalie. "My daughters can signtoo."

"Bestnew neighbors ever," said Aidan to me. He clapped his hands and thedog hurried after him as they continued their walk. I watched themgo, smiling when I thought how well this had all turnedout.

"Thepaperwork is done so now all you need are the keys." I dropped thesmall bunch into her hand. "Everything works but if you have anyproblems, just call me. It's a nice neighborhood and I'm sure youand the girls will be happy here." I didn't add there was zerochance of me camping out in the attic's crawlspace and the housewould be pleasantly creep-free. It was a little too soon for jokeslike that.

Nataliehugged me again. "We already are," she said. Then she joined herhand with Hugo's again and they strolled in together. The moverscame out a moment later and shut the door behind them.

"That'severything," the foreman called as he climbed up into the cab."We're ready to go."

Solomonand I stared at the house. It seemed right. Natalie and her familyhad a safe, affordable home to stay in and I had the right tenantsand a good shove towards living somewhere else. I'd worked onovercoming my fears but a benevolent push in the right directiondidn't hurt either. "Sometimes things work out really well," Isaid, leaning into my husband as he draped one arm around myshoulders. He squeezed me and didn't say a word. "I'll miss livinghere but home is wherever you are."

"Ready?"he asked.

"Yes."

Lackingmy car, Solomon drove to Chilton and parked in front of our home.We walked up the steps and used my key to go in. Since I practicedwalking up the steps that first time, I'd already graduated toopening the door and going in and out repeatedly. Apparently, timeand practice were all I needed. Now I didn't feel anythinguncomfortable as I stepped over the threshold. The house was cooland calm and Lily waved to us from the kitchen. "The gang's allhere!" she called.

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