Page 11 of My Mistake To Make

This was a mistake. I wanted to be brave and show that I could throw caution to the wind and take a risk, and it blew up in my face. The house is a total wreck, and I just wish I hadn’t answered that phone when it rang. If I’d just concentrated on my fajitas and ignored the call, I never would have known about the house. I’d be in my old room at my dad’s house, safe and sound.

I know my grandmother left me money, but I don’t know how much yet, and I know the money from the sale of my house back in Scotland is sitting, gathering the measly interest that my bank pays out, but this house that I’ve spent weeks dreaming about needs rebuilding from the ground up. Completely. There was no glass in the majority of the windows I could see. The garden is practically a jungle. The wood is worn, weathered, battered, and broken, and I don’t even know where to begin.

I left my whole life, my job, and my dad for a house that’s falling down.

‘He’s down,’ she says as she flops down onto the sofa next to me. ‘Pizza or Thai food?’

I smile and shrug my shoulders.

‘Are you going to cry? I would cry. It’s okay if you need to cry.’

I straighten and take some deep breaths, then turn to face Missy.

‘I’m not going to cry.’ I blow out a breath. ‘I want to cry, but I’m not going to. I just need to go home.’

Her eyes widen. ‘No, you can’t go home. I never had a sister before, and you’re the closest I’ll ever get, and I could use a friend too. I lost all mine when I got knocked up, and they were all still partying four nights out of seven. Please stay, Cara.’ Shelooks so vulnerable and genuine, and it makes my heart beat a little faster.

‘I could use a friend too,’ I admit, and she smiles, then reaches out for my hand.

‘You came here for a reason. What was it?’

‘The house. I just…’

‘You didn’t come here for a house, Cara. You didn’t leave your whole life for a house. What’s the real reason?’

I think about it for a moment and release a deep sigh.

‘I wanted to prove that I could take a chance, roll with the punches more, not get my knickers in a twist over things.’

‘Knickers twisted or panties bunched,’ she smiles, ‘you can do this, Cara, and I may live an hour away, but I’m here for you, okay.’

Missy holds out her arms, and I smile as I lean into her hug.

‘I should go and take a look inside,’ I say, releasing her.

‘I don’t want to make the situation seem more dramatic, but I’m not sure you should go inside that house without a contractor. The place is a wreck on the outside. I don’t want you falling through the floor or having a ceiling land on you.’

Fucking hell.

‘Where am I going to stay?’

‘You were planning to move straight into the house?’

‘Well, yeah. When your grandmother tells you she’s leaving you a house, there’s an assumption that the house will be something you can actually move into. Oh fuck.’ Now I’m panicking. ‘Missy, I just moved here, and I have nowhere to live.’

‘It’s okay. You can stay with me as long as you need. Or I can take you into town. There’s bound to be a motel or something, right?’

‘Okay, yeah. Town. Motel.’

‘Cara, this is going to work out. Roberta left the house to you for a reason, and she didn’t do anything she wasn’t completelycertain of.’ Well, I guess we had that in common. ‘Come on, let’s get some food in us and make a plan. You’ve got this.’

Bambi Eyes and Freckles

Doug

‘Finished work already?’

Zoe’s eyes bore into me as she hands me the bottle of beer I just ordered. ‘Yes,Mom. I’m off the clock.’

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