Page 4 of Finding Basil
She laughed and said, “Whatever it was, may it never become popular again. Well, you can always replace the pieces you don’t like, right?”
“Right, and that may be the first.”
The dining room table was dated as well, thin plasterboard with a peeling wood sticker over the top, another replaceable piece.
The kitchen was down from the dining room, and it was as dated or worse than the other things, including having a refrigerator that had to be a hundred years old. It was one solid door with a long horizontal handle that had lost its shiny cover long ago and was simply a dark metal handle. It stood out on thepartially white, partially metal spots where the white had been worn away. “I thought this was done in retro style, not actually retro.”
Upbeat to the end, it seemed, Cordelia said, “Well, the bones of this place are so good, and it would be easily updated.”
All he saw with every room they toured were dollar signs. “Sure. Sure,” he said, trying to keep upbeat as well.
The floors creaked in most of the rooms, and when they went up the stairs to the second story, they were worse. It was like someone tuning a terribly out of tune cello.
There were three small bedrooms, one main bedroom, and one bath. Besides the powder room on the first floor that only had a toilet and sink, this was the only bathroom in the place.
And the tub in the upstairs bathroom needed replacement too.
He saw good bones, however. The layout was nice; the roominess of the place outweighed his condo by three times.
Outside, she walked him to the greenhouse, where there were several cracked pieces of glass that needed to be replaced, but the mechanisms all worked, and the shelves were lined up in five long rows.
“Are you going to plant?”
He nodded and said, “I am thinking of trying out my hand at farming. Herbs, to be specific.”
“Like oregano, thyme, that sort of thing?”
“Yes. What do you think?”
She smiled brightly. “I think that would be lovely. We have a few storefronts in town, if you’d like to start an apothecary.”
He hadn’t thought of that. “Well, maybe down the line. For now, I’ll be trying my hand at growing things first.”
“Oh, my, your name. Herb. Is that why?”
He laughed and said, “Yes. Cheesy and silly of me, but yes.”
“Cheesy works. Would you like a tour of your land?”
His eyes moved down to her three-inch pumps and said, “I can go wandering on my own. Thank you, Cordelia.”
“If you have any questions, give me a call. I also have a list of contractors in the area if you want to remodel. Plumbers, electricians, whoever you may need.”
“I have a feeling I’ll need them all.”
“It’s an old house, but they built things better back then. I’ll leave you to get moved. I have a showing in an hour.”
As she left, Herb walked up the creaky stairs to the front porch and, as if she had timed it, the second she was out of sight, his foot went right through one board, right before the front door.
He hollered, but she was already gone, and he struggled to get out of the newly formed hole in his porch, but once he did, he saw his slacks torn to ribbons. “Welcome home, Herb.”
Chapter Two
Themoverscame,andthe first box he opened after directing them to come through the back door was the one with the wine.
He had a nice collection, having gained the itch for wine after a tasting where he’d met a beautiful sommelier in Napa after a work conference a few years back. Taking out one of his favorite reds, a smooth Shiraz from Australia, he poured it into a whiskey glass and sipped it quickly as he stared at the boxes.
Sitting on the horribly ugly couch, he wondered if he’d acted rashly. Well, of course he had, but he’d never know until he gave it a shot.
