Page 15 of Chasing Stars
“Okay, that’s great.” Jenna rocks forward on her toes. “I’ll be here.”
“I’m going to tag along if you don’t mind,” I say. “I’d like to assess for listing purposes.”
“Whatever you want,” Tommy says.
An hour later, I don’t have great news for Jenna. Tommy found termites feasting on the foundation off the side of the living room. It looks to be the only area where the foundation is ruined, but we can’t be too sure until he digs in a little more. The house will have to be fumigated, and she can’t sell it in this condition—at least not for what she wants. In addition to the brown spots on the kitchen ceiling, the roof shingles are missing in a few places, so the roof will eventually need to be replaced. The old pipes are corroded. While they aren’t causing an obvious problem, they may be contaminating her drinking water. She’ll need new siding and to fix the concrete in the driveway and sidewalk. The HVAC system is twenty-five years old and probably close to being on its last leg, though, by some miracle, Tommy was able to get it running. Some of this stuff, Jenna can leave up to buyers, but many will want it in the contract that it will be taken care of as a condition of the sale. Jenna has a lot to think about.
We’re standing on the front lawn, waiting for Tommy to finish writing things down and I’m trying to figure out how to break the news to Jenna. “Well, here’s my report,” Tommy says with an apologetic sigh, tearing a carbon copy from hisclipboard.Old school. I like it.“Do you want to lay it all out there for her, or shall I?”
“I’ll do it,” I say, giving him a tight smile.
“Yeah, you probably need tolayit all out there for her,” Danny says, then he cackles. “I could think of a couple of ways tolay it out there.”
I narrow my eyes, shaking my head at him. “What does that even mean?”
Danny shrugs. “Just that she’s hot, you know.”
I shake my head at him. “Are you fifteen?”
Tommy laughs and shakes my hand. “Miles, good talking to you. If you need anything at all, recommendations for other contractors, maybe?” He looks sideways at Danny and then cracks a smile. “Give me a buzz. Danny, always a good time.” Tommy claps Danny on the back and heads back to his truck.
When he is gone, I let out a puff of air. “Man. She’s going to cry,” I mutter.
“Yeah, she is,” Danny agrees, shaking his head. He’s enjoying this too much. “She’ll have you to comfort her though.”
“Can you stop?” I shoot him a warning glare. Then I groan loudly. “I hate when women cry.”
“Me too.” Danny shakes his head. “Which is why I’m going to leave you to it.” He gives me a quick fist bump and turns to go.
“Thanks,” I call after him with a wave.
He looks over his shoulder. “Later.”
I findJenna in the living room, fidgeting with the remote for the ancient television. “I don’t think that thing is going to work—even if you can get it to turn on.” I chuckle, sitting down next to her.
Jenna pulls her knees up under her and turns to face me, wincing. “It’s bad, isn’t it?” She pushes those lips into a thoughtful pout, and I struggle to focus.
I fidget with the paper copy of Tommy’s findings. “It’s not great,” I start slowly, delicately. “But you have options.”
Jenna shifts nervously. “Okay…options are good.” She chews on her lip. “Lay it on me.”
I try very hard not to think about other ways I could be laying it on her.Thanks a lot, Danny for putting that visual in my head.I’m so distracted by her proximity that I have to shift my body further away to stay focused. “Okay, so, the biggest issue right now that cannot wait…you have termites. Alotof termites. And they’ve destroyed the foundation in the back corner of the house.”
Jenna hops off the couch abruptly. “Eww! That is so, so gross.” She scrunches up her nose and begins pacing the living room.
“They won’t come inside. At least, I don’t think they will. But they will destroy the joists in your floors and the framing in your walls if we don’t get rid of them. And you need the foundation fixed in order to sell. If you sell as is, you won’t get what you want for the house at all.” I pause, watching her carefully.
Jenna stops pacing and stands in front of me. “How do we fix it?”
“Well, you’re going to start by getting it fumigated. You can’t stay here while they do that. Danny said he’ll give you the friends and family rate to fix the foundation issues and dig a little deeper to make sure everything is secure.” I wince, knowing this isn’t what she wanted to hear.
Jenna presses her fingers to her temples and for a moment, I expect an outburst—but she doesn’t lose her cool. Instead, her shoulders rise with a shuddering breath, and when she speaks, her voice is tight and controlled.
“I just don’t know how I’m supposed to do all this.” She sinks into the couch beside me, not dramatically but like someone who is at the end of their rope. She covers her face with her hands for a moment, then looks at me, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “This house is starting to feel like more trouble than it’s worth.” A single tear rolls down her cheek.
I sit there awkwardly, unsure what to say and fighting the urge to catch the tear with my thumb. I am terrible at this. Every time Erin cried, I reacted the same way. This time, though, I can’t help myself; I reach for her knee and curve my palm over it, giving it a little squeeze. “Hey, it’s okay,” I whisper. “I will help you.”
“How are you going to do that? I can’t take money from you. And geez, now I have to find somewhere to stay again.” Jenna looks sideways at me, sniffling, but doesn’t pull away from my touch.
