Page 128 of Coach
The dining room could be twice as big. There could be a family room, not just a living room.
I could see the big, open space, could hear the laughter of children filtering through the space, could imagine a big family gathered around the dining table or in the living room around a Christmas tree.
I made my way upstairs, finding a space that hadn’t been used in a while, judging by the fine layer of dust coating the walls, windowsills, and floors.
Three extra bedrooms.
Three little beds.
A family I never thought I could have.
As I walked back outside, imagining the whole yard fenced in for Trix and kids, I knew what I wanted to do with the money the Novikoffs had given me.
I was going to take down the walls and make it one big, happy family again. After I convinced the current owner to sell it.
As for the basement, well, maybe I wouldn’t go down there until I had a crew come and redo the whole thing: windows, real walls and floors. Maybe it could be a workshop for Saul and me to tinker with our projects.
By the time I was done fantasizing about it, I absolutely had to make it a reality.
Something told me that the current owner would be willing to sell, given how little he was making from rent.
It would eat up most of my money from the Novikoffs. But Saul and I could do a huge chunk of the work ourselves on the house to cut down on costs.
Was I getting ahead of myself?
Yes.
But I had a feeling that this thing with Saul, it was a forever sort of situation.
Saul - 6 months
Where the hell were my brownies?
I’d moved into the other side of the duplex a day and a half ago, and I’d yet to get my ‘welcome home’ baked goods from Este.
Este had only mentioned a new neighbor once, her lower lip trembling a bit. Because she’d been trying to get the owner to sell to her for a few months.
The problem was, of course, that he’d already agreed to sell to me. I’d slipped him a little extra money not to tell Este that he had already sold the house.
I wanted it to be a surprise.
I’d been listening to her talk about how perfect the house would be if she could undo the duplex and return it to its former glory.
I figured it was the best gift I could give her.
I wanted it to be a big, fun reveal.
But I was getting really bored of hanging out in the other side of the duplex, waiting for her. I couldn’t even get to work on renovations because I didn’t want to give her awful flashbacks.
“Hey! Trix! No!” Este yelled, making me turn from where I was looking out the back window.
I’d left the front door cracked, wanting to let in some fresh air (but not the bugs) because the place still had that closed-up scent about it.
It seemed Trix got a whiff of me through the gap, though.
Well, that worked too.
“Trix!” Este whisper-yelled from the front door, clearly not wanting to walk into someone else’s home.
