Page 123 of To Belong Together
“Sure.”
“I have bad news.” Nina’s cringe carried on her voice.
Uh-oh. John’s warning about sales falling through rushed at Erin faster than a car on a racetrack. “Are they backing out? The buyers?” Failing to sell her house right away would delay her plan for settling accounts with him. Would he believe her if she came to him with a promise to repay him rather than an actual check?
Probably not.
“It’s not that, exactly. The assessor valued the property lower than your selling price.”
“What does that mean?”
“The amount the bank will loan depends on the value of the home. Because the home was valued lower, they won’t approve the amount the buyers need.”
“And the offer is contingent on financing.”
“Right. The buyers can’t make up the difference.”
She closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. She could sell the house for less, but then she wouldn’t have the cash Mom needed.
The deal wouldn’t go through.
John had seen this coming. He’d warned her, and then he’d taken matters into his own hands and paid the debt she’d wanted to cover.
But he’d jumped the gun. One failed offer didn’t mean they’d all fail. “So it goes back on the market?”
“I’m afraid we’ll need to lower the price point by several thousand.”
Her eyes flew open. As it’d been, she wouldn’t have had the complete amount to pay back John immediately. Every dollar they lowered the price was another dollar short of what she needed to repay him. “Can’t we find new buyers? Or fight the assessment?”
“We did price it high. I thought we could get it, but the market isn’t so tough that buyers would pay more than the assessed value. Even if you find one who wants to, banks won’t finance more than the assessed amount. The buyer would have to put a lot more money down, and most people in this price range are looking for a starter house. They don’t have that kind of money saved up.”
She pushed away her food and caught her fingers in her hair to hold her head up. No matter how she played this, she’d have to arrange a payment schedule to clear the books with John.
He’d go on thinking she was a gold digger, and she’d have this debt hanging over her head for years.
Erin asked for time to think, ended the call, and poked at her taco bowl. Everything in the whole world belonged to God. Surely, He could spare the funds she needed.
And perhaps He had. He’d done it through John because Erin was incapable of providing for her family. And it wasn’t as if she would ever have regained John’s trust, anyway.
Her gaze shifted toward the window, but before she’d focused outside, she caught Roy glancing her way. His curt nod was as close to welcoming as he’d get.
Sitting with her cousins would be better for her than wallowing in loneliness.
She carried her tray to their table.
Roy grunted and scooted over.
Sam darkened his phone and set it aside. “We were watching your boyfriend’s video.”
Nausea set in. Good thing she hadn’t gotten down much of the taco bowl. “He’s not my boyfriend.” And based on recent events, he never would be. A wave of grief and a longing for John rolled over her frustration about her financial situation. Her focus locked on the black surface of the phone as the rest of what he said registered. “What video?”
“The new one. You haven’t seen it? Seems like everybody shared it today.”
She shrugged one shoulder and resisted pointing out she’d been too busy working to venture onto social media. “What is it?”
“A music video interview thing.” Sam loaded a full bite into his mouth and continued. “There are pictures of him after the accident. Bryan will never work anywhere again.”
“Not on cars, anyway.” Roy unwrapped a second soft-shell taco.
