Page 54 of Trusting Fate (Hope Falls: Brewed Awakenings 2)

Grace glanced over her shoulder with wide eyes at Easton before getting out of the vehicle.

When they both stepped out Maura handed Easton a set of keys. “Welcome to your house. Today, for the first walkthrough, you have a film crew. But after today there will not be a film crew here and you won’t be mic’d but remember there are cameras and mics everywhere.”

“What about demo?” Easton was sure this house was going to need a lot of it and he didn’t want to destroy sensitive equipment.

“You don’t need to worry about that. That’s our problem. Just pretend they aren’t there.”

Easton was pretty sure that would be easier said than done, but he was just trying to go with the flow.

Maura stepped away to go talk to one of the camara men and Easton and Grace both stared up at the house. He couldn’t be sure what she was thinking but he had a pretty good guess it was fifty thousand is not going to be enough for this place.

“Okay, so we have your mark over there.” Maura said as she walked back toward them pointing to black tape that was on the brick that led up to the house. “Make sure your mics are turned on and we’re going to do this in a one-shot. First, we’re going to do an establishing shot of you seeing the house. Then just walk through and give us your authentic reactions, and again, forget the cameras are there. After the walk-through we’ll do another talking head and then you guys are wrapped for the day. Tomorrow, your contractor and crew will be here at eight o’clock. They will be here Monday through Friday eight to five. But you can be here working as much or as little as you want. Remember, treat this like it’s your flip, like it’s your money.

“And the most important thing, be yourselves. Be natural. That’s what people respond to. I know there’s a temptation to play up for the cameras, you might think that makes good TV, but for this we just want you to be you. We want to see the dynamics between the two of you, your relationship, so be sure whenever it’s anything house related to save it for air, as we say.”

“Save it for air?” Easton repeated. He found himself doing that a lot today.

“Don’t discuss the project during pillow talk.”

“That won’t be a problem,” Grace said under her breath.

“Okay, well, you two look gorgeous. I’m going to count you down and then if you could just give us your first impressions again, exactly like you did in the car, that would be great!”

Grace and Easton stood side by side and Maura walked backwards away from them holding up her hand. “In five, four, three…two, one,” she mouthed the last two numbers.

Grace stared up at the house. “It’s…cute,” she repeated the same thing she’d said moments before.

He was wracking his brain trying to remember the conversation they’d had verbatim, when she looked up at him and asked, “What do you think?”

He grinned, grateful for the cue. Now he remembered what they’d said. “Cute wasn’t the first word that jumped to mind.”

Her lips curled at the corners, and he could see that she was happy he was doing his part. “What was?”

“Dump,” he said flatly.

A wide smile spread on her face, and she looked back at the house. “It’s a cute dump.”

“And cut!” Maura yelled out and appeared in front of the camera. “That was perfect! You nailed it on the first take! Do you guys have acting experience?”

“No.” Both Grace and Easton answered at the same time.

“Well, then you’re naturals.” Maura beamed. “You are going to make my job so easy! Okay, we’re going to have Stan and Ruben go in with their handhelds so they can capture your walkthrough. Don’t look at the cameras and just pretend they’re not there. And remember, be yourselves, just totally natural reactions.”

The two men who had cameras on their shoulders walked into the house and Maura cued them to walk inside. Easton opened the door and stood to the side to let Grace go in first. He caught the scent of her hair when she walked by and he closed his eyes.

It had been torture smelling that scent every morning when he went in to take a shower and knowing that she wasn’t there.

“Oh boy,” Grace said quietly and it snapped him out of his momentary fog.

When he opened his eyes he saw exactly what she was “oh boying” about. The interior looked worse than the exterior. There were holes in the drywall and ceiling. The shag carpeting looked like it should have caution tape around it because Easton was sure a crime had been committed on it. There was no entry, you walked straight into a hallway with doors on either side. The layout made no sense whatsoever. It was like a maze of oddly shaped rooms with no obvious function to them. You couldn’t tell if they were meant to be a bedroom, closet, dining room, or living space. The bathrooms were smaller than the bathroom he’d used on the plane. The ceilings in the entire place were low, making the whole space feel claustrophobic. And they’d only seen the first floor.

“It’s like something out of a horror movie,” Grace commented as she stepped on the first stair heading up to the second floor.

“That could work in our favor,” Easton pointed out, trying to fill the glass half full role.

Grace looked up at him, her brows lifted.

“We’re going to get judged on value added for the appraisal. If we just make this livable it will be value added.”

She grinned and as they walked through the property he saw her wheels start to turn. She was taking notes, and measurements and he was both surprised and impressed. Two feelings he was getting very used to having when it came to her.

---