The Left-Handed Truth Chapter 28

Chapter 28: “It looks a lot like our property.”

“It’s really something, isn’t it?” she said as we stood on the driveway looking at the house and surroundings. “I can’t think of anything that it doesn’t have that we need.”

I nodded, still holding back my opinion.

“How long has it been on the market?” I asked Roger.

“Uhhm, just coming up two months,” he said, consulting his listing notice.

“Any offers yet?” I asked.

“No, this time of year is very slow. I understand the wife of the owner had a small stroke and she’s in some kind of care home temporarily.”

I nodded, turning to Nicole. “Do you think our parents and Jimmy would be interested in seeing this house?”

She smiled at me. “You’re sold, aren’t you? In your mind, you’re already living in this house.”

“I’m more concerned about your thoughts,” I admitted.

“Yes … it would be hard to find anything better than this … and at this price. I think we should bring everyone out, but why don’t we put in an offer in the meantime?”

She was off to the races again, but this time I wasn’t trying to hold her back.

“What do you think, Roger?” I asked, turning to him.

He lit up, enthused that he might have a sale this quickly.

“I’d say $155,000 should get it.”

“Then why don’t you write up an offer? We already have financing in place.”

“We do?” Nicole said, surprised.

“I had to do something to keep myself occupied while you were away.”

In fact, I had arranged for up to a quarter million in mortgage money, far more than it turned out I would need. I could afford it on my salary alone and with Nicole’s as well, we would have a big cushion. She was now earning almost as much as I was.

When we got home we told Angus and Mary about the house and I called my parents. Both we equally excited about our find and wanted to see it. Jimmy was a bit more cautious, wondering where it was. I showed him on Google Earth just where it was and he could see it wasn’t that far from his grandparents home. That seemed to settle him.

Roger agreed we could go back on Sunday with our parents since no one was currently living in the house. He was doing the paperwork for the offer that afternoon and we could sign the documents when we met on Sunday. With an offer in place, the owners would know we were serious.

“This has a familiar look about it,” my father said Sunday when he stepped out of his car. “It looks a lot like our property.”

He was right. My parents lived out of town, closer to Midland, and had a large piece of property, something my father had always wanted. They had lived there since I left home, my brother following me two years later. Their home was a good deal smaller, but it was more than adequate for the two of them.

“Oh, Will, this is lovely,” Mary said as she surveyed the property. It was sunny with some broken cloud and I had to admit it brightened the place up considerably. If I liked it on a gloomy day, I liked it even more on a sunny one.

“Is this our house?” Jimmy asked.

“No … not yet,” Nicole explained. “We’re thinking about it. That’s why we brought you out to see it.”

“It’s really big, isn’t it,” he said, looking at all the grass and space around the home. “And it’s got a big tree I can climb, too.”

I suppressed a laugh, thinking immediately of broken bones and an unhappy mother. Nicole must not have heard the comment, but my mother did. She looked at me with a warning note. Six-year-old kids tended to focus on the essentials in their life. Trees were for climbing and there were no trees at Grandad and Nana’s place.

Roger had stayed out of the way, only answering questions if asked. His work was done and awaited only a response to our now-signed offer. We didn’t spend as much time in the house as yesterday, but I was listening to Jimmy for his reaction.

He came tearing up stairs from the basement and into the kitchen where the adults were gathered.

“You guys! You guys! Come and see downstairs. It’s got a big pool table. It’s really neat.”

Our parents obediently trooped downstairs while Nicole and I held back for a moment.

“I think Jimmy might be coming around,” she said. “I wonder, Roger, do you know where the school is?”

“There’s an elementary school three blocks east and a block south. We can drive by when we leave. It’s quite new.”

That seemed to satisfy Nicole as we waited for the parents and Jimmy to return.

“There’s a nice wee bar down there as well, Lad,” Angus said with a smile. “A bit of a hide-away it is.”

“Trust you to find that,” Mary said with chuckle.

There was enthusiastic approval from our parents and Jimmy was thinking of all the things he could do here as well. I didn’t hear any negatives at all, but we hadn’t seen the school yet.

It was only a ten minute drive from the Carlisle home to the new location. It wasn’t far to get anywhere in the district.

Roger led us to the elementary school and I could immediately see it was quite new. Jimmy could see it was much bigger than his current school.

“Wow, look at all the neat stuff they’ve got, Mom. Is this where I’m going to school?”

“Could be, if we buy that house. You’d finish up at your old school and come here in September.”

“It’s really big, isn’t it Mom?”

“Yes, it’s quite big and new too.”

“I like that school. I hope we buy that house,” he said, staring out the car window and the school grounds.

Problem solved.

Roger called us Monday evening.

“The owners have accepted your offer, Mr. Travers. They won’t be out of the house until the end of February. Can you live with that?”

I had Roger on speaker phone and everyone in the house, including Jimmy, was listening. I turned to Nicole for confirmation and she nodded.

“Yes, we can live with that, Roger. When do you want to meet to do the paperwork?”