Aaron sounded casual enough, but Delia guessed that his almost offhand tone was his way of trying to minimize what had probably been some heated debate among the family.
“Well, then,” she said, “I’ll do my best to help you with that. Is it okay if I walk through the place on my own? Having someone else around can sometimes disrupt the energy of a space.”
While this was true, she’d also conducted plenty of these walk-throughs with concerned clients nearby. But because she didn’t know what she was dealing with here — and because the place had felt so odd to her when she first walked in, even though the strange, breathless sensation appeared to have subsided — she figured it was probably better to do this on her own.
Luckily, Aaron didn’t seem to have a problem with that, because he replied, “Oh, sure. Is it okay if I wait on the porch?”
“Absolutely.”
He flashed her a smile and went out the front door, then closed it gently behind him. For a second or two, she felt a little guilty about banishing him from the house, just because it was pretty hot outside, and even the damp relief provided by the whole-house swamp cooler was better than nothing.
But he’d be in the shade at least, and because it was plenty breezy outside, she thought the conditions wouldn’t be too bad. Anyway, he shouldn’t be out there for very long.
She hoped.
The question was, where to go first? Into the living room, with its overstuffed blue velvet furniture, or the dining room, which felt equally cramped thanks to the large buffet crammed with china that had been wedged up against a wall she guessed was shared with the kitchen?
She didn’t know for sure, but if Alba Sanchez had been anything like Delia’s high school friend Carmela’s grandmother, then she’d probably spent much more time feeding people than she had lounging in the living room.
A moment to pause in the dining room and sense its vibrations, but Delia couldn’t pick up on much of anything. The realtor and designer in her immediately wanted to imagine what the house would feel like with some of the walls knocked down, thereby creating a sense of space and airiness, although she knew that wasn’t why she was here. Aaron and his family weren’t remodeling the property to get top dollar, but only doing what they could to sell the place fast so they could get on with their lives.
All right, then.
Delia moved into the kitchen, which was actually larger than she’d expected. It occupied a sort of “L” at the back of the house, with the shorter leg given over to a breakfast nook with a big window that overlooked the backyard. From what she could see, the yard was mostly yellowed grass, just like the front, although it looked as if a vegetable garden of some sort had once occupied the long raised bed near one of the walls.
Whoever moved in here, they’d have a lot of work ahead of them. Trying to keep up that much grass out here in the middle of the desert didn’t make much sense, so they’d have to either tear up the lawn and cover the dirt with gravel and drought-tolerant plants, or they’d need to invest in artificial turf.
Well, it wasn’t her problem.
Belatedly, she realized she was supposed to have checked in with Caleb. She’d already let him know she wouldn’t call while she was driving, but now that she was here in Laughlin, she needed to get in touch and at least assure him she’d arrived safely.
A text should be fine, though.
I’m in Laughlin. Aaron just let me into the house and is waiting outside while I check out the place. I’ll let you know if I find anything.
A second or two went by, and then Caleb messaged her back.
Thanks for the update. Just walked the first house. It’s a little smaller than I was looking for, but all the fixes are cosmetic & I think it’s a good candidate as long as no one bids it up too far.
That was good news. If nothing else, having him preoccupied with another flip sounded like a good way to keep him out of trouble.
Great! I’m interested to see what you think of the other houses.
I’ll let you know.
Okay. Gotta get back to work.
Good luck with the ghost.
She sent a tongue-out emoji in response to that comment, then slipped her phone back into her purse. While she was texting with Caleb, she’d kept one ear open, thinking that maybe the ghost would want to sidle up when she was otherwise occupied. For now, though, the space still felt entirely too neutral.
Maybe that was the point. It was always hard to say what a spirit knew or didn’t know about what was going on in the physical world, but Delia wondered if maybe Alba Sanchez had somehow sniffed out that she was there for more than just a simple walk-through of the property.
“Alba?” she ventured, then immediately felt like an idiot. After all, she had just assumed that Aaron’s grandmother was the person haunting the place, but she didn’t know that for sure.
Dead silence — well, except the omnipresent background rumble of the swamp cooler — and yet Delia couldn’t help feeling that something was still there, watching and listening.
Not exactly the most reassuring sensation in the world.
