The frustrated attitude caught Silas by surprise. He thought that real estate agents were supposed to be patient while people looked for their dream house. Not that Silas would be all rainbows and sunshine if he’d spent the day looking for houses with someone who didn’t know what they wanted.
Silas thought that if he looked at enough of them, he’d find his dream home. The problem was that he kept imagining Miriam in every single one that he and the real estate agent visited. If Silas saw her during the showing, what hope did he have of not being tormented by her absence once he moved in?
Bernard looked at him expectantly.
“The pollen would kill me in the spring.”
Bernard pointed at the paper in his hands that had all the details on the house. “It says here that the A/C unit is equipped with a HEPA filter. As long as you keep the windows closed in the spring, you should be fine.” He paused. “Or chop the trees down if that would make you feel better. I have the number of a great tree guy. He can get those suckers down and hauled away in a day.”
Silas had to give Bernard credit. The guy was trying really hard to get Silas to fall in love with this place—any place. “I don’t know. Those trees could be home to cardinals or blue jays. Could you imagine if the neighbors lost a beloved bird because I have allergies?”
Bernard set the paper down and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Do you even want to buy a house, Mr. Jenkins?”
“Of course I do.” Silas wanted to get settled in Waterfront. Moving out of his parents’ house was a great start.
“I find that hard to believe.” Bernard shook his head. “You’ve had a problem with every house I’ve shown you. One house is too sunny, the other has too many trees. You want to be within city limits, but none of the lots are big enough for you. Three bedrooms feels too big, but two bedrooms feels too small. I don’t think you know what you want.”
Silas knew what he wanted. He wanted a future with Miriam and a house that they could one day enjoy together. With the possibility of a relationship with her slipping away, every house he looked at didn’t feel right.
“I think I might need some more time to look online.”
“You think?”
Silas reached out to shake Bernard’s hand. The agent took it reluctantly. “Thank you so much for meeting with me today. I’ll spend some more time figuring out what I want and then get back to you.”
Bernard mumbled something that sounded a lot like “or don’t,” under his breath. He then ushered Silas out of the house, locked up, and drove off without another word.
Silas sat down on the stoop out front. He hadn’t walked through the entire house, but this one had been one of his favorites when he looked online. It was in a quiet neighborhood, while still being close to everything. It was zoned for a great school and had room for a family.
A family.
He and Miriam had never really discussed it when they were dating, but now he realized he not only wanted to be with Miriam. He wanted everything with her. He wanted marriage, kids, and the white picket fence.
Though two giant oaks that kept the house cool in the summer might be just as good.
Miriam
Miriam was really surprisedwhen Silas didn’t call her when he got back to Florida.
Or show up to that week’s player meet and greet.
Or even come by the office with some kind of excuse to see her.
She’d finally realized that she wanted Silas. It felt like a cruel joke that he was completely disinterested now that she was willing to give him a chance. Was she just a shiny toy that he’d grown bored of once again?
It would have been nice of Silas to let her know.
That way she could have avoided the awkward I-don’t-want-to-date-you conversation with Harris. She’d been under the impression that Silas wanted her, and that time was of the essence. So she’d laid everything out on the table all at once for Harris, crushing him in the process.
It had been awful. There were actual tears.
If she’d been able to take her time, Miriam would have slowly dropped hints about wanting to keep things friendly and platonic until Harris realized on his own that nothing was ever going to happen between the two of them.
It might have still hurt, but it wouldn’t have made him cry—at least not in public.
Now, things were more than slightly uncomfortable at work.
Harris had been giving her the cold shoulder all week. He was slamming papers on her desk when he needed to give them to her, making her look bad by not telling her about missed calls, and had a terrible attitude in general. Miriam was shocked that Greg hadn’t fired her on the spot.
