“I hope I don’t get lost.I have GPS on my phone, but I tend to not listen to her very well.I’ll pay more attention to her today.”He told her that was a good thing, and they both laughed.“I figured that if I did get lost, you could come and save me.You’ve been this way before, so I’m not too worried.”
“I’ve only been that way back and forth the one time, so I might need help too.You just listen to the woman on the phone, and you shouldn’t have any trouble.Once you get to Dresden, then I can come and get you wherever you are.”She said that she’d pay attention.“I will come and get you when you get lost.Don’t worry about me leaving you stranded.”
“For some reason, I’m not worried about that at all.I’ll be there in about two hours.”He said he wasthere if she got bored or just wanted to talk.“Good.I was hoping you’d say that.I might reach out to you sometimes when I get nervous, too.I’m not used to driving so far just yet.”
They talked for a bit longer about the houses that they were going to see, and he told her that Lica had invited them over for dinner that night to meet the rest of the family.He warned her twice that they were a huge family now, and she said she could handle it.Sometimes he couldn’t, but knew they were family.
The two of them talked back and forth for the entire trip.She never got lost, at least she said she didn’t, but it was nice to be able to talk to someone to keep her on her toes.He knew what she meant.When he had to drive to Columbus or out for a job, he knew how much he liked to have someone to talk to about anything.Especially when the weather was bad.But with it being sunny skies and warm weather, he was glad that she was coming to his place now instead of in the winter months.
When she arrived in town, he got in his car and led her to his place.It wasn’t hard to find, but he felt better about having her stick close to him while she was driving to his house than he was letting her find it on her own.
For as much as he disliked his home, he was proud of the way it looked when you first pulled up in front of it.He’d had the landscaping done about a week ago, and it looked really good.The flowers were in full bloom, and the trees had been trimmed so that you could see the yard without having to strain.He loved the yard much more than he did the house.The house was simply nothing he wished he’d bought.
“It’s laid out too weird.The kitchen is in the middle of the house, and the dining room is in the front of the house, with the living room in the back.”He was showing Lisa around his place and telling her his likes and dislikes about it.“Had I to do over again, I would have lived in my condo for a bit longer and waited for a house that I wasn’t settling for.I feel like that’s what I’ve done with this one.”
“I can see where the rooms are backwards.”She said that she loved the furniture.“The couch looks like something that I could take a nap on anytime of the day or night.I bet that the chair is just as comfy.”
“I got them from the same store that my brother got his.Guy has the same furniture but in a different color.I knew as soon as I sat in it that it was going to be something that I wanted.So the next day I went out and got the same thing.He said that he was glad that he could help when I told him what I’d done.”She sat down on the couch and moaned.It was everything that he could do not to join her for a nice nap.“I think it will last a while, too.The material is very sturdy, and I love the way that the pillows on the back can be there or not.I don’t usually use pillows when I’m on the couch, but I loved these for napping.I take a nap on this sucker at least twice a week.”
She laughed and closed her eyes.He hated to wake her, but they had an appointment in about an hour, and they had to get going.Almost as soon as she opened her eyes, he could tell that she was embarrassed for falling asleep so quickly.Like him, he’d bet that she never slept all that much last night.He’d been looking forward to her coming, and he’d bet that she had done the same thing.
The first house they looked at was nice.It had two bedrooms, but the house needed some updates.Not that he couldn’t afford to do that, he wanted to have something move-in ready.He knew that he’d have to pay for that, but for right now, he just wanted to get things done so that they could get to know one another more.She didn’t like the second house at all.
“We have plenty more to look at.How about we get some lunch and go over the ones that the realtor has sent me?”She was all for that, and they stopped at the pizza shop in town to grab a quick bite.As they were waiting for their food, he told her about the third house.“It’s large and ready to move into.It’s been on the market for a while, but they’ve kept up with the updates on it so that it wouldn’t be too much work for someone to have to take on.I’ve never seen the inside of the house, but the outside is a showcase.”
“Like yours?”He said that was what sold him on the house in the first place.“I bet that would happen to me, too.I love the way that yours looks from the outside.”
“I do as well.It’s too bad that the inside doesn’t reflect the same vibe.”After eating their lunch,they walked to the next house.It was close enough to downtown that he could walk to the courthouse when he needed to, and his offices were only a street over.“One of my brothers lives on the same street, so that’ll be nice.I don’t know if I mentioned this or not, but we’re very close to one another.”She told him that she got that.“Good.If they ever become too much, all you have to do is tell them, and they’ll give you some space.They’re really good about that.”
They were at the house in no time, and he was glad that they’d walked.They got a first-hand view of the house when they walked up the long drive, and he enjoyed the trees along each side of the driveway.As soon as he saw the house, he wanted to buy it.It had curb appeal, as he’d heard about his home, which made his home look like a dump.Not that bad, but he was happy that someone had taken care of the yard.He loved a yard.The realtor was waiting for them on the front porch.
“The house has been on the market for a while.I think because it’s so big.Seven bedrooms, not counting the master suite.There are also five bathrooms, again not counting the master.The kitchen has been updated as of last year, and there are several outbuildings that come with the land.There are fifty acres that you can build on if you wish.”He asked about the outbuildings.“There is a barn that is used primarily for the tractor to mow the lawns, as well as three others that go with the land.There is a butler’s house on the land, as well as a nice entrance for the house on its own.That way, you don’t have to worry about having someone pull into your drive that you don’t know.”
“I’d just like to have a look around on our own.”The realtor said that would be fine.She’d be in the kitchen when they finished.When they were alone, Lisa hugged him and said that she loved the house so far.He told her that he did as well.“Let’s have a look around.It just seems too nice right now, and I’m sure that there is something wrong with it so that we can’t get it.Probably the price is going to be too high.”
“I can sell my house, and that’ll be easy for the down payment.”She told him how she had her pension too.“We can do this if it’s not too much.I just want to find out if we can afford it right now before we have a look around the rest of the house and fall more in love with it.”
“I agree, but let’s have a look.We might not care for it at all once we see the bedrooms.”She asked about the size of the house.“I don’t mind that it’s large.I’ve always wanted a bigger house than the one that I have now.I think that was my mistake in buying the house I have now.I thought that I wanted something smaller, and I didn’t think of being able to use it as our forever home.”
After touring the rest of the house, they made an offer.He was told that it was too high for the house being on the market for so long, and adjusted it to fit the house.He was sure that they’d be turned down and was prepared to go higher just so they could have a house to live in.He was nearly too excited to wait for an answer from the owners.Devlin couldn’t wait to move into the place so that he could make it a home and not just a house.
Chapter 4
Sen was learning a great deal about running a multibillion-dollar business.But she was having fun too.The people who worked directly with her were so pleased with her working with them that they went out of their way to be nice to her.She didn’t fully trust them, but she was happy to be on board with them for the time being.She’d been working there for a month now, and things seemed to be going well.Of course, she had Brandy to thank for how to watch for someone to sabotage her, but so far, she’d not been able to find fault with the people that she worked with.So far, anyway.
“There are seven companies that we don’t deal with.One of them is a large corporation that sells retail high-end furniture, which is larger than any other company that we deal with.They sell furniture retail, you understand that, don’t you?”She asked what had happened.“They decided that Mr.Ranger was too hard to work with and that they didn’t want to deal with his temper tantrums.”She could understand that and had been hearing that about a few other companies that they dealt with.
“So what should we do?Tell them that we’re under new management.Or do we just let them go deal with someone else in business?”He said that he’d tried to get to talk to the owner, but he wasn’t having it.“He probably assumes that I’m just like Howard, and he doesn’t want to deal with me.I understand that too.”
“I can try again if you’d like.It would double our sales for that end of the country, and that would show a substantial profit for the whole year that you’re required to work for this company.I must say that I’m going to miss you being around.Just in the short time that we’ve been working together, I’ve been impressed with your way of getting things done.”
“I like getting things done when they’re due and not when they’re about to be due.”Apparently, that was something that Howard did.Wait until the last minute to get things done, which would drive the others crazy.“You said you’d get me a sales report for the business.Have I done so terribly that you’re afraid to show me?”
“On the contrary.You’ve already shown that you can make a profit.I don’t see you having any troubles with the stipulation of the will.”Mr.James snorted, something that she was sure he didn’t realize he did quite often.“If it were left up to me, I’d just have you running the business without all the things that he has you jumping through the hoops about.I knew you’d be able to do that the first day.”
She didn’t point out that she’d had to make him speak to her about the business.He’d thought, as a great many had, that she was exactly like her father in his way of doing things.A couple of businesses found out really quickly that she wasn’t like him at all and had to apologize a great deal when she hung up on him.He thought that he could bully her into a better discount when she’d been on the first day of work.She nipped that in the bud right away.No one spoke to her like that and got away with it more than once.
She’d done a lot of things already about saving money.She no longer took the limo to lunch.And if she could, she’d eat at her desk after having something brought in for her.What was the point of having meals catered to you when it was too much for one person?Then they’d throw the rest of it out.Stupid way to do business if you asked her.
