He’d been far from home and lonely, clinging to the idea of love, marriage, and a place to call their own. All of that had blinded him to the fact that he was rushing into something with someone he respected but didn’t really love like that.
“Is that it?” Jenny asked, rousing him from his worries as she pointed to a greenFor Salesign.
“Sure is,” he said, signaling and pulling down the drive.
“Where’s the house?” Gael piped up from the back seat.
It was a fair question, the further down the bumpy gravel driveway they went, the more they could see ahead of them, yet there was still no house. And the long drive was pocked with holes and places where the gravel had washed away.
Eventually, they passed a big barn, then rounded one final curve and an enormous house appeared.
“Wow,” Jenny said.
“That belongs to one person?” Gael asked.
“I guess so,” Erik said.
He parked next to a silver Volvo station wagon that looked like it might be older than its young owner, a woman with long brown hair who stood beside it,waving to them.
“That’s Sloane Greenfield,” he told Jenny and Gael. “She’s my agent.”
They all piled out and Gael ran up to Sloane.
“I’m Gael,” he said, sticking out his hand.
“I’m Sloane,” she replied with a big smile, shaking his hand. “It’s so nice to meet you, Gael. Are you excited to see this house?”
“Yes,” he replied in a tone that made it pretty clear that he was.
“Hi there,” Sloane said, turning to Jenny. “You must be Goldilocks.”
“You can call me Jenny,” she offered. “It’s great to meet you.”
“Well, the owners are here today,” Sloane told them. “They’re older, so it’s hard for them to clear out for showings. We’ll just be sure to be polite and positive while we’re inside. If there’s something we don’t like, we can talk about it when we get back outside, okay?”
“Okay,” Gael said, nodding his head. “We’ll be very nice.”
Erik smiled, knowing that the boy didn’t need the instruction to be nice.
They headed up the front porch steps, which Erik couldn’t help noticing were in need of a coat of paint.
Sloane knocked on the door, and a moment later an older lady opened it for them.
“Hi there, sweetheart,” she said to Sloane. “Is this the family that wants to see the house?”
“It sure is,” Sloane said, introducing them all around.
The lady’s husband had followed her to the door, so they made introductions again, and then he invited them inside.
Erik already had the feeling that this place was a bit too much for him. There was more land than he would know what to do with. Even leveling and putting fresh gravel on that mile of bumpy driveway would cost a lot, take a ton of his own time, or both.
And he certainly didn’t need a seven-bedroom house if he was living here as a single guy.
But he took the tour and paid attention. When the owners headed off to take a call from one of their many kids, he found himself turning to Jenny.
“What do you think?” he asked her in a whisper.
“It’s wonderful,” she murmured back. “So much space. But it seems like a lot to take care of.”
