Chapter 16: Taking Care Of Business

I still had the key to the house in my hand, so I pulled the door shut and locked it. We walked to the driveway to join Judy in her SUV, and I handed her the key after I’d climbed into the front seat beside her.

“Well?” she asked. “What do you think?”

I glanced back to the girls.

“Why don’t you make them an offer for $400,000, with a thirty day closing, conditional on a house inspection,” I said.

Judy started the SUV.

“Can you come back to my office with me and wait while I get the offer ready, and then sign it?”

I nodded. We had nothing on the agenda until 4:00, when Jessica had to be at work.

Back at the office where Jess and I had met her two days earlier, Judy made short work of preparing and printing the offer to purchase.

“Whose name goes on it?” she asked, looking up from her computer screen. “Just you, Alex?”

I shook my head.

“All three of us. It’s a joint purchase.”

Kate put her hand on Jess’s arm. I’m sure Jess would have said something, otherwise. Judy typed a but more, then hit print, and walked us through the document she’d prepared. The offer was good for 24 hours, and then it would expire. She showed the three of us where to sign and where to initial, and then shook our hands, promising she’d be in touch as soon as she heard anything.

As we left, Jess was looking shellshocked, but Kate was upbeat. I asked Kate to give me directions to someplace where I could buy them both a late lunch, and get Jess a drink. She pointed me to a pub on the main street, which was perhaps a step up from Johnny’s where Jess worked, but only a small step. We went in, sat down, and ordered food and drinks. I figured Jess needed it. She hadn’t spoken more than a word or two since we left Judy’s office.

Once the drinks arrived, and Jess had sipped some of her Caesar, she looked over at me.

“So what do we do now?”

“Nothing,” I responded. “We do nothing until we hear if our offer is accepted or not. If it’s not accepted, we make another offer, or we keep looking. If it is accepted, we make plans to move. But I don’t think we should cross any bridges, either way, until we know.”

“But Alex,” Kate asked, “if we do get the house, don’t we have a lot to do in a month?”

I nodded.

“Yes, we do. But we can get it done. Remember, I’m unemployed. I’ve got time to do what needs to be done, and you two will have time to help me along, I’m sure. So I think we should talk about something else.”

Silence.

“Kate,” I said, firmly, “let’s talk about school. I know you and Tami have been working hard on that project over the break. Tell us about it.”

Kate hesitated for just a few seconds, then realized what I was doing, and started to talk. Before long, we had Jess distracted and back to being her usual self again. But I knew that she was worried about the step we’d just taken, and I knew that we were going to have to spend some time talking it all through as soon as we found out for sure what was happening.

We kept the conversation light through our meal, and then I paid the bill and we headed back to the apartment so Jessica could changed for work. I drove her down, and said I’d be back to pick her up when her shift was over. She gave me a tight hug, like she didn’t want to let me go.

I headed back to the apartment, but couldn’t focus. Kate seemed to be having the same problem. I toughed it out until 8:00, then stood up.

“What do you think, Katie? Want to go watch your sister work?”

She jumped up so fast, I thought she might sprain something. We walked down to Johnny’s, because I anticipated that I would end up having a couple of drinks. Jess looked tense when we came in, and came racing over to greet us.

“Did Judy call? Did we get the house?”

I shook my head,

“Haven’t heard from her.”

“Then why are you guys here?”

I smiled.

“Neither one of us could focus on anything, and I thought you might be feeling the same way. So we came down to hang out with you for the night.”

Jess hugged me, then her sister. She led us to a vacant part of the bar, and while we were getting settled, she mixed me a rum and Coke and poured a ginger ale for Katelyn. And for the next four several hours we sat there and sipped our drinks and watched Jess work. Partway through the night, Jess brought us some wings, and a while later she brought over some nachos. Most of the time Kate and I just made small talk, but when Jess could, she came and stood opposite us and joined in whatever we were talking about at the time. The time went faster together then it would have had we been apart.

When closing time came, we all walked home together. It was a cold, clear night, and even in the city, the stars were visible in the winter sky. Both girls gripped my arms and stayed close to me. Kate gave me a look when we got home, and I knew what she wanted to ask, so as soon as I had my boxers on, I lay down in the middle of the bed and waited for them to join me. They cuddled up, one on each side, and in no time at all we were all asleep.

The combination of the day’s excitement and the fact that we had all stayed up till closing time meant that none of us woke up as early as usual. I was awakened a few minutes after 8:00 by the ringing of my cellphone. It took a minute to get myself untangled from the pile of feminine legs and arms that were wrapped around me, but I got out of bed and to the phone before it went to voicemail.

It was Judy.

“You’ve got the house, Alex,” she exclaimed. “They accepted your offer, with no conditions. It’s yours, as long as you hear what you want to hear from the inspector you hire.”

The girls had been frozen, staring at me. They knew who it was. I held my hand in a thumbs up gesture, told Judy I’d call her later to make arrangements, and hung up. Returning to bed, I hugged both girls. Kate was beaming. Jess looked nervous.

“C’mon,” I urged. “I gotta pee. Then let’s get some coffee made and talk.”

For the first time, I actually beat Katelyn to the bathroom.

Once we’d all used the facilities and we all had a steaming hot cup of morning life, we sat down on the couch together.

“So,” I began, “we have a house.”

Kate nodded excitedly.

“I can’t believe it is really happening!” she exclaimed.

Jessica took a sip of her coffee. She looked less excited.

“Jess, what’s wrong?” I asked.

She sighed.

“I’m sorry. I guess I’m being a downer. I’m just a little afraid, I guess.”

“You’re not being a downer. Honest. It’s ok. But what are you afraid of?”

She hesitated, and hung her head.

“Is it the house?” Kate wondered. “Don’t you like it?”

Jess shook her head.

“No, it’s not the house. The house is going to be lovely. Really.”

“Then what’s wrong?” I probed. “Are you upset about me putting up the money to buy it?”

“No. Not really, Well, maybe that’s part of it. It’s just ... it’s just that I keep asking myself when you’re going to suddenly come to your senses and realize that I’m not worth all this.”

Kate gasped. I put down my coffee and moved to kneel at Jess’ feet.

“Jess, darling, I’m not going to ever realize that. Because you are totally worth everything I’ve done. And you are worth so, so much more than that. Really. If that’s what is upsetting you then stop, please. I’m the one who should be worrying about that. not you.”

She started to cry. I held her in my arms, and felt Kate wrap her arms around both of us.

“Oh, Alex, I’m so sorry,” she sobbed. “I feel like I’ve been being so silly. But this all happened so fast, and ... I...”

“Yes,” I agreed, “it did happen fast. But I’m playing for keeps here. Honest. I’m not going anywhere, Jess.”

We held her for a few more minutes, then disengaged. Jess gave each of us a kiss. Then she looked at Kate.

“Hey, baby girl. What does a person have to do to get some breakfast around here?”

Kate giggled and took off to the kitchen. She brought us fresh coffee, then whipped up bacon and eggs in what seemed like no time flat. Jess looked more relaxed as we ate, and I hoped and prayed that we had crossed this hurdle successfully.

Once Kate had our food on the table, she started in with her questions.

“So, Alex, what happens next?”

“Well, the first thing I need to do is arrange for a home inspection.”

Kate looked puzzled.

“You talked about that yesterday. What do you mean? Didn’t we inspect the house already, and decide we liked it?”

I chuckled.

“Yes, Katie, we did. But a home inspection isn’t about us looking at the house. A home inspector is someone who goes into a house, usually before someone buys it, and looks it over for anything that might be wrong with it that an ordinary person, like me or like you, might not see. So they check for cracks in the foundation. They look at the insulation in the attic. They examine the roof. They check the appliances and the furnace and the air conditioner. All that stuff.”

Kate’s face fell.

“So if they find something wrong, we won’t buy it?”

I shook my head.

“No, not necessarily. Let’s say they find a problem with the roof. They will write up a report saying what they found, and what it might cost to fix it. Then, assuming we still want the house, we go to the seller and say that since we have to spend, say, $15,000 on a new roof, we’ll still buy it, but we will only pay them $390,000. They can then decide whether to accept our new offer or not.”

Jess frowned.

“But didn’t we already say we’d pay $400,000? And they accepted that?”

“Yes, we did. And they did. But we made the inspection a condition. So we can go back and renegotiate if the inspector finds something.”

“Ok,” Kate said, “I get that. Then what?”

“Well, the deal closes in 30 days. That means we take possession of the house - it becomes ours - 30 days from yesterday. So once we’ve had the home inspection done, and made any adjustments to the offer to purchase that we need to make, you need to give your landlord notice that you’re moving out. Then we need to think about what we want to do the house. We can likely make arrangements to see it again if we need to. Some stuff can wait till we move in, but some stuff would be far simpler and cheaper to do before we move in. For example, it’s easier to paint an empty house. I suspect we want new appliances for the kitchen and maybe a new washer and dryer but we can talk that over after the inspection is done. And I need to work out exactly how to pay for it.”

“But you said it was ok,” Jess pointed out. “You said you could afford it.”

“I can,” I replied. “That’s not a problem. But I don’t have four hundred grand under my mattress ready to buy a house with. Ultimately, I’ll sell the condo, and that will help - but I doubt that will be done in the next month. I have some investments, including the money from the sale of the company, and a fair bit of cash in the account that I use for everyday expenses. And then there’s my parents’ estate. So I need to talk to my financial advisor - and maybe Kim too - and figure out how best to make it all work.”

“Does that mean you have to go back to Ottawa?”

I sighed.

“I think it does, babe. I was thinking about that last night. I’m wondering if I should go back tomorrow for a few days, just to talk to some people and wrap up some loose ends.”

Jess frowned.

“I don’t want you to go. But I understand why you need to. I’d say we’d come with you, but Carrie has a birthday party to go to, so I’m working Sunday instead of being off - and Katie has to go back to school on Monday.”

“Yeah, I figured it wouldn’t work for us all to go. But we can go spend a weekend there together before I sell the condo. If I head there tomorrow, I could likely be back here Tuesday night.”

Katie sniffled.

“I don’t want you to go, either. And if you do have to go, I want at least one of us to go with you. But Jessie’s right. It won’t work out. And you need to go. So I agree that you should likely go tomorrow and get it over with.”

I kissed them both, Jessica on the lips, and Katelyn on the top of the head. Then Katie scampered off to the shower, while Jess and I cleaned up the breakfast dishes. It was going to be so fantastic to have a dishwasher! I hadn’t washed dishes by hand like this for years.

After Jess had taken her turn in the shower, I went in and shaved, then showered myself. Then I called Judy back, and asked for a reference for a licensed home inspector. She gave me three names, and, after I pressured her, told me which one was the best. I called that one, and made arrangements for her to do the work for us. She said she could do it on Monday, assuming she could arrange with the seller to get access to the house, and that she’d have a report in my hands by the end of the day Tuesday.