Chapter 7

Noah transferred the equity instruments from Maddie’s investment account, the funds from her bank account, and the check he received from her life insurance company, into his investment account. These deposits increased the total value of his investment account to where he was qualified for Scott Martin to be his financial advisor. He phoned and made an appointment to see Scott.

Because Scott was spending a considerable amount of his time in Austin, and Noah resided in Austin, they met at the main library. The meeting went well and Scott agreed to be Noah’s financial advisor. Noah completed some forms Scott gave him and they shook hands. Noah felt good after meeting with Scott as Noah didn’t feel comfortable investing in individual stocks. Scott would now do that with a portion of Noah’s investment account.

A few days later, one early evening, Noah received a phone call. The caller ID indicated it was D. Edwards calling. He answered the call and heard a pleasant feminine voice.

“My name is Denise Edwards and I am moving to the Austin area. I have been led to believe that you have a townhome that you are considering either selling or renting. When it is convenient for you, I would like to see this townhome.”

“I haven’t yet decided what I am going to do with it. I am a high school teacher, so if you want to see the townhome, it would need to be done on the weekend.”

Arrangements were made for Denise to see the townhome this coming Saturday.

At the agreed time, Noah was sitting in the townhome looking out the front window. He saw a late-model Lexus drive onto his driveway. Exiting the car was an attractive lady who walked to the front door.

Opening the front door, Noah said, “You must be Denise Edwards. I am Noah Stevens. It is nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too,” she said as she extended her hand which he shook.

Noah told her to feel free and give a good look-see to see if this townhome was something she would be interested in. He was more interested in watching her and he couldn’t help but think she was someone he wanted to get to know better.

Denise did give the townhome a good-looking over. She said she liked how the home was furnished and asked if the furnishings stayed. He told her that everything she saw here was staying.

Noah said he had been thinking if he was going to sell or rent this townhome, and decided that he was going to rent it. He told her what the rent would be for a month. She responded, saying that was reasonable and she would like to rent this townhome. Noah said he needed to print out a lease agreement and that he would require a security deposit.

Thinking he would give it a shot, he said, “If it doesn’t present a problem with you having a significant other, perhaps we could meet for dinner and we could sign the lease then.”

He could see his asking her out to dinner surprised her and she was thinking how she should respond.

Finally, she said, “There is no significant other, and sure, why not. Where do you want us to meet for dinner?”

“Enrico’s at seven,” said Noah.

She said she knew where Enrico’s was and she would meet him there at seven. She left the townhome with Noah watching her nice backside as she walked away.

Dining with Denise was very nice. As they were having a cocktail, the lease was signed and a check for the rent and security deposit was exchanged. Noah gave her a set of keys and said the garage door opener was on the kitchen counter. The conversation centered on the getting-to-know-you type. Denise told Noah she was familiar with Austin as she was a field reporter for Channel Four before she transferred to New Orleans and now was back here. She asked Noah what he did and he explained he was a high school math teacher.

Noah told her how he came to be the owner of this townhome. Further, he said since he didn’t live in this townhome he couldn’t guarantee everything there worked as it should. If she comes across a problem, she should not hesitate to call him and he will do his best to resolve the problem. Noah also mentioned that he had also become the owner of a condo in Gulfport, Florida. He was there for a quick visit and had plans when school was out for the summer to go there and see the area. Noah said he was interested to see what the State of Florida offered. He told her he didn’t mean to infer that there was anything wrong with the State of Texas in saying that.

As Noah was paying the check, he told Denise he had a nice time and would like to do something like this again. She seconded that motion and gave him a card that had her cellphone number on it. Smiling at him, she mentioned that he knows where she lives. He told her he would be watching the Channel Four news.

He was on cloud nine thinking about Denise. This dinner was a start to what he hoped would be an ongoing relationship. He couldn’t help but wonder if there were things at the townhome that needed fixing.

Noah continued spending part of his Sunday writing and dictating his three columns for the week. A few of his columns caused readers to continue to respond via email to him. The column on two levels of justice existing in this country, one for the wealthy and one for the common people was one of them. The preferential treatment given to politicians or their siblings resulted in a few negative responses accusing him of having a bias. He reacted by writing a column refreshing the memories of actions undertaken that had happened in the past. He mentioned the various committee hearings and special prosecutor’s investigation that went on for years based on fictional and now disproven allegations which it appears that readers of a particular political persuasion wanted to be forgotten.

Noah thought it was somewhat ironic that certain readers’ emails didn’t care for what he wrote yet they would take the time to read his column and email him. Those emails spoke to their biases and told him he was living in their minds. He knew he would never please them no matter what he wrote.

The competing newspaper gossip column, which still was trying to learn Bonnie Anderson’s identity came up with a novel thought. They said it was a strong possibility that because of the variety of topics, it was three women who were writing the “She Stirs the Pot” column. Noah quoted what they said in his column and gave it a laugh, saying it was only one person who was writing the column.

Noah was dating Denise fairly regularly. He wasn’t doing a full-court press in his dating her, but he thought it was sufficient for her to know that he had an interest in her. The hours she worked permitted him to date her only on weekends.