Chapter 78

Adam awoke in a tangle of flesh. The night before had been less enthusiastic than he had expected. After the discussion drew to a close, the girls all were content with gentle play. There was none of the experimentation or outright debauchery that marked some of their earlier couplings.

Sarah was still cuddled up tight to his left side, her arm draped around Allie's back. Shelly was on his right, holding hands with Sarah. Allie was on top of him, with her face burrowed into his chest as far as she could get it. She awoke when Adam sighed and looked up at him.

As normal, she put her chin on his chest and looked into his eyes with a soft smile on her lips.

"You OK?" she whispered.

"Perfect," Adam said. He couldn't help squeezing Sarah and Shelly a little tighter. "I can't imagine a nicer way to start my morning."

He lifted his head forward and kissed Allie softly on the nose, which even wrinkled cutely at his touch. It caused Adam's smile to widen even further. Shelly awoke from the movement and kissed his shoulder softly. He responded by kissing her on top of the head, drawing a wide smile from that side.

"I want to look over the manual one more time before we go to the driving center," she said softly as she untangled herself from her bedmates.

"I need to set things up for the web chat," Allie said, also shifting off Adam to the spot Shelly had vacated. "I don't want to have to rush around after my class. I'll leave it to you to wake up Sleeping Beauty over there."

Adam wasn't used to being among the last ones in bed. The girls usually slept for a while after he got up to get breakfast started. He was the only one who really ate breakfast anyway. The rest settled for toast or a bagel and coffee or a bowl of cereal. Adam didn't feel right if he didn't start the day with a decent meal.

Sarah came awake when Adam rolled toward her and wrapped his other arm around her. She had been better in the mornings during recent times but she still tended to take a while to get started.

"Can we cuddle for a while before I have to get up?" she asked in a sleepy voice. "Just a while, 10 or 15 minutes."

"Sure," Adam replied. He had the morning to himself because the girls were off to the martial arts center for class. He kissed Sarah's forehead and ran his fingers through her hair. She dozed with a smile on her face and Adam realized it wasn't the act of waking up that bothered Sarah so much. It was the fact that she usually had to jump out of bed and get moving as soon as she woke up. It was only a few minutes later that Sarah's eyes popped open again.

"You're much better than a snooze button," she murmured. Adam ran his hands over her smooth back and Sarah purred softly. "I'll give you about 30 years to stop that. Why can't you do this every morning?"

"Because you sleep about two hours later than I do," Adam replied with a grin. "If you want to start getting up at 6, I'll see what I can do."

"You could just drop your early morning classes," Sarah answered, also smiling. "When I become rich and famous, I'm going to hire you to be my alarm clock. I could get used to waking up this way."

"I was thinking that just this morning," Adam told her. "I like just lying here and watching you three sleep for a little while each morning. It makes me realize how lucky I am to have you in my life."

Sarah gave Adam a kiss.

"I feel that way, too," she told him. "I can't believe how much better my life is now than it was a month ago. I'm like a totally different person. I'm happy, Adam. I mean, really, really happy. Not just with my job or my friends or with you. I'm happy about damned near everything. I'm not even pissed off of the mornings anymore. I realized I have nothing to be mad about. Whatever I have facing me that day is going to be fine because I have you three with me."

"Still, I wouldn't mind having someone to cuddle with me every morning for a while," Sarah added with a giggle. "So if you could arrange that, I'd be most appreciative."

"I think we can cover that," Adam replied.

Tuesday turned out to be another good day for everyone involved.

The girls bounced back into the apartment full of energy after watching Allie's class. Each of the three newcomers had signed on for a female self-defense class that started the next week.

Shelly aced her driver's test. Rather than battle downtown traffic, Adam had her drive to an out-lying region with less traffic. Within 40 minutes, Shelly Smith was a licensed driver for the first time in her life.

Allie's interview with the blogger went well. He didn't ask a bunch of stupid questions. He wasn't offensive nor did he try he make disparaging remarks. Allie was impressed with the guy's professionalism.

Sarah had spent most of the day setting the schedule for the Peaches Magazine shoot. She and Allie would do the interview and a preliminary shoot in a week at a location in Van Nuys. That weekend, they would do the shoot at a rented house in the San Fernando Valley. The Peaches executive thought the shoot would probably take two days. Both she and Allie were OK with that because Peaches was willing to pay for transportation to the house on both days.

Karlie had used the free time to program all the numbers into the cell phone and to check on classes at Santa Ludica Junior College. She had contacted the financial aid office and found out she probably wouldn't have to pay for at least the first semester of classes. She set up an appointment the following week to visit the woman at her office and to fill out an admissions application.

Adam was the only one who couldn't claim a major accomplishment. His sole role was to ride out to Downey with Shelly. But he had to admit that he did it well. He hadn't even used the non-existent passenger-side brake very often.

His main contribution didn't come until later in the evening when he took a few moments to call Steve Rayburn. The man was surprised to hear from him, expecting an attorney.

"I know this sounds strange but our attorney told me I could handle this without her," Adam said. "She'll probably be disbarred for passing up a fee."

"I'll bet," Steve replied. "So what can I do for you?"

"We're interested in purchasing your house," Adam told him. "If you and I can come to an agreement on something reasonable."

"I think we can," Steve said. "I'm interested in starting my own business. That's why I agreed to sell in the first place. What sort of money are we talking?"

Adam considered. He had checked the most recent appraisal from a site Celina had given him. The area where the house lay was much like the rest of the poorer neighborhoods. There wasn't enough taxation to justify reappraisal so none had been done in almost 20 years. The city used sale price as the standard for taxation. The last time the house had been appraised was 1990.

"Well, I guess it depends on how badly you want rid of it," Adam countered. "Before you answer, let me just tell you, we're talking a cash deal. We won't have to wait for financing or approval for a loan. We're talking making a decision one day and moving money into escrow while we check to make sure there are no structural problems. Does that make any difference to you?"

"It does," Steve said. "The only problem I can see is that I'll insist in a clause in the contract that you can't tear it down."

"We don't see that as an issue," Adam told him. "We have no intention of tearing it down. It might become necessary for us to renovate portions of the interior or the exterior, depending on what we use it for. But the structure will not be disturbed. We have no problem with the clause, but, as you know, we can't speak for anyone who might buy it from us."

"Do you plan to resell it?" Steve wondered.

"We don't but we do plan to use it as collateral for our projects," Adam replied. "It might become necessary for us to sell although we don't think that will be the case for many years."

"What do you think it's worth?" Steve asked.

Adam laughed.

"I'll be honest, it is worth more than what we're willing to offer," Adam said. "We'd like to have it but only if we can get it for a reasonable price. We're willing to go as high as $250,000."

"I was looking for a bit more," Steve replied.

"Well, we got the house next door for $300,000," Adam countered. "You're not going to get many offers better than what we're talking. You're certainly not going to find an offer any time soon. The market is down and your house is set up for a family – a family that really isn't going to be able to pay cash. I doubt they will be willing to agree to your stipulation as readily as we do. You have to consider that."

Steve sighed.

"Do you think you might go as high as you did for the other one?" he asked after a moment.

Adam returned the sigh. He wasn't good at negotiating. He wasn't used to it. But he had seen his father haggle enough to know how it was done.

"I can't," he said. "But I can run it past the entire group. It will take a vote to go to $300,000. We plan to meet next Monday. Is that too far away for you?"

Steve laughed.

"It's not like I'm getting any other offers," he admitted. "I listed it for a while a couple of years ago. I know you're right. The neighborhood has gone to hell. The only offer I got was from the guy who wanted to tear it down. If you can get to $300,000, I think I will probably take it."

"For that price, we'll probably need you to pay for the inspection," Adam tried. "If we find any real problems, it's going to have to come out of the extra if I can get it through."

"Yeah, I understand that," Steve said.

"In return, we'll pay for the deed search and the paperwork," Adam offered.

"That's fair," the man replied. "Do you think it's really possible?"

"I don't know," Adam told him. "Square footage-wise, it's worth more than that. But the neighborhood really is going to cause problems if we have to find a buyer for it. Most likely, I'll have to try to convince my partners that we can make more if we have to resell it. I'll talk to a couple of realtors in the area. How much did you list if for previously?"

Steve sighed again. He hated to give the information but he knew Adam could get it in only a few minutes.

"I listed it for $400,000 first," he said. "Then I dropped it every few months. The offer I agreed to previously was $285,000. If you can even get them up to that amount, I'm sure I'll take it. Especially if you guys promise you won't tear it down."

"That's firm, Steve," Adam said. "You don't have to worry about that in the slightest. If we buy it, someone will live in it. We'll take care of it. We won't be bringing in a group of people who will destroy it or use it for a party pad. You won't have to worry about that. I will pull this off the table if the group I'm affiliated with doesn't agree to it."

"Thanks, Adam," Steve said. "That is the one thing I worried about."

There was silence for a moment.

"I guess that is more important to me than the money," Steve continued. "Give me a call back even if you can't get your group to go higher. I might have to wait another year or two to start my business but it will help."

Adam pursed his lips – unseen by Steve Rayburn.

"Can you get your own place started for if we go three?" he asked after a moment.

"I can probably get it started for two-fifty," Steve answered with a slight chuckle. "But I've grown used to eating a few times a week, too."

"I'll push for three hundred, Steve," Adam said. "I think with the news of you starting a business it will sway the group. We know what it's like starting out, believe me. If we didn't get some help along with way – actually a heck of a lot of help along the way – we'd be, uh, well, we'd be where we were this time a few months back. We haven't been doing this whole corporate thing for long."

Steve laughed – a genuine sound this time.

"If I had to guess, you haven't been doing a whole lot for long," he said. "But thanks, Adam. Give me a call next week and we'll go from there."

Adam agreed a hung up the phone. He felt as if he was taking advantage of the guy.

"What's the verdict?" Allie asked from behind his shoulder.

"We can definitely get it for $300,000," Adam said. "We might be able to get it for two-fifty but I'd feel as if I was screwing him. He is a mechanic and he wants to start his own shop. I think that 50 grand will be the difference between him doing it or not. He's not exactly a young guy. If he has to wait a year or two I think he might just say to hell with it."

"Three hundred was what you discussed, wasn't it?" she wondered.

"That was the upper end," Adam said. "It would have sold for more than that in 1990 but the neighborhood hadn't gone to shit yet. Still, I think if we found the right buyer, it could be worth twice that amount. It would be worth three or four times that amount if we decide to sell both properties at once. If we sell the duplex and that house, I bet we could clear $2 million easily."

"Only if we take the bathroom with us!" Shelly said. She was laying on the couch with her head across Sarah's lap.

"And the nude deck," Sarah added. "Actually, I sort of like it up there. It seemed quiet. Why don't you call Sean and see what he thinks?"

Adam nodded and dialed again.

"How's Vegas?" Sean asked as soon as he answered his phone. Adam could hear noise in the background.

"Uh, we're still in L.A.," Adam answered. "We got delayed a day by other things. We're heading out tomorrow after lunch. Where are you?"

"Spurs-Clippers game," Sean said. "Turn on the tube. It's on cable tonight. It's the Clippers so we got great seats. Mom and Chelle dumped Mike and I off and hit the town. What held you in L.A.?"

"Just business stuff," Adam said. "Allie had some things to do. Shelly needed to take her driver's test. I needed to call Steve Rayburn about the house next to the duplex. We just pushed things back 24 hours. We'll leave tomorrow and come back Saturday instead of leaving today and coming back Friday."

"Wait, you're still going to be in Vegas Friday night?" Sean asked. "That's great! We can all meet up there. Chelle talked to Mary last night after we talked to you. We were going to try to meet up in Vegas but we couldn't do it until Friday afternoon. Is that cool with you?"

"It's a big city," Adam said. "I doubt anyone will even know you're there if you're careful."

"Up yours," Sean said with a laugh. "Seriously, though. Mike and Mom said they'd put us up if we want to see the sights. We'd like to meet up with you guys."

"That sounds fine to me," Adam said with a smile. "We'll coordinate once we get there. Look, I talked to Steve Rayburn."

"How did that go?" Sean asked.

Adam repeated what he told Allie and Sean turned to Mike for his opinion. He was back a few moments later.

"He agrees with me," Sean said. "The fifty thousand won't hurt us much and it will help him a great deal. You have my vote. Mike and I both think you're right. It's a good price for both of us. That's the way a deal should be. Neither of us walks away feeling like we got screwed. He wants rid of the property and he wants to start his own business. We have a use for it. If you can make your harem bend to your will, it's sewn up."

Adam bit back a retort and simply laughed.

"Yeah, good idea," Sean said. "Remain silent and let them assume the best. Anyway, give me a call back once you get stuff lined out in Las Vegas. We'll plan to be there."